What's this... ? (2)

[MatthewC]

This has been puzzling me for ages. This metal plate is (poorly) attached to a Victorian ledged and braced door which we have re-used in the rebuilt extension. It's on the middle ledge on the non-hinged side; the two black strips have serrated inside edges and are riveted to the metal plate (which has a raised V as seen at the e of the black strips).I'm guessing from the rivets that it is a c.1960's something useful, although they could have been a later repair. I'm sure that there is an obvious answer which has escaped us!

 

[tobydog]

Matthew - you say it's on the non-hinged side of the door, however, from what I can see, it looks as though this door has been cut to size as some point (see what look like saw marks!)

If so, does this mean that the 'V' could have been nearer the middle of an originally wider door?

 

[Keith Bowman]

Opener for jam jar, bottle or similar.

 

[Penners]

My first thought when I saw the photo was exactly the same as Keith's. The serrated strips could be old hacksaw blades, perhaps.

 

[Feltwell]

I *think* my grandmother had a wall-mounted tin can opener in her kitchen which mounted on a backplate very similar to that. It came off the backplate easily so you could wash it.

If I'm right then the past owner put it in a very odd place - which makes me think that it must be something else. From the paint though, the way the middle section has not been painted at the same time as the outside section, I reckon what you've got there is a mounting plate for something that has long since been removed and lost.

 

[MatthewC]

Matthew - you say it's on the non-hinged side of the door, however, from what I can see, it looks as though this door has been cut to size as some point (see what look like saw marks!)

If so, does this mean that the 'V' could have been nearer the middle of an originally wider door?

No. The "cutting to size" was simply the one cm off the ledge to allow the door to close in its new position Formerly the only thing that stopped the door was the old latch.

 

[MatthewC]

My first thought when I saw the photo was exactly the same as Keith's. The serrated strips could be old hacksaw blades, perhaps.

A jam jar or bottle opener is the best idea that I've heard, so thanks to Keith and Penners. However, although the door was between the old kitchen and utility, this fitting was on the utility side, so unless the door was left open (allowing even more cold in) this item wasn't available to use in the kitchen.

The serrated strips are about 1.5 mm thick, and the teeth are symmetrical not angled, so not from a hacksaw, I think.

 

[Feltwell]

I can't see it being a bottle opener, at least not for crown caps. The V is the wrong way up - if you put a crown cap bottle top behind the blades to lever it off, you'd have to pull the bottle up, not down - thereby spilling the contents. Or were you thinking of the V gripping the top on a screw cap bottle?

 

[Keith Bowman]

No, not crown caps. I was thinking of it being designed to grip screw tops of varying sizes. I'm sure there was one in a house we bought, but perhaps it was for a can opener which fitted into the v thing. I seem to remember seeing one of those too, but I don't think the V part had serrated edges. I suspect the screw top gripper would have revealed it's major design fault when you tried to open something liquid :lol:

 

[LadyArowana]

If you search for a modern wall mounted jar opener, google gives you this, looks familiar http://www.dlf-data.org.uk/product.php?product_id=0031914

 

[philpjuk100]

My parents had one of these from the late 50s onwards,it was mounted under a shelf in the pantry and worked well on pickle jars.phil.

 

[Feltwell]

Lots of houses come already equipped with an opener for stubborn jars though. It's the same device that reaches things that have been placed on high shelves (and who probably placed them there in the first place), opens & closes top windows and who actually remembers that cars require maintenance beyond putting fuel in them :wink:

 

[LadyArowana]

Lots of houses come already equipped with an opener for stubborn jars though. It's the same device that reaches things that have been placed on high shelves (and who probably placed them there in the first place), opens & closes top windows and who actually remembers that cars require maintenance beyond putting fuel in them :wink:

Oh yes, that's right. The young well built chap next door who is always keen to make a girl happy because the husband is too busy or lazy to do these little household tasks. :lol:

 

[Feltwell]

I'm safe then, the bloke next door is even more geriatric and clapped out than I am!

 

[LadyArowana]

I'm safe then, the bloke next door is even more geriatric and clapped out than I am!

.... and you also seem to be rather handy at maintaining Feltwell Towers to a good standard, so I'm sure Mrs F never even thinks about getting another man around.

 

[Feltwell]

She confesses to thinking about it, but seeing as how it normally seems to be either Clint Eastwood (in a time machine from the 1960's), Rutger Hauer (in a time machine from the 1980's) or Daniel Craig, I suspect I'm safe.

 

[LadyArowana]

She confesses to thinking about it, but seeing as how it normally seems to be either Clint Eastwood (in a time machine from the 1960's), Rutger Hauer (in a time machine from the 1980's) or Daniel Craig, I suspect I'm safe.

Do you mean this Daniel Craig?

OK, just and excuse, I know

 

[Feltwell]

But you haven't seen what he looks like before he goes into makeup though.

 

[LadyArowana]

:lol: I can sympathise, need a fair bit of work myself before I am ready to face the world.

 

[Feltwell]

There was actually a Daniel Craig ice lolly made according to Google. It's somewhere in this picture apparently - damned if I can spot it....