What Is It? Game 54

Hooray! It’s time for our collaboration with What is it? blog. If you can guess what today’s strange object is, you’ll win a Free Neatorama T-shirt (old design).

Place your guess in the comment. One guess per comment, please, but you can submit as many as you can think of. Post no URL - let others play, please. First one to guess right will win the T-shirt. If no one guessed right, then the funniest guess will get it instead.

For more clues, check out What is it? Blog.

Update 2/29/08 - the answer is:

A battery date marker, some old batteries had a lead bar on the top into which the date was stamped with this piece. The numbers on it represent the 12 months of 1956, and the first three months of 1957.

I suppose “stamp tool” is right, so Marcin Petruszka #3 got that right first. But since no one specifically said “stamp tool for battery” I’ve decided I’ll give TWO winning shirts. One to Marcin, and another one to Louise #25 for the funniest entry (Iron Man’s wedding ring) - congrats, guys!

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Posted on

February 28, 2008 at 3:35 am by Alex
Category: What Is It

41 Comments to "What Is It? Game 54"

Barjak
February 28th, 2008 at 3:50 am
This is a primitive hula hoop
Chris
February 28th, 2008 at 3:56 am
A really old-school bicycle gear?
Marcin Petruszka
February 28th, 2008 at 3:58 am
I’ve never seen anythng like this, but I guess what this could be used to - Looks like steel or cast iron to me, and it has those reversed letters protruding from the surface… This could be some rotating part of a press - you could turn the ring changing the numbers/letters that eventually get pressed against some softer material - paper, copper, lead.
Am I at least close?
Fun to do this anyway!
Ali S.
February 28th, 2008 at 4:14 am
I believe this is the toughest looking dog collar ever. Spikes? Psssh. This is for the dog who knows who’s boss of the dog yard.
Dan
February 28th, 2008 at 4:30 am
This is a stamp tool.
Francesco
February 28th, 2008 at 4:56 am
I think it’s a complementary piece in a mould used for the injection of melted plastic materials.
Romain
February 28th, 2008 at 5:58 am
A stamp tool for a lunar calendar ?
Lasse
February 28th, 2008 at 6:19 am
A Klingon frisbee.
nick
February 28th, 2008 at 6:50 am
im always too late… its some sort of stamp.
jon
February 28th, 2008 at 7:11 am
key used by the Egyptians to control their Stargate :o)
dodgyd55
February 28th, 2008 at 7:22 am
metal punch/stamp
Craig Clayton
February 28th, 2008 at 7:48 am
I believe it is to hung on a small valve on the rising stem part of the shaft to indicate when it was turned on or off by the controlling authority.The valve would be for gas or water.
JT
February 28th, 2008 at 8:10 am
It’s a stamp tool used to put numbers and/or letters on antibiotics and other medications.
Miller
February 28th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Looks like it is used to make chains.
matt
February 28th, 2008 at 8:47 am
it has characteristics of a spark plug gap tool, but obviously it’s not for spark plugs because it’s measurements are far larger than needed. i’m at a loss. it’s photoshopped!
Nathan
February 28th, 2008 at 9:06 am
This is a mold insert for adding a datestamp to manufactured goods. You slot the insert into the mold in the proper orientation, and the date shown is molded into the product. This particular model appears to be from 1956, since the dates run are of the form “m-yy” and the yy is 56.
Jerse
February 28th, 2008 at 9:08 am
tug-of-war. Tug-Of-War. TUG-OF-WAR
whitlock
February 28th, 2008 at 9:50 am
It looks like it’s attached to a cog to increase it’s size. The inner teething are about the same size, but it increases the width between teeth.

Well, that’s my guess.
Carl from Santee
February 28th, 2008 at 10:45 am
I knew this one right away. It’s an ancient Hawaiian Lei from the Iron Age. It’s in really good shape, but heck, those things lasted forever.
Dan
February 28th, 2008 at 11:02 am
its what i use when i can’t find my brass knuckles.
anon
February 28th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Everyone knows that’s a Spacely Sprocket.
Craig Claytom
February 28th, 2008 at 11:16 am
I believe it is a ring to be hung on the rising part of a small stem valve for the control of water or gas by some controlling authority. It can be read backwards by the use of a mirror.
Joe H
February 28th, 2008 at 11:19 am
It’s like a stamp, but not really. It’s used for etching a number into metal. You put the desired number face-down on whatever you want to brand, then whack it on the back with a hammer.
Myackie
February 28th, 2008 at 11:30 am
LOL @ #21
Louise
February 28th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Iron Man’s wedding ring. The date is imprinted so he can’t forget his anniversary.
Lindsay
February 28th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
It looks like it would go on an old printing press
JD
February 28th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
It’s a contraceptive ring for the new female Terminator models.
Lukas
February 28th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
It’s a pill press.
unohav_1
February 28th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Looks like you use it to strip kernels off a corn cobb. Heh, course I can’t tell its size. Maybe it’s for a REALLY big corn cobb…
Pedro
February 28th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Calculator
Christophe
February 28th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Nerdy branding iron.
J
February 28th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
It’s not a Spacely Sproket, it’s a Cogswell Cog!
EDUARDO
February 28th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
It couldn’t been used for dates or months because the caracter are fixed, and are 15; then maybe it was used to stamp the size of some tool like 01/56 or 15/56
the man
February 28th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
May I just say that this is the Hardest Nerd Game that you can’t sick a computer onto.

and yes it is a Cogswelll Cog.
EDUARDO
February 28th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
or maybe a tooth condom with a big hole
Dean Venture
February 28th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
It’s part of the Enigma machine!
R. Harnett
February 28th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Unfortunately the name of this little beauty escapes me at the moment, but obviously, just from looking at it you can tell its creator was a visionary, the provocative bumps and flat finish are a combination rarely seen today. These are useful in many circumstances, e.g.: some guy shoots you a snook in church; an idiot is trying to argle-bargle your girlfriend; that guy with the chainsaw doesn’t know when to stop; a couple of weasels are bothering your chickens; or even when some hockey puck needs his firkin realigned. I guess that’s enough for now, those are just off the top of my head, I’m sure there are plenty more times when this would come in handy.

Robot Hunter
jojo
February 28th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
THE ONLY TRUE

es parte de un sistema maya conocido como

“maquina para puñetas”

asi es, en esos tiempos cualquier pendejo se podia divertir con ella

segun antiguas inscripciones el rey Huixtlillopoxtli jugaba con su hijo todos los dias con una de estas
RyanDS
February 28th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
It molds the shoe size into the rubber heel of a boot. The sizes are in US/Canadian and Japanese I believe.
StylusHappenstance
February 28th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Like some have already guessed, it stamps numbers, but more specifically, it stamps the 12 months of 1956 and then Jan-Mar of 1957.
Ben
February 29th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Really painful cock ring.

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