33 Odd and Intriguing Items With Simple Explanations

1. Found in a house along with lots of old maritime artifacts. What is it called and how was it used? A: Knot gauge/ speed log. Basically a boat speedometer. The propeller looking object is in the water, spinning as the boat moves, the rope spins and moves the dial, letting you know the speed as indicated on the dial. ( the rope length can be varied to a certain extent ). P.S some antique ones are worth good money.

2. Found on the side of a road – rural area with high Farming traffic. The springs don’t seem to do anything. Quite heavy for its size, about three inches long and 1 inch across A: It’s part of a locking /latching mechanism. The rest of it is missing. It’s hard to say which one or kind because there are so many. I used to do lock work and it looks very much like that type of mechanism.

3. Purchased at a bazaar in Afghanistan. Hollow inside and the “cork” top doesn’t seem to come out. Made of metal. A: Well I can tell you it’s upside down, judging be the writing on the side. It’s an oil lamp.

4. These metal discs are placed in places to prevent people from skating / biking / grinding on these walls / areas.

5. Similar to the metal discs, these sea life sculptures are used to prevent people sleeping in these public places as well as deter skaters and bikers.

6. Circular metal object that is approximately 5cm wide, not magnetic, silver in color, and weighs 70 grams. Has no writing and found in Ontario, Canada. What is this thing? A: It looks like a lucky 4 leaf clover “cape fastener” as those usually have chains attached, maybe from a large coat by the size of it.

7. Found these holes on a hike in the middle of nowhere, what are they from? A: Samples for geology studies

8. Mixer, back massager??? Mounted on wall at cabin on Hood River OR. Two handles spin the seven arms with wooden balls. Wooden balls spin freely. A: Rope winder. Each head would hold a twine string, the spin would then wind them together.

9. Found this whilst cleaning out an apartment, it’s pretty heavy and not sharp. A: An ornamental or ceremonial ‘sword breaker’ type martial arts weapon.

10. Random TV channel that we found? A: There’s a technician working to troubleshoot signal issues – this is a crudely implemented signal monitor – so the tech can tune into the channel and see the signal monitor from different houses down the trunk to see who has signal problems etc.

11. Found with assorted items when clearing out my grandads belongings after his death. Metal, a few inches diameter, totally stumped!A: It’s an antique egg topper

12. Blue nets tied between the trees. Found while hiking in the Cinque Terre National Park in ItalyA: Pretty sure these are nets for catching the fruit from the tree – currently rolled up because there is no fruit. They were spread out to cover the area beneath the trees when I was there in late summer. I believe it’s for olives.

13. What is this strange glass dish? 2 pieces a lid & base.A: Appears to be a Simax chicken roaster with some sort of lid.

14. Some kind of medal found at my wife’s great grandparents old house. It says 1858 on one tip, can’t make out any of the other words.A: It’s a masonic gem from the Civil War era

15. What is the name and use of this scientific glass item? PYREX USA 4 neck spherical glassware.A: This is a glass receiver jar used in old dairy vacuum systems. It allows milk to separate out of the airsteam. Afaik modern systems use stainless steel versions and they are no longer in production.

16. 6″ Tall, 4″ Wide, Feels Metal-ish, Found in the Colorado foothills.A: Looks like an iron nodule. Natural concentration of iron.

17. It’s a weird little double helix thing made of a light metal, found on Georgia Tech campus. Makes for a nice necklace ornament, but what is it?A: Spiral hair pin. Used to secure a bun.

18. Some type of suitcase with compartments?A: It’s a sample box for some type of sales person

19. My grandpa got it from a friend but they both don’t even know what it is. This might be a part of some bigger welding machine but I’m a total noob. Anyone know what it is?A: Normal small portable welding inverter (electrode welding), no bigger machine needed.

20. Green bristles along the side of a weirA: It’s for passage of eel and lamprey…

21. Flexible rubber thing with a garden hose-sized connection on one end.A: It’s for clearing clogged drains. It works just like you think it does. Put it in a pipe between 1.5” and 3” and it will first expand and then start spraying water to clear the clog.

22. Found abandoned on a railway line in the UKA: It is a boiler. Could be from a train, or a factory. Most likely train, tho.

23. What is this metal point found in Devon, UK?A: Hardwire communication port for a firing range – military stuff. You might find more info if you google “Field Telephone”

24. Found this buried. It’s flat on one side, concaved on the other and has a hole right through the middleA: This is likely to be a prehistoric or Roman quernstone. This would be the top, a spindle would connect it to a bottom piece and grain would be poured into the ‘funnel’ on top and ground between the two stones to make flour.

25. What are these shredded balls on my property?A: Juniper-hawthorne rust: a fungal disease. It starts as a gall then the tentacles appear around spring/rain. It probably won’t kill this tree but it can seriously mess up secondary hosts ie apple trees. Only way to get rid of it is to prune then burn the removed branches.. don’t forget to disinfect your tools after.

26. Pretty lost with this. The stick is crumbly like fine charcoal but I have no clue what it’s for. Only one end has been used and there’s a hole through the center.A: Its a handwarmer, you light the stick and close the case and it burns like an ember.Last 3 or 4 hrs if i remember right,used to use them regularly.

27. Found in a hunters trunk full of supplies, Canada, sometime between 1950-1980, The bottom dimpled part spins, the top blue part feels like wood, it’s very lightA: If you tug at the brass section does it come off? I’ve seen vintage sewing kits like this where the top is a thimble (which this could easily be, by appearance) and it holds spare needles, pins and a small amount of thread. For repairs on trips and such.

28. My boss went to a Muslim wedding and saw these in the restroom. We have no idea what the purpose is. Anyone able to help?A: Foot washing stations. Muslims wash their feet before prayer.

29. Found in bomb shelter. Has a crank and a two prong plug. Connected to a pipe coming from the wallA: I think it’s a manual air filtration system to pump in fresh air, I had seen one many years ago on tv dooms day prep

30. Found these soft metal objects while metal detecting under a pier at low tide.A: They’re Hindu offerings. The symbol on the top-left is Om.

31. This object is hanging from the ceiling of our waiting room at the hospital. It’s a white smooth dome with no numbers or labels of any kind. Anyone know what this is for? My thought was wifi or a signal booster.A: Signal booster

32. Surrounded by a barbed wire fence and made of concreteA: That’s the remains of a water tower that once served the Maryland Mine.

33. Part of silverware set. It has a corkscrew tip, but it is not sturdy enough to be used as s corkscrew. Thoughts for its purpose?A: It’s a butter pick.