Can you identify this object?

In My Humble Opinion
81

I can tell you what it is.

It is two pieces of stamped steel joined by a rivet
It is a limited production piece produced in a small machine shop.
It was stamped in a quanity greater than 100 (someone had to set jigs for this thing)

I can tell you what it is not.

It is not galvanised
it is not a production model
It is not a prying tool
it is not a wrenching tool
It is not a tool a plumber would use
it is not a tool a carpenter would use

If it is a tradesmans tool, I would suspect electrician.
But I doubt it.

My guess would be a manufacturing tool. Probably something to install a cap on a stiff bag.

82

My guess is something along the lines of a door spring holder-onner in a dishwasher - it holds them on better.

I hope so anyway, because the door springs in my dishwasher really, really suck.

(actually I’ve already read the GQ threads on this particular malady and just bought a new one anyway, due to it’s otherwise general shittyness.)

83

No to all of the above.

The device is the answer to a question that had already been answered, but the inventor just wouldn’t let the question go. It’s the kind of thing that would make you say, “Why didn’t I think of that?” and you would answer yourself, “Because it’s really kind of stupid.”

While it is not meant to be disposable, it would, in all likelihood, be thrown out accidentally.

It is quite possible to do what this device does for free. It’s really overkill.

84

I notice that the two protrusions on the end of the short piece are bent in opposite directions, is this part:

  • intended to be inserted into something a bit like a keyhole
  • to be rotated in an anticlockwise direction once inserted
  • to be pulled out after being rotated, having locked into something

?

Do the two flat prongs perform the opposite function to the two bent ones?

85

O.K., let’s look at a couple clues:

  1. It’s used in conjunction with something you probably encounter every day of your life.
  2. It is something a business would typically purchase.

Where do these two clues overlap?

Let’s address #1 by listing some items most of us encounter every day:

  1. Bed
  2. Vehicle
  3. Money
  4. Mail
  5. Telephone
  6. Computer
  7. Food
  8. Clothing

This list is incomplete, of course. Assuming we had a complete list, it would then be a matter of identifying tools that would be used in conjunction with each item, with the caveat that the tool would not normally be purchased or used by you (it would be purchased/used by a business).

A couple examples: Would it be used by a bank teller (#3)? Would it be used by a mail carrier (#4)?

[Pooh Bear]Think, think, think…[/Pooh Bear]

86

Like in “twirl over your head”? Or do you mean *twist * it?

87

Damnit, I’ve seen one of these before.

How about, you slide something into the fork, then rotate the panel to cut whatever it is off.

A button remover?

88

This is driving me nuts.

I know I’ve seen one before.

89

Or something a gas station attendant might use?

90

Twirl or twist, either one. Think twirl like spaghetti.

Good list, but you’re missing something you encounter everyday, but probably don’t think about. Unless you worked directly with it, you probably wouldn’t think about the device, but you might think about what it’s for and have come up with another solution to the problem it solves.

The swiveling part helps to secure something. It isn’t inserted into anything.

91

oh…

{shakes fist into the air}

Curse you Mr. Blue Sky!

92

The thing we have to keep in mind here is that it’s something a business would typically purchase.

This is driving me batty.

93

A hat? A brooch? A pterodactyl?

94

So I encounter it on a (nearly) daily basis, but I do not work directly with it. I’m thinking it is something we see and/or a system we use, but don’t actually touch.

Something have to do with:

Radio/TV broadcast system
Telephone system
Transportation system
Utility systems

95

Me too.

Staple remover?

96

I can tell you what it’s not for, and then you’ll understand why I can never go to SeaWorld again.

97

Is it for applying wire twist ties?

98

Is it a tool used by a service person on something you encounter everyday?

99

Those dolphins were underage, and one of them is still in therapy, you monster.

100

You could touch it and probably do. Odds are that someone else is in charge of it, though. You don’t actually “work with it”, but you do come in contact with it.