It’s a heavy duty one of those.
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For opening those high louvered windows, like in some older school houses. Those windows had a little ring for unlatching the window. The hook at the end of the rod is for grabbing the ring.
On the other hand, that tool might have had a something attached to the hook end but it simply rotted away. In that case, oh well…
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Perhaps a loop for hanging it on a hook.
A left-handed one too, if I’m not mistaken.
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Is the end with the “L” shaped hook have a corroded look to it?
The tire rubber looks like it is aluminum pop, or blind riveted. I do not think this was very common till early 1960’s for home use.
I would say for lifting those concrete water meter covers, and the rubber is so if it slips off the hook,your arm will not twist. The wrapping is to give your second hand a grip.
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This notion of “a very specialized tool, handmade for a very particular operation” strikes me as the most promising, which means you may never know what it’s for unless you can find the original maker.
It’s a bong. Or, at least, I could make it into one.
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I don’t think it’s a tool for turning something. The narrow handle wouldn’t provide much leverage, and the riveted rubber flap would get in the way.
Could the rubber thing be the remnants of a rubber hinge? Rubber hinges are easy to make at home. Maybe someone cut the metal thing out years ago and the sharp edges left by the knife wore away.
The tape makes me think somebody grabbed this in the middle.
If you google image search for ‘water meter cover key’ you get some interestingly similar items.
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Oh good, you found my dooximarjuwhoorl. Also, I don’t like the shade of curtains you use in your back windows. Try something easier to stare at.
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It’s a zither.
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Reminds me of the tool i have to pick avocados off the tall tree in the backyard. That however has a proper hook on the end. But since its home-made, i guess modifications are allowed.
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It looks exactly like a wrench for the water meter.
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That is clearly an Easter Day curiosity increaser. Sometimes called a “frauenfelder.” Haven’t seen one of those since Good Friday. I would take it to the local shop to see what they’ll give you for it.
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A tool for lifting sewer caps and other heavy concrete covers for utilities. The black pad on the handle is to rest the palm of the hand against for leverage - looks like it was added later. Water meter keys are different and have prongs for turning the valve - this is just used to lift the covers.
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It’s a soldering iron for old metal pipe sewer systems
Agree.
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Okay, let’s walk through some of the obvious pieces.
KentB above makes a cogent statement, the rivets are potentially newer. And it’s not designed to be twisted on the long axis with strength. Which leads us to the direction that it’s designed to be used, which is pulled with strength.
The tab makes a strong hand on the end abrade and get blisters if it was used with force. The person that made this probably didn’t like blisters. They welded well, and bent well, they were clever.
Clearly stick welded, post ww2, because of the lack of surface porosity present in the pics (from pre-flux dark ages stick welders).
The white material on the hook would be really nice to get some data on it, but more about that in a sec…
It has 2 primary holds, one by holding the loop end on either side of the tab, and one was attached to the rubber. The shaft being wound is probably a function of it’s use, and not a primary grip. The tape isn’t all f’d up from gloves or hands wrenching on it. It really looks like it was meant to be strong in the horizontal axis, pulled, pushed; with the hook being the business end. I think the tape was there as an after thought, or to keep it visible in a dark place.
Since the rubber tab end is not strong enough to do anything major with here’s my guess.
It was designed to either pull something up or scrape something in a place you can’t reach. Given the white crust on the end, my guess is chimneys. (sewer is right out from the lack of staining on the white wrapping).
“I’m standing on my roof, and I lower this in to the chimney, I lower it down on the belt that used to be attached to the rubber tab and I can catch a one of the flue tabs from the inside if I need to. I can pull the flue open and closed in some fashion.” Maybe a flue tab hook for a multiple chimney house? I’ve seen some weird flues.
Test the white crust with vinegar, does it foam? it’s base…and probably from a chimney. No foam? Mineral deposits…though who knows why it would have tape on it and no stains.
The key would seem to be the crust on the end of the hook and any products of corrosion it contains. Test it and you will find the answer.
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It looks very much like a manhole or mains water stopcock cover remover.
