Retroworks Secret Cipher Decoder Wheel - Jefferson Wheel

My husband is super into codebreaking and ciphers, so I got him this as a goofy stocking stuffer. It's so neat that I'm probably gonna steal it back from him. It's just a nifty little way to encrypt notes and things, but it's fun and entertaining. Serves no functional, serious purpose, but it's a really fun way to pass the time and to write silly secret notes. We don't have kids, but it seems like this would be great for kids. Especially kids who like museums and educational stuff.

Super impressed with the quality of this cryptex-like device. I'm using it for a treasure hunt for several teams of adults and I like this thing so much I'm going to order several more so each team can have their own. I tried to make a similar items several years ago and was frustrated by the difficulty of getting it all to line up and move smoothly. This is so well-crafted, and not too expensive; it's a much wiser use of my time to just order one.

This device comes with 12 wheels. I took away one star because they are very difficult to turn independently. Maybe over time they will move more easily, I don't know.Each wheel has all 26 letters of the alphabet, and a single number. The first wheel has a 0, the second wheel has a 1, and so on up to the tenth wheel which has a 9. The eleventh wheel has a Delta symbol (triangle). The twelfth wheel has an Omega symbol (ohm).The letters are randomly mixed on each wheel, with no two wheels having the same order of letters. But again, each wheel has the entire alphabet.The ends of this device can be unscrewed to mix up the wheels. You can put Wheel 0 in the third position, and Wheel 6 in the second position, and so forth. Then reassemble the device. The receiver of the coded message will have to put their wheels in the same numerical order.Your message can only be 12 characters, not counting spaces. There are no spaces on the wheels. The decoder will have to place the spaces in the message based on context.Turn the wheels to spell out your message, then send the letters on the line above or below the clear text. The receiver will turn their wheels to the coded text, and then read the clear text on the line below or above the coded text.Simple, but very hard to crack without a comparable device.

I bought 2 of these, so I could give one to my 8 year old grandson and we could send "secret" messages to each other through texts (using his mom's phone). But they aren't easy to use. Wheels are not aligned well, letters aren't in straight rows, and individual wheels are very difficult to move. It's a great idea, but not executed well.

I bought this and created a geocache around this cipher. Two coordinate digits were missing and geocachers had to use the code to have the cipher spell out the last two numbers. Particpants tell me they enjoy the cipher. Dials are perfect for turning. They are not too tight nor are they loose and wiggly. Well worth the price. Sturdy construction! I am a very happy customer and would order this again.