yes i have something that i got from my friend and i have no clue what it is. it looks like a fricken pipe bomb to me, but its not. he said when he hooked it up to power it got hot. it is also magnetic. i dont know if this is an electromagnet or not because it acts like a magnet when the power is not running threw it.
its way too clean to be a car part. i think it came from an out of business capacitor maker. (the guys that make the caps for the real electricity) Im not sure what your talking about with the hair dryer thing. those are usually heating coils. this thing is very sold. it is almost impossible to remove the top to the thing.
on second thought i dont think it is a cap because the inside is fairly hollow from what i can see. there is how ever something near the bottom. im not 100% sure what this is.
no the shaft doesnt move at all. its nearly impossible to get pics of the inside due to the hole is soooo small that no light gets in there when trying to use a camera. i used a flashlight to look at it properly.
it seems to be made out of aluminum. it is sturdy, but not very heavy. i have no clue where it was found (neither does my friend) the wires attach to something on the inside near the bottom. its like a yellowish glue. did i say it was magnetic?