What is it? LXXXV

From Rec.woodworking

#490: Bike tire tool? #491: Dunno, looks familiar, though. #492: Binoculars #493: Some sort of musical instrument? #494: Dunno again. Looks familiar. #495: Looks like one heck of a grinding wheel dresser! Meat tenderizer. For poking holes in apple pie crusts?!?

490 ? If it's a wrench, made for square nuts/bolts. Projection on right; Hook a loop of wire/string and stretch it over a hook/peg/etc. ? 491 Reminds me of a window opener for those high windows in old schools. Goes on the end of a wood pole to reach up to latches, but the ones I remember had a hook on the end. 492 Binoculars

493 Didn't I just see this a while back? Or somewhere else(?) Someone suggested a portable cigar humidor.

494 ??

495 Seems like something to do with baking, but ? Secret tool used by "antique" creators for distressing wood?

495. This is a carpet layers roller, used to disguise seams.

(top posted for your convenience) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) snipped-for-privacy@7cox.net

I know what #490 is....sort of. I think I remember the 'feel' of using something like it once, but maybe I'm wrong and just generating some sort of false memory.

Its a wrench handle, but as you see the inner hole is flared. The wrench slips onto a tapered bolt, and the tab at the top slips under a little lip, so that when the wrench is turned, it cannot be removed from the nut. The bolt head is tapered so that normal wrenches will pop off and not work. Even a socket won't do it; it has to have this little tab to hold it down on the bolt. Maybe I'm thinking of a gas valve handle...

#491 Now THAT looks like the top to a pressure cooker.

#494 A trigger guard?

--humunculus

From RCM

492. Binocular adjustment wheel 495. Carpet seam roller.

Gary Brady Austin, TX

491: Clock winding key 494: a hearing aid of some kind?

490: Dunno 491: I want to say "Shell casing hammered into Bishop" 492: Binoculars (focus ring) 493: Humidor 494: Dunno-hangs on the BatBelt maybe? 495: Pizza/pie crust "docker" for limiting bubble production

491. looks like it could be a brass finial for the top of a ceremonial flag or "standard".

suggested a portable cigar humidor.

Hmmm, maybe so. And the removable thingy at the top holds the matches. Could be...

--humunculus

Hah! My reader's been killfiling these because they have XXX in the title. Fixed now.

490. Mute button for pipes. 491. Carrot sharpener--shavings come out the small hole. 492. Panty examination scope. 493. That's a thing. It's used for stuff. 494. A hook with an off switch. 495. Ingenious device to torture a whole lot of small animals at once.

Darn! Knew I'd seen one somewhere.

No, it has a sponge to soak & then the holes let the moisture into the cigar storage.

(BTW, you can pull your tongue out of your cheek now)

490: 8 pt wrench 491: Pressure cooker valve 492: Binoculars (finally a close-up I get) 493: Musical instrument of the weird kind 494: Alarm to hang on e.g. a motel door 495: Cooking tool, makes dents in dough.

Results so far:

490. Not sure exactly what this wrench was made for, and haven't been able to confirm the function of the small piece on the end.

491. The seller of this one thought that it was mounted on the end of a pole for reaching a slot to turn a machine on or off. I showed it to a guy who has been selling tools for over forty years and he seemed sure that it was a decorative piece from a fancy horse drawn carriage. Haven't found any info to verify this one yet either.

493. Binocular focus wheel

494. Cigar travel humidor

495. No correct answer yet

496. Carpet seam roller

Rob

It's not a hearing aid, but it does get hooked over the right ear.

Rob

Is it one of those "sleepy driver" alarms? Sounds when you nod off?

Or some sort of bizarre hands-free flashlight?

There's a chance that it was used to turn old style ceiling fans on and off. The really old fans had switches in the central hub that took a tool along these lines to turn on and off.

Wayne Cook Shamrock, TX

Thanks, I'll see what I can find on that.

Rob

This answer is correct. Part II of this one is to determine what mechanism activates the alarm as the driver is falling asleep.

Rob