Rod, these were VERY common in the mid 70s.
Basically every arcade Pong clone and variation on the face of the earth used a metal spinner that turned a POT.
I used to own one of them, you could put a PC gamepad POT in there with no issues.
Now, the pne MAGIC thing about these (if you decide to go making them) is this.
The spinner turns a spring loaded plastic disc (think the rough side of velcro), the spring is pressing that disc against another identical disc that is actually turning the pot.
Why it it done that was is so that the player can't destroy the pot by simply turning too hard or too far.