Hah! Once or twice, maybe. The scraper survives the dishwasher repeatedly…
Huh, my dandelion fork only needs a handle long enough to convey dandelions from my plate to my mouth, and is the same as my eat-anything-else forks.
But my off-purpose tools, let’s see…
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In one of my mom’s kitchen drawers, there is an old tuna can, long since emptied and cleaned out. She keeps it because it’s her pierogi cutter. It’s the perfect shape and size for cutting disks out of the dough to be stuffed.
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I have an old toothbrush that’s exclusively for cleaning small greasy bits on my bike.
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I also have a tool that went the other way, from my bike to my bathroom sink. Years back, one of my brake cables snapped on my bike, and the remains of that cable are now a drain snake.
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Remember those old “ink erasers” that worked by scraping away the surface of the paper? I don’t think they make them any more, but I wish I still had one, because those things were the perfect tool for cleaning off corroded electrical contacts.
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If you ever make models, a fingernail clipper is the perfect job for cutting off the little bits of sprue that’re left on the parts.
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You’ll find a paint scraper in any makerspace, not for paint, but for separating 3D prints from the printer bed.
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And since others have mentioned kitchen knives, ulus are supposed to be for cutting meat, but I use mine entirely for vegetables. They work great for that, but for meat, a serrated blade usually seems to do better.
Amazon lists a passel of them, starting at $1.59 per. Try searching for ‘sand erasers’, seems to be what they call them now. Various art supply stores listed them too.a smart hardware or parts store would buy several gross of them and sell them for a couple bucks each.
Hah! I was just going to post that my old cake decorating palette knives (interchangeable with clay palette knives) and offset spatulas are what I use for any spackling (and sometimes caulking) jobs around the house.
I’ve also used mortar spreaders as frosting spreaders.
Make great pizza cutters. Exponentially better than those ones with the stupid rotating disc.
Edit: I also save old toothbrushes to use as scrubbers for small things that need cleaning. They work great on the tracks of sliding windows and the seal on the refrigerator door. Sometimes I’ll buy cheap toothbrushes at the dollar store just for cleaning tasks.
I had to look up what a Ulu was.
Oh, it’s a hockmesser.
Big push brooms. Still used as a broom, but not it’s real intended purpose.
We use them to push snow off our cars.
With the advent of working from home when Covid hit I found my laptop was often whirring like a tiny lawnmower once it started getting hot. I placed it on a wire cake rack to create some air flow and my problem was solved. It has been there ever since when I am WFH. I don’t know why I had one available, I don’t often bake anything.
My husband’s been cutting his nails with wire cutters for 40 years. I don’t think he’s had to replace the wire cutter during that time.
But that’s not why I’m here.
I use a crack weeder to scrape slugs off of plants. And then I use the same crack weeder to cut the slugs in half.
The crack weeder is cheap enough that I plan on buying a new one the next time we have to weed the cracks in the patio. That one that is now dedicated to slugs is too worn.
A scoop strainer makes the perfect tool for sifting those little clumps out of cat litter.
I discovered that a serrated bread knife is great at cutting up cardboard boxes for recycling.
Another toothbrush repurposer here.
Also a fork repurposer - regular kitchen forks are great for precision jobs in the garden - pricking out seedlings, say, or high precision weeding…
Sticking in the kitchen, I have a couple of old, circular, plastic pots (I think they were condiment pots from the kebab shop) that work perfectly as molds for oven-bake falafels.
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ETA - I use water pump pliers (picture in case the US name is different) for an endless variety of jobs around the house. I have never even attempted to use them on a water pump.
We call them “channel locks.” It’s one of those brand name became the name for the thing deals.
Interesting (to me anyway) most of the pics of the tools on your UK site have the tool aiming down and left, on the US site they are pointing up.
I use them all the time, too. Usually for opening my bottle of lemon juice, or wood glue. Different pair, I have entirely too many.
I have a pair in my kitchen specifically for opening soda bottles
I have about 6 or 7 of varying sizes around the house and garage. Much handier and easier to use than a regular pair of pliers.
This is Un-Effing-Believable! Yesterday I was trying to come up with a way to modify one of my pitchforks to do exactly what this does. I meant to do a search to see if something already existed, but Beer intervened, and got busy today…
And here it shows up on The Dope! Thanks!
I’d just call those “adjustable pliers”, and while I know that plumbing is one thing they can be used for, they have way too many uses to name them for just one purpose.
That’s not possible.
When I used to work in building maintenance a million years ago, the “new guys” would always carry a full tool bag around, not realizing that you can fix almost anything with a pair of Channel-Locks and a screwdriver.
So true.
On another note: Dude! Welcome back!