ummmm...some kind of thread or textile type "loom"???
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/tls/3972899396.html
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/tls/3972899396.html
Yes it is what they use for thread or braided rope, we use then every day at work.we call then skeiners. I work at a braiding company.
What is the purpose of the gearing?
That what my guess would have been was a "loom"