One of my most used tools around the house is a long-handled dandelion fork. But since my yard is now completely xeriscaped with decomposed granite everywhere, it got repurposed into a “hanging planter and hummingbird feeder taker-downer.” The forked end holds the hook securely and I don’t have to haul out the step-stool every time I want to replace plants.
We all have them. I’m not talking about grabbing a butterknife because a screwdriver is too far out of reach - I’m talking about a permanent repurposing of a tool. What have you adapted for usage not covered in the design specs?
We have a long-handled plastic kitchen spoon that is completely useless for stirring anything. The length of the handle and the softness of the plastic just make it bend. Occasionally it would reach a tension point and release, thwanging whatever you were trying to stir all over the place.
There is a vase on the kitchen island where I put utensils that I think might be useless. If they stay there for a few months, then I feel safe throwing them away. That spoon kept coming back out of the vase because it’s perfect for tipping things off the top shelf into my hand. So now it’s my reacher-upper, and has been awarded permanent placement in the gadgets container on the counter.
A kitchen spatula (the rubber or silicon kind, not the metal pancake turner that some people also call a spatula) lives in my bathroom and is used for applying skin cream to my back.
On the flip side, I have a very large screwdriver that is basically a gardening tool, because it’s way too big to use as a screwdriver. I know my wife has a dandelion fork somewhere but if I need to dig up weeds the screwdriver is my go-to tool, because I know where I can find it if I need it.
A number of large spoons and spatulas have moved from the kitchen to use for tiling and putty. Once used they don’t go back. Couple of strainers were part of cooking equipment originally. I have a few tools made from old copper pipe, but for very short term use to push something around a corner or hook onto something in an out of the way place. Among my woodworking power tools I have a few Frankenmachines constructed from parts of others.
I have a curved blade paring knife that I only use to cut the tape on cardboard boxes. Yeah, it’s still used as a knife, but not for it’s particular purpose.
Does this count? A back saw that is still used as a cutting tool, just not on what it was intended to cut.
I don’t use back saws much in woodwork. But I often bruise my hands trying to force a snow shovel, or even a garden spade through windblown snow that has set up hard.
So one back saw has a permanent place among the wintertime gear. It is perfect for cutting 1-foot cubes of snow that can be tossed someplace they’re not in the way.
I recently bought one of these.
It is (apparently) a “SQUARE TOOL STEEL 6MM X 6MM x 75MM LONG (BLANK END)”
, or some sort of wood/metal work lathe tool, and it cost £3.95 including P&P.
I use it to improve saxophone reeds. The cheapest tool specifically for this job
costs ~£25. The most expensive is ~£80 !!!
See that supporting bracket? I had several left over after I redid all the closets when we bought this house. They make perfect “get that thing from the back of the top shelf” tools. I have them stashed all over the house/garage.
@Nyvaak - That works! Anything that is “This isn’t the tool I need, but it is the tool I have” fits.
When I bought a box of oysters many years ago, they came with a rather elegant looking oyster shucking knife similar to the one pictured, made of a single piece of stainless steel. I don’t think I’ve had oysters ever since, but it’s a sharp and very sturdy little knife that’s become a general-purpose utensil around the kitchen and around the house. I use it as a box cutter, for popping the seals off juice bottles, and for any task that would break or bend a more delicate knife. After all, it’s intended to pry open oyster shells.
I have a plastic scraper thing about 2" wide that is designed for applying drywall mud. Instead I use it exclusively for scraping off gunk when I clean the oven or the grill. It works amazingly well and doesn’t scratch the porcelain coating.
I have an old, cheap wooden spoon with a big fat handle. Probably came from Goodwill. The spoon end cracked long ago so is useless as an actual spoon but I keep it in the drawer as that fat handle makes a great spurtle when cooking steel cut oatmeal.
I have a bamboo backscratcher which I mostly use to reach things on the top shelf on my kitchen cabinet which I’ve managed to push back from the front. I should probably buy one of those grabbit-type things, but this hasn’t been high on my list of priorities.
I trust the ladel being used for rearing children fell out of favour …
I use my lawn tractor as “horizontal mulcher/chipper” - I pile up (small) branches and vines and then criss-cross over it a couple of times … works like a charm.
My workplace was changing over a production line and was disposing of boxes of Excelta high precision wire cutters. I snagged a half dozen as they work as the absolute best nail trimmers.
I also have a paper clip holder that is basically the size of a half soup can. It holds zero paper clips and instead is used as a stand for my laptop when it is docked at my desk so air can flow all around it.
