There's nothing quite as satisfying as struggling to
solve a problem and then after hours of banging your head against the wall, someone hands you the answer.
Some say it's better to figure things out yourself, but trust us, it's always better to not do any work and have other people find stuff out. Here you can scroll through and learn a bunch of
neat stuff.
1
What is this blue plastic card used for? It is a bit flexible as well. Given to me as a parting gift from my Uber.
A: It’s a phone stand. Curve it, and tuck the tab near the heel of your hand into one of the slots. The tab at the top near your fingertips should support the bottom of your phone.
2
Small red container. The lid has a small spoon attached to the inside.
A: Chinese snuff container, I’m guessing Chinese script on bottom is also intended as a “chop” or a signaturizing stamp.
This is 99% probably a reproduction, however, it is also consistent with stylism of 16-17th century Qing dynasty-ish.
3
Found at a thrift store. Metal part is about 9 inches long. No sharp edges. Small gap between the metal fold. Any ideas?
A: I believe it’s for Feuerzangenbowle.
4
Found in WW1 war front very heavy and made of brass.
A: That’s the tip of an artillery shell fuse.
5
Found in a parking lot in North Carolina (nowhere near the beach). Moist and squishy but solid, around 4” round.
A: It’s a squeeze ball full of fake worms, like a Halloween toy. This one popped and the fluid is long gone.
6
Found on the floor outside my apartment door. Thin metal about 1.5inch long.
A: It is a key used to test emergency lights. It operates the switch through a small slot
7
What is this adjustable hand tool, potentially for paper crafts or bookbinding?
A: Pad making tool. It scoops the same amount of paper from a stack. So that cardboard can be inserted to make a note pad.
8
What is this thing? The part above the handle rotates
A: It’s a kite spindle. I used to have one. It seems like a reproduction of what they used to use in the golden era… but definitely, 100% a kite spindle!
9
What is this awkwardly placed door on a Verizon building, well above sidewalk level?
A: It’s for loading in equipment. The bottom of the door is likeky flush with the floor of the room. It’s pretty common to see this on central office buildings as they are full of bulky/heavy equipment that is periodically updated.
As you roam the city, if you look at these buildings you’ll often see several such doors, sometimes larger, and often several stories off the ground.
It’s much more efficient to crane this stuff into the buildings fully/partially assembled than to move an enormous number of individual components and assemble them onsite.
10
Came to me in the mail today, tried Googling the name but I’m only getting results for medical devices.
It’s quite heavy and appears to be pretty used, also has some sort of spanner like object. Also my name and address were on the box but I didn’t order it, so could it be some sort of scam?
A: The spanner thing is a torque wrench. Mainly to tighten bolts or nuts to a certain poundage.
11
What would this bag be for? Canvas cylindrical canvas with wood top and bottom and the opening is a wooden grate.
A: It reminds me of a yarn tote. You put different skeins of yarn in it, and thread them through the top.
12
What is this thing found at my friend’s house? Avocado for scale.
A: Baby nasal aspirator.
13
Parents have tried to have this identified/appraised for years. It is metal, about the size of a potato peeler, and stamped with “PAT MAY 8-23”.
A: Looks like it might core and seed grapefruit.
14
Moved into a new house in BC, Canada, and found this very flexible/bendy plastic/rubbery thing in the cupboards. Smells of fresh laundry.
A: I’m pretty sure it’s an air freshener. We use them in our office building.
15
What is this thing that’s continuously beeping (about once per second) in my attic?
A: That is the back of a recessed light. It seems unlikely the beeping is coming from there.
16
What is this pad used for? Found at many military installations. Parking lot nearby for size reference.
A: Motorcycle training course.
17
Strange device found among things left behind by tenant. Plastic lid screws onto rubber sack and contains…balls.
A: You shoot metal balls with it. Put one of the balls in the rubber and drag it. It’s intense, be careful.
18
Found outside a Medical Arts office building in Florida. I have seen pipes like this outside of buildings before but none this big.
A: It‘s inline to a water main, the different pieces have different uses. The bottom with the large block-off plate is an access for maintenance.
Up from that is a gate valve wheel, to shut off the main, up from that is a sampling unit, presumably for testing water purity at the main, the top is another type of block-off plate, it‘s needed because the pieces are all modular and capable of having more pieces/pipes bolted to both ends.
19
We found this guy in our soup, looks like simple electronic device. Any idea what it might be?
A: It’s a piezoelectric element. They can be used as buzzers, speakers or microphones. Most likely, a buzzer.
20
What is this? Found in a collection of gold and silver belonging to a deceased relative.
A: It looks like a souvenir Inca tumi, a sacrificial knife. I friend brought me a a sliver charm like this after visiting Peru.
21
This guy just walked up and down the meadow with this thing. What could this be?
A: magnetometry or magnetic survey, not GPR.
22
Found this metal object in Auckland, New Zealand. Metal (brass?) with screw thread at the bottom and colored plastic rings around shaft, some opaque, some transparent.
Found on the shoreline at the Ōtuataua Stonefields reserve, near the airport.
A: I’m sure this is the handle to a machinists hammer. It’s the common item to make when learning how to turn on a lathe. I made one nearly identical when I first started.
