What the Hell Is It?

NoCoPilot wrote:

As to the other item my hint is I'm using it right now.

Some kind of alien tea pot?

Or maybe a space heater. No, not outer space.

NoCoPilot wrote:

What the hell is a "carburetor synchronizer"?

It is for balancing the air flow on multiple carburetors. Lots of fun on a Jaguar with three SU carbs, even more fun on an Aston Martin DB6 with three dual-throat Webers.

NoCoPilot wrote:

I could just make out "UNI-SYN MOD. A" on the casting.  Google knew what that was.

That really surprised me. The thing hasn't been cleaned in about fifty years.

_Howard wrote:

The one in my toolbox I call a gear puller.

Or bearing puller.  Can't remember why I needed one, but nothing else does the trick.

"Not a container."

Also works for pulling some bearings (not wheel bearings). As I consider it, bearing puller is maybe more properly descriptive for that particular puller, as dedicated gear pullers tend to have more articulation and often three arms. I have three or four different pullers out in the tool box, even one just for pulling steering wheels. I went and checked, and sure enough my gear puller has three arms and more articulation.

"Not a container." Yeah, I forgot that bit.

Does that mean that nothing is ever put into the device? Or does it mean that the primary function is not as a container? How big is it?

I'm thinking this one will be really easy.

Please forgive the dust - they've been in storage since 1960.

Another simple one.

Just for NoCoPilot (you know what I mean).


\

I've got it! It's the Mother Ship!

_Howard wrote:

Just for NoCoPilot \

It looks like some kind of CD player but the drawer is broken

_Howard wrote:

I've got it! It's the Mother Ship!

Errr, is that why my butt hurts?

NoCoPilot wrote:

Errr, is that why my butt hurts?

I was going to ask you to tell us what that thing is, but now I'm not sure I want to know.

_Howard wrote:

I was going to ask you to tell us what that thing is, but now I'm not sure I want to know.

Okay, it's the top half of a really great reading lamp I bought, a LED lamp on a swivel head with an articulated arm making it easy to place it the above the book in your lap aimed enough away from you that the light isn't in your eyes. I've tried MANY reading lamps, and it's hard to find the combination of bright white light with complete adjustability -- you usually get one or the other. Or fragility - I went through SEVEN full-spectrum fluorescent lamps ($$$) but they got hot and burned out or if accidentally bumped they died mysteriously and never could be revived.

The funny thing about this lamp is that, being LED, it puts out essentially no heat at all. Not even warm to the touch. So why the elaborate aluminum cooling fins on the top? Clueless.

Cheat! Not supposed to present just parts. No way anyone would ever get that. There's no way to figure it out. I won't even tell you some of the things I looked at on the net trying to find something like that.

I had not planned on posting this thing, as I don't believe anyone would ever identify it. There are many people in the world who would say, "Oh, yeah. I have one of those." But I don't think any of those folks are here.

Anyway, for one million points, identify this. And note that it is presented in whole and in detail.
Maybe I should note that the finish on this one is lousy as it is a prototype.

It's a crack pipe isn't it? It looks like a miniature natural gas shutoff wrench, so it's probably some obscure carburetor adjustment tool for a 1938 Packard Eight 1601.

Nothing to do with carburetors or Packards.

A tool for adjusting the internal workings on a pool table to make it absolutely level?

_Howard wrote:

The front says "STYLUS" and the top says "GRAS" which leads me to guess its a scale for setting tracking weight on a turntable. Put the needle on the little red platform. Never seen anything like it before though.

Absolutely right. Actually, it says GRMS on the top.

I obscured the front where it says STYLUS and then uploaded the wrong file to photobucket.

It is an old gauge. Bought it in about 1964 or '65.

Now that I look closer I see "Garrard" on the front too.

What about the crack pipe?

I'll give you a million points for this one.

Is that just part of something,or is it the whole thing, used as is?

No. No crack pipe.

_Howard wrote:

Is that just part of something,or is it the whole thing, used as is?

No questions. That gives too much away. Why do you think it's worth a million points?

_Howard wrote:

Cheat! Not supposed to present just parts. No way anyone would ever get that. There's no way to figure it out. I won't even tell you some of the things I looked at on the net trying to find something like that.

I had not planned on posting this thing, as I don't believe anyone would ever identify it. There are many people in the world who would say, "Oh, yeah. I have one of those." But I don't think any of those folks are here.

Anyway, for one million points, identify this. And note that it is presented in whole and in detail.
Maybe I should note that the finish on this one is lousy as it is a prototype.

What's really annoying is that I kind of recognize this - I'm sure I've seen one before. But I've no idea what it is.

richard09 wrote:

What's really annoying is that I kind of recognize this - I'm sure I've seen one before. But I've no idea what it is.

You ever work on a Volkswagen?

NoCoPilot wrote:

The funny thing about this lamp is that, being LED, it puts out essentially no heat at all.  Not even warm to the touch.  So why the elaborate aluminum cooling fins on the top?  Clueless.

The cooling fins are there to remove the heat generated by the lamp. The LEDs do not create any IR energy, so there is heat from the bulbs. But somewhere between 50% and 90% of the electricity used by the device is converted to heat. Thus the heat sink.

NoCoPilot wrote:

_Howard wrote:

Is that just part of something,or is it the whole thing, used as is?

No questions.  That gives too much away.  Why do you think it's worth a million points?

I'm afraid that the item appears much too generic to figure out its specific application.

Any guesses on these things?
Come on, this should be easy.