What Are These Things For? (19 pics)
This object is made probably from clay, with Chinese characters meaning "looks good, smells good and is delicious" (色香味美). It was a gift from a Chinese coworker to my dad years ago when he worked there. It looks similar to a calabash-pumpkin. What is its purpose?
A: It's for loose leaf tea, called a ceramic gourd tea caddy.
What is this small metal device? My first instinct was drug paraphernalia (no judgment) but it doesn’t have any distinctive smells and I can’t figure out how you’d use it. It doesn’t open or appear to have any real function. Nothing comes out of the cap/opening?
A: It appears to be a broken handle to a kitchen utensil.
Heavy for it's size, found in radio/emergency equipment room. Pull lever and the silver square pushs up about 1/2 inch. Marker for scale.
A: It's a photograph cutter for I.D. badges etc.
My neighbor (who has recently installed an amazon doorbell camera, which is weird for the Netherlands) has just put this on his roof. It seems to be aimed directly at my female housemate’s bedroom window and she is concerned it’s another camera.
A: It looks like a Trimble. Those are meant to be mounted on a 2 meter pole and used for geospatial engineering layout for earthwork, or at least that's what I have used them for in the past. Not much utility when sitting alone unless it is a static station set up to support engineering layout in other parts of the neighborhood.
Moved into a new house and found these lying around in the garden. They are slightly different shaped and sized from each other. Made of pottery/ceramic.
A: Legs for under a flower pot.
Hard plastic piece, slightly curved. Found in a box with multiple monitor and tv stands.
A: Alienware monitor back cover, to hide the ports.
Found under eave of my new construction roof - I haven't found a light switch that controls this if that's what it is.
A: It's a vent. Probably for your bath fan but could be for a vented dryer if there's one on an interior wall. See the narrow flap in the front? If you want to know which appliance/room it's connected to, turn on bath fans one by one and check it. The air flow will cause that flap to open. It's a backdraft stopper but it also keeps the bees and wasps out.
Found in a small school TV production studio. There are electrical ports on the top and the side, and the wires inside look like they can be pulled out and attached to the male end of some other device. The side button moves the latch in the top triangle thingy, so probably amount of some kind?
A: It is a V-mount battery plate to go on the back of a professional video camera.
Found this in a box of tools, it moves, and can be locked in place with the wing nut.
A: It’s a t bevel, it’s used for finding angles in construction, carpentry and wood working.
Found in my mom's sewing things, but neither of us know what it is or what it's for. Best guess is it's some kind of double eyed sewing needle or shuttle perhaps, but Googling hasn't turned up anything.
A: It’s a Double-Eyed Transfer Needle. Used in knitting machines.
Does anyone know what these keys might go to? They were at a thrift store.
A: They are luggage keys.
Device with a chain by my baseboards. The bottom word says “heaters.”
A: It is an antique furnace mechanical damper.
I believe this is a strobe light, possibly military. It has a removable blue cap, a white plastic bit poking off the front, and came in an OD green bag.
A: It's a portable airfield marking light for taxis and runways.
Mystery Christmas gifts from my folks. Leather-type material with elastic strap on one side, squishy microfiber-type material on the other. Banana, well you know what the banana is for. What is this thing?
A: It is a screen cleaner for your devices.
I received this in the mail from an unknown sender. It's just a flat piece of flimsy plastic. Any ideas what this is or why it was mailed to me?
A: It's probably part of a brushing scam.
This appears to be a paperweight from my late grandfather’s desk, made out of a metal part. My papa worked for NASA on the space shuttle programs and the ECLSS program (Failure and Analysis). Is this maybe part of a machine from his lab? I googled the numbers but no luck.
A: I work for a company that does a lot of gearing. This is what you'd call a "hob", or gear hobbing cutter head.
Solid metal container with carved wooden dice inside. One half of the container slides smoothly inside the other, with the designs on the dice appear hand-carved and are the same on every side.
A: It's an antique gambling dice box set from 19th century China/SE Asia.
Decently heavy metal tool with numbers on it hung next to our wood burning stove.
A: It's a handle for your ash pan.
My friend found this underneath the ground in Croatia. It says "KT120" on it. It's pretty heavy.
A: It looks like a landmine… And Croatia has a lot of landmines!
