What the Hell Is It?

I'll give you the answer because you're 85% of the way there.

Yes, the valves are for controlling movement.  My dad had it in mind to build a rowing exercise machine.  This is as far as he got.

The cartridge tape player is from AEI, where I worked for a decade.  "Foreground" original artist music (as opposed to background music) was programmed onto broadcast endless-loop C-carts for restaurants and fashion stores.  The thing above it is, I think, my dad's Dish network receiver.  Maybe.  I need to look at it again.  If it's a DVR I may want it!

The Hertogenbosch location is in fact the world's only Hieronymous Bosch museum, which is poorly marked, not familiar to residents of that town, and features a sculpture in the front yard which is not anything like Bosch's artwork.  Go figure.

Your dad must have been a very clever man. That is not the kind of setup George Dumbass would have conceived. I'm impressed, even though it would have a been a very ugly rowing machine if those things were exposed.

Excellent post. I quite enjoyed trying to figure out that one. Thanks.


So do I get 85% of a gazillion? And where do I cash in these points?

How much is a gazillion? How many zeroes? Kind of reminds me of when George W. was being briefed about the war in Iraq and was told forty Brazilian troops had been killed. He leaned over and asked Cheney, "How many in a brazillion?"

That Dish device may well be just a receiver. I just automatically think CVR when I see a satellite device, even though we do have one receiver in my house. Wait a minute. I have an old Dish receiver in the garage. I'll go see if it's the same thing. I also have an old Dish antenna. Anybody want it?

Should be easy to tell what this is. Tougher to tell what it's for. (bottle just for size)

I knew the pool cue one and the swimming block. You hold it between your legs while swimming so that you are mainly using your arms- it changes up the workout.

This looks fun, imma have to look around and see what I have!

_Howard wrote:

Should be easy to tell what this is. Tougher to tell what it's for. (bottle just for size)

Im still drawing a blank here. They look like postmodern hedgehogs but I'll be sorta surprised if that's right.

Maybe detachable legs for moving furniture or cars or a hydraulic lift. Pretty beat up so they get used in a rough environment, like a shop. The piece of metal they're sitting on doesn't appear to be attached, since in the second picture the left one is moved, not just rotated.

How am I doing so far?

Jenni wrote:

I knew the pool cue one and the swimming block. You hold it between your legs while swimming so that you are mainly using your arms- it changes up the workout.

This looks fun, imma have to look around and see what I have!

I figured you would get the pool cue one, Jenni. But there are two "pool cue" ones. Are you missing one?

NoCoPilot wrote:

Maybe detachable legs for moving furniture or cars or a hydraulic lift.  Pretty beat up so they get used in a rough environment, like a shop.  The piece of metal they're sitting on doesn't appear to be attached, since in the second picture the left one is moved, not just rotated.

How am I doing so far?

You're right about the environment. The two movable pieces are not detachable. They rotate, but the pivot point is offset. That allows them to separate when rotated. When in use, the two movable parts are rotated exactly 90 degrees from the closed position (by "closed" I mean as in the left pic).

Weight of the device is around ten pounds.

Something to do with holding work while welding it?

No. But it sounds as if you may have identified the "what is it" part.
So tell me what it is and I'll give you a "what's it for" clue.

Oh, what the hell. Here's a dead giveaway.

_Howard wrote:

Here ya go.

A sort of static based duster. That end part flares out or goes back in as needed, it helps keep the static charge there so it works.

Sorry, I though the chalk picker upper and the cue thingy (I know what they are for but not the proper name) we're like two parts of the same dealio.
The height adjuster thing, I thought was for a car, at first. Then I guessed portable gas shut off tool, then I read. So I didn't get that one on my own.

And the little feet looking thingies, aren't those for placing like gears or something in to hold them as they are worked on?

_Howard wrote:

Should be easy to tell what this is. Tougher to tell what it's for. (bottle just for size)

Rotor holders! For doing the rotors and brake parts!

Static duster. That's sounds reasonable.
Actually, it's a cue extension. If you don't like using a bridge, or a bridge won't let you get the shot you want, this thing slips on the end of the cue, making it much longer. Also good for playing on a 12-foot snooker table..

Not a rotor holder. If you refinish a brake rotor, you use a special lathe. I had one many years ago, but sold it when I got out of the biz.

It's a big magnet. Used for magnafluxing. To find small cracks in cylinder heads (mostly), you place the ends (points) of the magnet on the head and sprinkle on dust-sized iron filings. The crack will show up as an anomaly in the iron dust. Like in the last picture.

Oooohhhhh.
Wow, so interesting!
I never knew about anything but the bridge and I always hated using them. It just felt, well, (please, no offence to anyone!) like cheating. I feel the same way about the shoulder holder things on the weight bar, for those of us with rotator cuff issues. I never use it. It feels off balance and a bit like cheating. If youre injured, youre injured; if you can't do the move you can't do it. Practice. Practice is the answer, not special tools.
But anyway......

I love the magnet deal! That is so wild, I had no idea but it makes total sense.

The bridge isn't cheating. A lot of people feel that way and I don't know why. I've never been good with a bridge, so the extension is great for me. You have to get a really high-quality extension, or you can wind up spending hundreds of bucks getting your cue butt refinished.

You won't see magnets like that in shops anymore. All the newer stuff is electric and looks high-tech. The one I have is older than NoCo.

_Howard wrote:

The one I have is older than NoCo.

Just how in the H - E - double hockeysticks did you expect me to guess on these? Never SEEN, never HEARD of anything like them.

And they predate me, so they might as well be buried under a million years of sediment.

How? Because the fucking thing looks like a damned magnet!

No, they look like hedgehogs.

Um, NoCo.
Those are moles, dear.

NoCoPilot wrote:

Just how in the H - E - double hockeysticks did you expect me to guess on these?  Never SEEN, never HEARD of anything like them.

Check the image info on pic on my post that says "dead giveaway."

They don't get any easier than this. Okay, maybe a picture of a brick would be easier, but other than that, no.

Oh my god, you said no pictures of just PART of something.

There's an electric outlet on the wall behind it, so we're looking down on it.  There could be a hinge just off camera at the top.

Deep fat fryer?

No wait.  That white stuff at the top looks like a piece of carpet.  Is it a carpet shampooer?

Wait, I've got it.  It's a hardwood floor polisher, isn't it.

Or a deep fat fryer.

Or some kind of loom for weaving carpet.

Then frying it.

This is not part of something; it is a picture of the whole thing. Until there are holograms, we will have to settle for just seeing one view of anything. I could have left the lid closed, but that would have made it more difficult, don't you think? Yes, it is powered by electricity.

The view is looking down on the device, with the lid open. The depth of what you see is about four inches. It is in the position that is used (except, of course, one normally closes the lid, although it isn't required). Not many floor polishers of looms have lids. Actually, I can't think of ever having seen any that did.

That is a piece of carpet at the top.

I'll bet Jenni could get this in a heartbeat. There's a clue for you.

I already got it -- it's a carpet fryer.

Bingo.

The evidence of its having been used is displayed in the pic.

It is not a carpet fryer, nor a bingo fryer.

If it fries something, you have a problem.