Ailsa Bay flywheel

Ailsa Bay whisky bottle has a funny heavy stopper. It seems to have a piece of granite set on the top. I decided to see if I can remove it and open up what looks like some sort of steel wrapper on the body.

After heating it up and using a piece of spring steel plus a small screwdriver to push the stone around, I managed to remove the stone. The cork came out quite neatly by pulling. But the seams on the steel didn't seem to budge.

So, as I have a lathe, I thought I'd cut it a bit and see what's inside. As I cut in, it seemed the surface is some kind of treatment and underneath there's just more steel. I drilled through the center, mounted the part on a stub arbor and cleaned up all sides some. As far as I can tell, it's a solid piece of steel.

I couldn't help thinking it looks a lot like a flywheel, having a heavyish outer flange and recessed center. I'll stash it among my metal parts as one. Maybe I'll use it for something.

Pics incoming

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