The seller I purchased this from found it with with a note that it was what "grandma" used to keep her string, and clearly grandma used it for lots of string over many many years. The wood is super smooth and with a bit of a sheen from many many years of handling, and whether or not it is one or two pieces under that cloth wrap I am really not certain. The fabric wrap looks somewhat similar to cloth medical tape in material, now completely hardened and smooth, a graphite gray/silver along the sides and plain at the interior. A wonderful, very satisfying object, quite useful still, which fits perfectly in the palm with fingers gripped around it.

3 11/16" t x 2" w x 1/2" and in marvelously aged and much used condition.