Hyperactive Machine.

Used to hold a horse's leg still while affixing a horseshoe

19th century cock ring? They were girthier back then.

A pyromaniac's magnifying glass?

(safety first)

holder for a crucible in a forge or chem lab

It looks a lot like a US spherical shot/shell artillery gauge

It's definitely something you heat and then use to mark, old artifact use in the kitchen to torch creme brulee before the portable torch was invented!

Looks like a peg to hold something securely closed.. like a gate or something. Don't think that's right since it's wooden though?

its a rollock used to hold your oars in a dinghy

used in ancient basketball..

it's a girth measurement device once used by ancient Greeks on the Isle of Phallus.

Charcoal starter?

Antique witch finder. You hold it up to your eye, and you'll be able to spot the witch in the crowd.

Quite ingenious actually. Once the lens had fallen out (as with this example) it could still be used as a witch finder. You simply apply the finder firmly to the posterior (i.e. "smack them in the bum with the metal bit") until they say "I'm a Witch! I'm a Witch!"

A passing token used upon single-line bidirectional-travel railway tracks. The hoop is picked up by the driver from a signal box (easy to collect on an arm) and handed over at another signal box at the end of the single-track section. This is probably from England's days of steam-driven locomotives.
EG.

glass blowing tool?

tongue scraper for a hippopotamus.

a giant's bubble blower

an idiot's butterfly net

A rug beater?

@graymccarty -- when affixing a horseshoe, you hold a horse's foot between your knees.

Used as a rug beater for years this artifact was adiscovered to have been stolen from the tomb of Kutchetechtun. The pharoah Tuts personal animal handler. Pictographs of found in the tomb disply that this was a tool used in the circumcism of Elephants.

It's a removable insert to fasten an oar a boat while in use - otherwise known as a rowlock - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowlock

A branding iron?

bubble maker. of course!

I have an antique bottle opener that looks exactly like that, so that's what I'll say it is.

It's a Toddler Tug. Pass the loop through your child's arm and cinch it up at his armpit. No more leaning down to yank young Caleb by the elbow. Just grab his handle. Those Puritans sure knew how to raise kids.

it's the tool that inspired the "topsy-tail" -- facilitates various ponytail-inspired hairstyles.

Oh, that's an instrument of torture. Anyone can see that!

A device for removing a horseshoe

It's a hand held lightning rod.

It is a bedding or a sheet warmer. It was kept in a container that would be placed in the fireplace. When it was warm it would be passed over the sheets and under the blankets to warm the sheets on cold nights.

A Polish tennis racket.

It's Magic Mirror from Romper Room! I see Lisa and Kevin and AJ and Miss C...

Hey Steve Anthony- can you READ? It clearly says, "Post no URLs." Dork.

This is a safety magnifying glass. No glass, just dip in soapy water to trap a bubble lens across the aperture. Inspect your stamps or light your fire, shake off and put it away in your pocket.

it's a very, VERY ineffective spoon.

Blacksmith tool

High Voltage fuzzing ring. Used to see if electric lines are energized

Used in ice cream shops, an instrument such as the one pictured is used to set a cone in whilst the server prepares the ice cream, grabs toppings, ect. Quite useful for those pointy-ended waffle cones, actually.

Looks like a rug beater.

Turn of the century stencil. This one is an O.

For holding a separatory funnel or something of the like in a chemistry lab

I say a rope-making implement.

Tool from one of those "don't touch the rotating spiral!" carnival games!

I'm with #13, passing token for single-track railway lines.

A medical device for really big boils or carbuncles

It's a metal ring with a wooden handle.

Lol Craig.

Has anyone gotten it yet?
I'll guess again.... uuuhm...
Looks like maybe a shoe horn?
The wood looks kinda flat *shrugs*

Crimper for castrating livestock.

Looks like one of those carnival rings where you have to pass it over a winding piece of metal without touching it.

Winding key

1st gen bubble blower.

It's a kind of lock used for inter-locking two train wagons.

It's a ringer! You ring your clothes through it.

A pestle... part of a mortar and pestle...

It is easier to grind wheat to grain?

a big bubble blower or probably a big round brick maker

I don't know what its called, but I think it was used to size cannonballs.

Very early model fly-swatter...?

I'm taking another guess. Could this be a tennis ball sizer? If the ball fits through the hole it's no good for Wimbledon. The wooden handle could also be used to prod to check firmness.

It is the tool my ex-wife's lawyer used to rip out my soul.

No! Wait! The cork from Ted Kennedy's first bottle!

It's a cannon ball sizer from the Revolutionary thru Civil War Era.

It's used to hold test tubes
(over a flame) or to pick up test tubes like out of a boiling solution

I don't know what it is...but I do know that Madoff was fitted with one for prison yesterday.

It's for carrying containers of hot molten metal.

For carrying a giant test tube full of urine from bathroom to lab.

It's a tool for smashing ostrich eggs.

It used to be used for holding a baby bottle of milk over a flame to be warmed.

In ancient times this device was used to bean errant husbands.

Ooh, great guesses, guys - bl0ss0m #5 was close, but Anth #61 got it exactly right, so congrats!

Well, I think you're both wrong.

It's Edison's first filament.

Hey!A cannon ball is a spherical shot/shell! Ah well - next time I suppose...Congrats Anth!

wanker?