Shall we play a game? Q: What is it?

[atgcpaul]

Necessity is the mother of invention, right?

If you watch Ask This Old House, you'll be familiar with the concept. Look at
the pictures and tell me what it's used for. The prize is knowing you got the
answer right. Sorry, I'm cheap.

A little extra information.

The business end of this tool is attached to a 3' long walnut stick. The small
pieces of ply are glued and brad nailed on. That opening is about 1" x 1.5".
The long piece of ply laying flat on the stick is secured just by the QuickGrip.

What is it?




https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8...2/IMG_4984.JPG


https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-N...0/IMG_4985.JPG


https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-5...0/IMG_4982.JPG

[Kristofor]

Global Thermal Nuclear War?

[BobSch]

An easy way to unscrew square light bulbs from those pesky ceiling pots.

[Cochese]

Railing height setter?

[chopnhack]

Fancy version of pinch sticks for measuring windows.
p.s. are you swimming in walnut that its used for jigs in your shop?? lucky dog

[atgcpaul]

An easy way to unscrew square light bulbs from those pesky ceiling pots.

This is the closest one.

p.s. are you swimming in walnut that its used for jigs in your shop?? lucky dog

Yep. 100bf down. 500bf to go.

OK, here are some more pics and the answer at the bottom.


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-g...0/IMG_4986.JPG


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Y...0/IMG_4987.JPG

That's not a crack in the ceiling. It's a dusty spiderweb.


The answer: A remote plug holder

I was going to empty my DC bag last night and shook a trash bag over my head
to open it up. In the process, the bag snagged the light cord plugged into
the ceiling outlet and yanked it out. I have 10'+ ceilings so even with me
standing on a rickety wooden step stool, I couldn't reach the outlet to plug it
back in. My stepladder is hanging from the ceiling on one of these bike pulley
things and I didn't feel like lowering it, yadda, yadda, yadda.

The idea formed in my head pretty quickly and I just built it with some scraps
laying about. The back end of the plug rests against the long piece of ply.
Some plugs have shorter or longer back ends so I wanted to be able to adjust
for that. My ceiling lights aren't all the same brand. I guess if that ladder
ever comes down, I should ziptie those dangling cords.

Paul

[chopnhack]

That's really cool Paul, good thinking. You could put an eye bolt into the rafter and ziptie them like you said, but then again after building that jig, its nice to be able to unplug things as you need to. Thanks for the trivia

[cabinetman]

I have an outlet like that in a utility room. It's just above a storage rack. I have a flourescent light plugged into the outlet, but the plug doesn't hold that well and at times accessing the rack, the plug shifts loose, and I'm in the dark.

A holder like that is a great idea, and would work in my case if the outlet had direct access. The plug being not very tight would likely pull loose when retrieving the holder. So, I made up a short extension cord with a better male cap, and tie wrapped the cord to the ceiling near the outlet to keep the cord away from the rack.

.

[schloff]

Paul, this is a great idea, execution, and a fantastic thread.

well done.

[os1kne]

Global Thermal Nuclear War?

When I saw the title of the thread, I immediately thought of the movie "War Games". (Just looked it up and I didn't realize that it was from 1983.) It's a classic. Technology that seemed very cutting-edge in the pre-internet days.

I never would have guessed that the tool was a "ceiling electric cord plug-in tool" - well executed.

[Pappy]

Great idea! Would work just as well for thos plugs that are partially blocked by a piece of furniture.