What is this thing called?

[blueonblack]

I don't have a pic, but I'm thinking of an old-style switch, I *think* it was a rheostat, it was a rotary switch with several contacts, as you turned the switch a button-type contact turned with it and ran across a series of ridges, kind of like the rotor in a distributor cap, but they were visible in this setup. I want to say they were in the Bakelite era, possibly a little earlier, they made a kind of sound like a fine-tooth ratchet makes when you turned them. Anyone have any ideas? (Or did I just dream this whole thing up one day?)

[OvRiDe]

Was it used like a dimmer switch or did it have multiple contact points for different outputs?

[Oneslowz28]

Could you be talking about an old radio tuner dial? I remember seeing something like that in a thrift store one time on a very old looking radio. It had contact pad strips that formed a circle and the dial had a tip on it that completed the circuit when the dial was turned.

[Mach]

Like this? It's an old style break before make switch.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_UdQdiSb7gT4/SJEBkHfoiaI/AAAAAAAACCE/wJKh37h3l2Y/s800/IMG_4233.JPG

[billygoat333]

wow thats a good picture. lol sorry to derail the thread, thought I would comment on the crispness of mach's camera! :P

carry on, carry on.

[blueonblack]

Could you be talking about an old radio tuner dial? I remember seeing something like that in a thrift store one time on a very old looking radio. It had contact pad strips that formed a circle and the dial had a tip on it that completed the circuit when the dial was turned.

This sounds the closest to what I'm thinking about. No idea what it was used for when it was new, but this sounds right. It'll give me some more to use in my searching anyway, thanks.