Question.

[littlebirdhouse]

While looking at houses today, I came across something strange. Well, a number of weird things but this in particular

Comments

[rimrunner]

My immediate thought: part of someone's grade-school electromagnet project?

[littlebirdhouse]

We didn't do that at my school. How does it work? You take a rusty spike and wrap it with wire and set in the basement...

...and then move away, leaving only that behind?

[itsalljustaride]

I think the way it works is that you wrap a nail, spike, or some kind of metal object like that with copper wire and run a current through it from a battery and it will magnetize the object. Its been awhile though, so it might work a bit differently. essentially, though, this is how an electric motor works, only the axle is between a cylendar of wrapped copper wire, which creates a magnetic field that rotates the axle when a current is run through the wire. fun stuff.

[littlebirdhouse]

Neat!

[loveprincess524]

Could be hoodoo, which is different from Voodoo. The railroad spike is used often in hoodoo for various purposes. Or it could be just a spike someone wrapped in wire because they were bored. What area of the country are you in?

[littlebirdhouse]

Pacific Northwest.

It just seems like a strange thing to leave behind, after you've packed all your other things, I got curious. Thank you for the lead.

[loveprincess524]

The nature of hoodoo relics is that once they have served their purpose you don't need them anymore.
If you pursue it please keep me posted.

[melsmarsh]

I remember a spell like that from one of my Wiccan spellbooks, but for the life of me, I can't remember what it was for. I know it involved wrapping wire around a railroad spike though.

[theh]

I refuse to read any of the responses because I want to believe it really is magic.

[billydontrat]

That is the same premise for making simple step-up/step-down transformers. The magnetic field is a by product of the process that alters voltage from the source to the application. When current comes into a given site, say a house, it runs through a transformer that reduces or increases the voltage to match the application requirements (110v, 220v, 440v, etc). The number of "wraps around the spike" so to speak is the amount that the voltage is either reduced or increased. The + or - depends, if I remember correctly, on the direction that the wire is wrapped. If it flows in the direction of the voltage, it is a step-up transformer. If it is counter to voltage travel, then it is a step-down transformer. This could be a previous owner's dangerous attempt at getting the washer or dryer in the basement to work off of 110 instead of 220.