MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Stanley]

A deathly hush... Perhaps a clue will help?

[PanBiker]

Pressure gauge or lubricant level indicator.

[Tizer]

When I first saw the India Stone photo I was going to say that it was a stone for sharpening blades but then noted the colour and thought it was something in brass. I have a modern sharpening stone which is exactly the same shape but grey in colour.

[chinatyke]

A thermometer but for high temperature. Steam?

[Tizer]

As per Chinatyke but for caramelising sugar? Or a depth gauge for indicating either the water pressure at depth or the actual depth of the water?

[Stanley]

China is there. He noticed that it reads up to 200C. It's the thermometer off an economiser in its protective case. The Base screws into a pocket on the outlet water pipe. Tiz, 'India' stones are very hard and usually good quality. Many high duty stones are white these days. My dad had a razor stone that was bright red when cleaned.
Next for shaving?

[Tizer]

How about this one? The ruler is showing centimetres.

[Pluggy]

Device for rolling down envelope flaps and stamps etc ?

[chinatyke]

2 of them fit together to form a circle. Half of a yin-yang ornament.

[Tizer]

Sorry, no. Keep trying!

[Big Kev]

A door stop

[Marilyn]

Absolutely, a doorstop. No question about it...( mine are blue)

[chinatyke]

Absolutely, a doorstop. No question about it...( mine are blue)

The other half of the yin-yang?

[Stanley]

The door stop sounds feasible but I have never seen one like it. My first reaction was that it is a device used by a draughtsman (or woman!) for drawing curves, I have a similar item in my drawing kit.

[Gloria]

It would only be similar Stanley, but not identical. You don't get those in a drawing kit.
Don't know what it is though, just looks like a teardrop.

[Tizer]

Well that was fun! I should have acknowledged Chinatyke's comment about half a ying-yang because he is, of course correct that it could be used for that - but that isn't it's main purpose. Kev and Maz are spot on, it's a doorstop called a Stoppy - at least that's what ours is called. The grey inner part is plastic and the red part is a rubbery material. You stand it upright as shown in the photo and stick the pointy bit under the door. Mrs Tiz found it in B&Q and immediately had a more specific use for it. Our conservatory door opens outwards and we like to keep it open in warm weather but it only opens as far as 90 degrees and there isn't an easy way of anchoring it open without fixing something into the patio which would then catch our feet dangerously. She opens the door then sticks the Stoppy into the gap between door and frame; the rubbery material is `sticky' (like the anti-slip stuff they put on toothbrush and tool handles) and that stops it slipping out. Other uses have been suggested on the firm's web page (it seems to be a Canadian business):
http://www.utrdecorating.com/products/about-stoppy/

[Stanley]

Small quirky inventions like that remind me of the time my Uncle Edward invented what he named 'The Zonk'. It was a device that clamped on the back of a long brush with a worn stale hole so you could fix the stale firmly. Not a success but another model made later sold well.



Coalbrookdale did a nice line in cast iron door stops....
Next for shaving?

[Stanley]

Try this one....

[Pluggy]

Its a mousetrap based on the ancient and outlawed mantrap principal.

A 'baby' version of this for mice :

[Marilyn]

Tizer...we have also been known to use our "Stoppy/s" when transporting certain things in the car. They were invaluable when moving house to jam down beside or between objects to stop damage to upholstery etc.
Unfortunately my son's Labrador (brainless but most affectionate) seems to believe they are toys I have provided for her enjoyment, so I put them away when she visits.

[Stanley]

Pluggy has it straight away. But not a mousetrap, designed specifically for the North American version of the Scottish midge, very large and savage.....
Next for shaving?

[Tizer]

Maz, thanks for the extra use for a Stoppy. No doubt we'll think of others as time goes on!

[Stanley]

[David Whipp]

That one's stopped me dead, Stanley.

[Stanley]

You've been keeping up with me in the shed haven't you.... Still gloating over it this morning. It proves that despite my eyes I can still do good work....