What is it.... the game! Post unknown objects to ID... and to stump others!

@ Anne Miller: Is there any indication on the label as to what the gauge of the wire is? It's hard to judge from the picture whether we're looking at something as thin as picture-hanging wire, or thick enough for something like a bike brake cable.

Those are crimp sleeves or nicopress sleeves   Also called swags.  They are used for joining cables or making an eye/loop on the end of a cable.  They come in all sorts of sizes

Pearl, at least that's an idea ... if we had a mower.

I am thinking it came with some kind of tool.  I think the wire is to fine for a throttle.

Jay, when he showed it to me I said that is for a rabbit snare. It is called wire rope so I guess it is braided.  Maybe 1/16" wire. He put it away from where ever he found it.


 

I have decided that this is something that came with a tool. Maybe there was a key in the bag and the wire was to attach the key to the tool, like for maintenance. Or maybe the wire was to attach to the tool and then a cap for adding oil like to a chainsaw.  I guess we will never know.

Did it possibly come with some sort of hanging shop lamp so you could put the height where you wanted despite the ceiling height?  

Jay, that is an idea.  I looked at our grow lights and there is a hole on each end where you could insert the clamps and then slide them so they don't come out.  Only problem is I am not sure the wire is long enough and then there is still that spring.

I just can't think of anything that would need a spring.

@ Anne Miller - Is it possible that the spring was only added to the bag because it was small and easy to loose? For example, the blade retraction spring for our saw broke and we needed a *very* specific length and spring rate. We tried all the springs available at the local hardware store, but eventually had to order from a specialty tool place. It would have been the sort of thing I'd have nagged him to "bag and label" so it didn't get lost!

I am sorting a can of fasteners (bolts and screws) that are between 40 to 100 years old. I’m finding a category of screw I can’t readily identify. It comes in straight slot, Phillips, and hex heads, in many sizes. I think it’s not a wood screw or a sheet metal screw — no sharp point. I think it’s not a bolt; the threads are too open and spiral for any standard nuts.

There exist a bunch of self-tapping sheet metal screw designs in the world that are superficially similar, but they all have some sort of point or little gudges at the tip for cutting threadlike holes. These screws narrow slightly at the tip but are flat on the ends.

My best guess is that they are an obsolete (I can’t find them on any modern hardware ID chart) style of sheet-metal screws for pre-drilled holes - maybe replaced in modern times by self-tapping screws?

Dan Boone: That's what I'd use them for, fastening drilled metal together. The slight taper to the shaft would make them force their way in and hold tight, I think.
I hope someone who is more certain will know :D

Edit: Actually, the air flow cowls on VW engines use a similar type of screw, they might be for something like that, not so much the cheap corrugated we are usued to these days, but heavier gauge sheet metal.

Those look like PK screws.  We use them on airplanes for holding predrilled sheet metal like was guessed.
Typically they thread into a tinnerman nut

Tim Siemens: I'll award that an apple, I think you are very correct!! I had never heard that name for the nuts before, but they would work perfectly with those. I have those all over, from VW's.

Awesome!  Armed with Tim's name for them (PK screws) I was able to do a bit more specific Google searching.  They are indeed a kind of self-tapping sheet metal screw, specifically a "Type B" (for "blunt") which is why I was so confused.  Wikipedia confirms my speculation that they are for applications where holes are pre-drilled; this makes them "self-tapping" but importantly not "self-drilling" like the screws I carelessly referred to as self-tapping.  Wikipedia:

Not all self-tapping screws have a sharp tip. The type B tip is blunt and intended for use with a pilot hole, often in sheet materials. The lack of a sharp tip is helpful for packaging and handling and in some applications may be helpful for reducing the clearance necessary on the reverse of a fastened panel or for making more thread available on a given length screw.

Tim's reference to aircraft use makes perfect sense in context.  These are from the collection of my deceased father-in-law, whose entire adult career was spent as a ... wait for it ... machinist for Boeing.  Whether these screws came home in his lunchbox or were merely a technology he was familiar with and so used in his own projects, I am not prepared to speculate.  (Especially since he's buried a few hundred yards over yonder and his shade seems to be gently communicative -- he taught me to pick persimmons from beyond the grave, though that's a story for another thread I guess.)

I'm pleased to have this sorted out.  Meanwhile, I can report that the "Tinnerman" folded sheet-metal nuts are something I did actually see for the first time while looking at fastener ID charts earlier this evening; they are also known as speed nuts.

Game on

I think it's a board game - version of the one with the white and black tokens like "Go" or "Othello".

Jay Angler wrote:I think it's a board game - version of the one with the white and black tokens like "Go" or "Othello".

No but I will the resemblance.

It had a function.

If it didn't have the pegs, I would say it is for "Chinese Checkers" which uses marbles.

Hint:

It wasn't used for enjoyment/fun

I would have guessed some sort of board game also...so if not that, maybe a method to keep track of something? to count thing?

Is there a difference in which end of the peg is up? or is the red end always up?

Do I get to ask questions?  

I did a little digging on my lunch break, and it's not so much a game, but a dexterity test used in neuroscience for, but not limited to, people with brain injuries for example. There are different kinds, like the Purdue Dexterity test, but this one appears to be the U.S.E.S. Dexterity Test. It looks like a number of different tests are performed on the pegboard, using one or both hands, flipping the pegs white side up or red side up from one side of the board to another. A quick internet search will show some more information on these.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purdue_Pegboard_Test

Bingo, it was a dexterity test used by the employer in a cigar factory

Jay Mullaky wrote:Bingo, it was a dexterity test used by the employer in a cigar factory

That makes total sense - they'd have used it before hiring I bet, to find the people who could do light weight things quickly and accurately.

Now this one is gonna be obvious and I have shown them in another thread but I think they are kinda cool and I rescued them from the skip

Apple for James Freyr for the dexterity test thing. Cool!
I know what the other things are, but I read the other thread, and think I'm disqualified :D

Obvious to those of us in publications, advertising or authorship. I think I’d include antiques in there too. I do or have done all of them. They’re print slugs for print advertising. Unfortunately, I don’t have a pic to post to this thread, although there’s a few things here.

I agree they’re cool!

There were 6 of these in a baggie at a thrift store. I know what I wanted them for, but what are they?
3 inches long.

Pearl Sutton wrote:There were 6 of these in a baggie at a thrift store. I know what I wanted them for, but what are they?
3 inches long.

To me, they look like old time cable clips. You put the tube part over your cord, and then nail or screw through one or more of the holes into the surface the cord is to run along, to keep it from flopping about and catching things.

Daniel Schneider wrote:
To me, they look like old time cable clips. You put the tube part over your cord, and then nail or screw through one or more of the holes into the surface the cord is to run along, to keep it from flopping about and catching things.

Hm, don't think so, they are 3 inches long, inner curve diameter is over an inch, any cable that big would be hidden, not visible and shiny gold colored. I have cable clamps like that, and they are much smaller and not pretty.
I think they are a closet or drapery thing, but I'm not sure.
Keep thinking, I'm curious.
I know what I wanted them for, but am puzzled by them.
:D

Pearl Sutton wrote:

Daniel Schneider wrote:
To me, they look like old time cable clips. You put the tube part over your cord, and then nail or screw through one or more of the holes into the surface the cord is to run along, to keep it from flopping about and catching things.

Hm, don't think so, they are 3 inches long, inner curve diameter is over an inch, any cable that big would be hidden, not visible and shiny gold colored. I have cable clamps like that, and they are much smaller and not pretty.
I think they are a closet or drapery thing, but I'm not sure.
Keep thinking, I'm curious.
I know what I wanted them for, but am puzzled by them.
:D

It's been a LONG time - but I've seen these things, before. I'm having some CRS, but it will come to me - but, I'm thinking, at the moment, you're at least on the right track, about the drapes or laundry. What's coming to mind, for me is closet rod spacers, too prevent clothes from getting wrinkled up, on the hanger. If I stop thinking about it, it may come to me, lol.

Carla Burke wrote:
It's been a LONG time - but I've seen these things, before. I'm having some CRS, but it will come to me - but, I'm thinking, at the moment, you're at least on the right track, about the drapes or laundry. What's coming to mind, for me is closet rod spacers, too prevent clothes from getting wrinkled up, on the hanger. If I stop thinking about it, it may come to me, lol.

Yeah, I have seen them too. And I also am having CRS... :)
I looked up pics of clothes hanger spacers and didn't see any of these. Might have been searching the wrong words?

Pearl Sutton wrote:

Daniel Schneider wrote:
To me, they look like old time cable clips. You put the tube part over your cord, and then nail or screw through one or more of the holes into the surface the cord is to run along, to keep it from flopping about and catching things.

Hm, don't think so, they are 3 inches long, inner curve diameter is over an inch, any cable that big would be hidden, not visible and shiny gold colored. I have cable clamps like that, and they are much smaller and not pretty.
I think they are a closet or drapery thing, but I'm not sure.
Keep thinking, I'm curious.
I know what I wanted them for, but am puzzled by them.
:D

Ah, no, hadn't gotten how big the diameter was from the picture- a 1-inch diameter cable does seem a bit big to have exposed...

Pearl Sutton wrote:There were 6 of these in a baggie at a thrift store. I know what I wanted them for, but what are they?
3 inches long.

they look like tablecloth clips.  They clip on the edge of the table to keep the tablecloths from blowing off.  Usually made generically for picnic tables, but sometimes they were made to go with specific tables.

r ranson wrote:

Pearl Sutton wrote:There were 6 of these in a baggie at a thrift store. I know what I wanted them for, but what are they?
3 inches long.

they look like tablecloth clips.  They clip on the edge of the table to keep the tablecloths from blowing off.  Usually made generically for picnic tables, but sometimes they were made to go with specific tables.

Could they be paper binding clips? (e.g. used for binding notebooks?)

Natalie Schluter wrote:

Could they be paper binding clips? (e.g. used for binding notebooks?)

They are an inch diameter shafts, and you can see wear patterns where they have slid on something like a bar. I am thinking they are closet stuff, but I can't find them under any words I have tried.

Pearl Sutton wrote:

Natalie Schluter wrote:

Could they be paper binding clips? (e.g. used for binding notebooks?)

They are an inch diameter shafts, and you can see wear patterns where they have slid on something like a bar. I am thinking they are closet stuff, but I can't find them under any words I have tried.

Hm... are they very stiff?  Or can you bend them at all?  That might give us a clue.

You are thinking a curtain rail holder,  like this?

Natalie Schluter wrote:

Pearl Sutton wrote:

Natalie Schluter wrote:

Could they be paper binding clips? (e.g. used for binding notebooks?)

They are an inch diameter shafts, and you can see wear patterns where they have slid on something like a bar. I am thinking they are closet stuff, but I can't find them under any words I have tried.

Hm... are they very stiff?  Or can you bend them at all?  That might give us a clue.

You are thinking a curtain rail holder,  like this?

More like this: https://www.amazon.com/Teensery-Windproof-Silicone-Anti-Slip-Organizer/dp/B07X34MXXY?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B07X34MXXY

Natalie Schluter wrote:

Pearl Sutton wrote:

Natalie Schluter wrote:

Could they be paper binding clips? (e.g. used for binding notebooks?)

They are an inch diameter shafts, and you can see wear patterns where they have slid on something like a bar. I am thinking they are closet stuff, but I can't find them under any words I have tried.

Hm... are they very stiff?  Or can you bend them at all?  That might give us a clue.

You are thinking a curtain rail holder,  like this?

Sure I've seen these things before, but just can't place them now - that is seriously frustrating!

So, to hazard a guess - think they are a type of curtain ring. With some old variations the curtains were hand sewn through the holes or used small hooks, and then simply clipped over the curtain rod.

F Agricola wrote:

So, to hazard a guess - think they are a type of curtain ring. With some old variations the curtains were hand sewn through the holes or used small hooks, and then simply clipped over the curtain rod.

That is what i was thinking from the beginning...  maybe for the thin see through material on curtains.  Sew a single loop through the ornate holes and kinda scrunch together the material.  One for the right side.  One for the left side.   Or spread out ....all six (or eight or ten if some are missing) to hold an entire window's curtains.  Could even use those curtain hooks instead of a sewn loop(like are used on cord drawn curtains for opening/closing...though i don't think there would be a way to draw these...just the hooks there for hanging them.).

~Edit:  Couldn't find anything from a search of "antique brass curtain".  Maybe they are "one-offs".  Made by some Victorian handy-man for his wife as the easiest solution to her curtain issue. Lol  

C. E. Rice wrote:Could even use those curtain hooks instead of a sewn loop(like are used on cord drawn curtains for opening/closing...though i don't think there would be a way to draw these...just the hooks there for hanging them.).  

These hooks:

I'm really thinking more like Carla Burke's link, things that slide on a closet bar and space hangers or something. Or on a curtain rod and hold the hooks of pleated drapes. They are not custom things, cheap, stamped out metal. I have seen them before. I just can't come up with where exactly. And I keep going back to clothes hanger spacers. But why I can't find them on the net under any name I can come up with is bugging me. I want to say they would be 1980s or 1990s cheap crap from Walmart or similar places.

For what it's worth, curtains are what I'll be using them for, because I hang them weird and use them weird. I need wide spacers to slide easier than narrow loops, has to do with the weight distribution, my curtains stay intact, like a sliding door, rather than scrunch up at the edges. So I'm more making lightweight sliding doors than normal drapes, and the tech I'm designing is different.

Keep thinking, I'm learning from what you are all saying  :)

What am I?