30 Unusual Tools Designed To Solve Problems That Many Of Us Have Never Even Thought Of (New Pics)
You cannot imagine humankind without tools. They, alongside our ingenuity and creativity, are the bedrock of civilization. Once, the height of innovation may have been the humble stone axe, however, these days we have tools for practically every single niche you can think of.
That’s where the r/specializedtools subreddit comes in. A sprawling online community of over 1.6 million internet users from around the globe, it’s dedicated to sharing photos and videos of bizarre and intriguing tools created for very specific purposes. We’ve collected some of the coolest new pics, as featured on the community, to share with you. Scroll down to check them out, and don’t forget to upvote your faves!
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My Ski Boot Prosthetics
Wheelchair Designed To Be Used In Rough Conditions Like Snow
I am so glad to see these sort of accommodations becoming more common! When my youngest brother was alive (he died in 2010) the only thing we could really get for him to use when his wheelchair couldn't access places was a toddler sized 'mountain buggy'. Basically it was a three wheeled pram but the tyres were wider, so it could go on the sand etc easier. He had mostly grown too big for it by the time he died.
The ‘Specialized Tools’ subreddit is a great example of a successful online group. Created all the way back in late February of 2015, over the past 8+ years it has grown into a real powerhouse.
The subreddit has grown so big and popular that it ranks among the top 1% of all Reddit communities. But the real victory is that the sub’s members shed light on the strangest tools that only people working in very specific fields might otherwise ever see.
A Little Hook Tool To Pull Through Those Tiny Little Straps That Come With A Lot Of Devices
Poking Words Into Cardboard
Passport Photo Shears Used By My Local Post Office
I use one everyday. Have 4 different ones at work for different passports
So long as you’re going to be a member of the r/specializedtools online community, you’ve got to follow the rules, as set out by the hard-working moderator team.
For instance, the most fundamental rule is that you stay on-topic. ‘Specialized Tools’ is a group that’s dedicated to [drum roll] specialized tools! The community is exactly what it says on the tin.
Cherry Pitting Tool For Kitchen | Canning
Heated Razor Blade To Remove Decals
You can also heat the decal with a blow dryer and use a plastic scraper to reduce the amount of damage to your paint/wall
Old German Map Measuring Tool With Compass I Found In The House I Bought
That means that everything you post on the group, from images to video content, has to contain tools. Not only that, they have to be specialized. So r/specializedtools may not be the best place for content about more commonly found tools with multiple purposes. They have to be intriguing and exotic.
Bowling Lane Oil Robot
Leroy Technical Lettering Kit. I Was Told Some People Here Might Enjoy This
This would've been a great cheating tool fo HS! We suffered technical drawing for a whole year! Each activity was done twice, 1st in pencil over graph paper, and a second on white, in ink. You needed a lot of things to achieve that, rules, squares, assorted Rotrings ranging from 0.1 to 0.8, and pencils lead (4H, HB, 2B). Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
Baseboard Scrubber
I feel like this kerjigger looks more complicated than it should be
Not only does the content have to be related to specialized and niche tools, but the titles need to be on-point as well. You should aim to write titles that clearly explain what the tool or device does and is all about. If you don’t, someone from the mod team may end up removing your post. And that’s not much fun for anyone.
I Asked My Mother If She Had Any Suggestions For How To Remove A Broken Light Bulb Base From The Socket And She Produced This
I guess this eventually pays for itself, instead of wasting potatoes
A Special Blade To Cut Metal Sheets
Looks just like the paper cutter I used to use - just a bit larger.
you're special & different - just like everyone else.
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# Of Weeks From Date Calculator
Similar to a pregnancy wheel that we use to determine estimated due dates, ovulation dates, dates of last menses etc., in pregnancy.
In the meantime, the moderators ask the large member community to refrain from reposting commonly shared content. Not only that, but everyone has to stay away from offensive content and do their best to behave in a civilized manner. After all, no community can stay healthy and whole if everyone’s fighting and calling each other names all the time.
Drywall Lift. This Makes Ceiling Drywall So Much Easier. I’ve Done It With And Without The Lift And It’s Definitely Worth It. Home Depot Four Hour Rental Was Only $36
Money Holders For Banks (Or Rich People)
Applicator Tip For Cove Base Adhesive To Apply A Flat, Even Amount Of Glue. Instead Of The Typical Single Bead Of A Standard Caulk Gun
No matter what tool machine you use, whether it’s a simple hammer or a nuclear power plant demolisher, you’ve got to take care of your gear. If you don’t treat your devices with the respect they deserve, sooner or later they’ll break and you’ll be left footing the bill for a replacement. It’s a far better deal to spend a bit of time on regular maintenance. So it’s worth turning this into a habit.
Japanese Engraving Machine For Chopsticks
A Roof Leak-Catching Tool/Contraption I Seen At The Shop
A Level Made For Balancing Roulette Wheels
Some basics to keep in mind include cleaning your tools after each use and lubricating them regularly. That means removing any dirt or materials that could end up damaging your inventory, and ensuring that nothing rusts and all the parts move as smoothly as possible. Yes, it may be hard to do after a long day’s work, but we’re nothing at our profession without our tools.
Corner Line Anchor For Bricklayers
Sadly, an antiquated tool looking at many of the new builds around here!
A Back-Worn Suspension Rig For Heavy Camera Equipment
Tool To Move Truck Trailers By Hand
It also helps if you regularly inspect all of your inventory for any possible damage. There might be something that you could’ve overlooked when you were exhausted after a long day. Spotting wear and tear means that you can prevent the tools from breaking and yourself (and others!) from getting hurt. Having a keen eye and some patience here are invaluable.
Geonics Em-31 Electromagnetic Survey Unit. That’s Me Using It To Check The Conductivity Of The Soil That Correlates To Chloride Levels From An Oil And Gas Spill
Device To Clean The Track In The Spanish F1 Grand Prix
we used to drag a big sheet of chain-link fence over the baseball-field infield
Boat Forklift For Moving Docks And Boat Lifts
Besides that, you should store your tools properly when you’re not using them. So you shouldn’t be leaving them out in the elements or throwing them into a heap in the mud. Nor should you be playing around with your tools for fun, or using them for anything else other than their purpose. That goes double for specialized tools! They have very niche uses, so you shouldn’t be hammering in nails with a cyanometer or a steno machine.
Brass Crowbar For Working On Plastic Injection Molds
Hydraulic Hand Strength Dynamometer
Ooo I would love to play with that so I could mess with my guy friends and male coworkers! I've been riding horses my entire life (so very strong hands), and this would put to rest the whole disgruntled "well... umm.. I loosened it for you" I always get! 😆
Specialized Tools For Bottling Wine
We’d love to hear which of these tools impressed you the most, as well as which ones you hadn’t ever heard about until now, dear Pandas. Feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this list. In the meantime, for some more weirdly awesome specialized tools and devices, check out Bored Panda’s earlier features right here, as well as over here.
Automatic Asparagus Peeler
Shell Collector Cleaning The Floor
Vacuum Tube Tester (1970s)
Oh wow. vacuum tubes are fascinating to look at.. no idea how they work though!
Snow Shredder
Stir Fry Machines
A Stapler For Booklet Binding
A Special Axe That Helps You Split Wood
Temporary Water Traffic Sign Boat, Not Sure If This Counts As A Tool
Gauge To Measure Wheel Flange Thickness, Height And Steepness In Railway Wheels
In Japan Construction Flood Lights Are Styled Like Paper Lanterns. Lots Of Diffuse Lights Without Blinding Anyone [oc]
![In Japan Construction Flood Lights Are Styled Like Paper Lanterns. Lots Of Diffuse Lights Without Blinding Anyone [oc]](https://www.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/64b91a73a61e5_gm5d9lkm833b1__700.jpg "In Japan Construction Flood Lights Are Styled Like Paper Lanterns. Lots Of Diffuse Lights Without Blinding Anyone [oc]")
A Die Cutter For Spray Paint Stencils
Training Stairs For Firefighters Working In Low Visibility Conditions
Mini Wheeled Gantry Hoist For Pulling Aga Hobs
Cutting Tool For Slicing A Whole Tray Of Cornbread
Mmm, cornbread. I fell in love with the stuff in Arizona and now I'm back in Australia you just can't find it for love or money.
Snail Pincers 🇫🇷
Manometer- Measures How Hard Fans Suck Or Blow
Solid Lead Radioactive Materials Hand-Truck
Wrought Iron Flax Comb From The 1800s
Barbed Wire Puller (Banana For Scale)
My Dad's "Electro Master R-375 Design Template" For Diagramming Electrical Power And Control
This Snow Melting Machine
A Hilger And Watts Gauge Block Interferometer. You Can Use This To Measure Interference Fringes Of Gauge Blocks Wrung To A Flat Platen To Determine Their Size. This Is Used As The Start Of A Dimensional Traceability Chain
Either this is just technical words mumbo-jumbo to impress someone or I am truly dumb.
Dolly Used To Move Pianos Over Bumpy Floors
Pair Of Collimators Used To Check If Lenses On Analog Cameras Are Properly Aligned To Infinity. Right Besides An Ee Tester (Blue Box) Which Is A Calibrated Light Source To Check A Cameras Exposure Error. Indispensable For An Analoge Camera Technician
Wood Moisture Content Meter
Metric Screw Thread Gage,made In West Germany
122 Inch Caliper
I See Your Estrus Detector Gun And Raise You The Electroejaculation Probe For Cattle Semen Collection
Tool For Lifting Ev Batteries And Electric Drives
I’ve heard that EV batteries are extremely heavy, like 1000lbs or more. Never bothered to research it but seeing a lift like this for a battery and not the engine may confirm that.
Bike Trailer For Ladders
Remington Pneumatic Chain Saw
Pharmacy Safety Cap Remover. Designed To Pry Off The Top Section On A Safety Cap (One You Have To Push Down While Turning) So That It Can Be Opened Without Pushing Down
Apparently It’s Called A Riddle/Shaker Bucket
Steam-Hydraulic Forging Press (15,000 Tons) In The Workshops Of Friedrich Krupp Ag, Essen, Germany 1928
Coin Button Battery Finder
My Gold Drum Opener. Earned Gold After 100 Drums Unlocked
My Crutches Came With Removable Spikes For Extra Grip In The Snow
Never seen a walking stick of crutches with out these in Finland
This Chain Mail Cut Glove I Found In A Junk Box At My Work
Also used to clean the blade on deli slicers. I've seen what can happen if you don't wear one!
Poe Tester
Power Over Ethernet - supplying power from a network switch to devices plugged into it (e.g. Wireless Access Points in offices,) which use very little power. This saves having a separate power supply on each device.
Boeing's Long-Load Steer Car Helps Move Large Composite Parts From Frederickson To Everett
I see your long-load steer car and raise you the Airbus BelugaXL, used for transporting large aeroplane parts. We see it fly over our house almost every day here in Hamburg.
Smart Pig. Used To Detect Anomalies In A Pipeline
Casket Key, Used To Raise And Lower Love Ones And Lock The Lid Down
A Literal Nail Gun Used For Shooting A Nail Into Concrete Using 22 Caliber Blanks
Rainbird Rotor Tool
This Is A 5th Wheel Pin Puller. Truckers Use It To Unlock Trailers From Their Trucks. I'm A Former Bread Delivery Man. We Used Them To Move Stacks Of Bread Around....and Also Open Locked Doors/Fences, Pick Stuff Up Etc. (Video Demonstration In Comments)
A Homebrew Magnetic "Pit Plucker" For Lifting Steel Floor Panels In An Expo Hall
Cardboard Box Resizer Allows You To Quickly And Cleanly Cut Down Boxes To Better Fit An Item
Nah, you want to use the biggest possible box for the smallest item, looking at you, Amazon…..
Pickle Bucket Opener/Closer
I would think this could be used for just about any 5 gallon plastic bucket.
Secchi Disk. Used To Measure The Turbidity Of A Reservoir
My Dad Has This Very Specific Tool For Lifting Up Doors To Adjust Them Properly
A Mini Brush That Came With My Daughters Brush Set To Remove Built Up Hair
I've always used a fork! Never knew there was an actual tool available.
The Starting Clamp, Used In Racket Stringing. Compresses To Hold Tension On The String Without Damaging It, And Also Useful For Providing A Secure Grip When Tying Finishing Knots
The 250nm-1000nm Torque Wrench Used To Tighten My Rear Wheel Nut
On what? On cars, they never seem to use torque settings on their pneumatic guns. If they did, then I wouldn't have had to jump up and down on the wheel wrench to put the spare on my gf's car the other day. Really should have grabbed my big breaker bar on my way out of the door.
Skin Spoon, Used For Separating Aircraft Skins
Safety Wire Twisting Pliers
This Is A "Snitty" Used For Trimming Sign Writing Vinyl Without Damaging The Vinyl Or The Substrate. You Can Even Slit The Backing Paper Without Damaging The Vinyl
Instant Type Size Finder
This Triangular Bit Allowed For Some Awesome Projects By Taking Apart Old Mcdonald’s Toys That Had The Special Anti-Tampering Screws
Seastar Hydraulic Cylinder End Puller And Other Marine Mechanic Essentials
A Stagehand Wrench, Or "Cross Wrench." The Shape Of The Cross And The Cut-Outs Are Sized To Perfectly Fit The Hardware Found On Stage Lighting Instruments
Motogp Starter
Coke Freestyle Distribution Plate
A Press Specifically For 1/10 Scale Rc Drift Wheels To Install/Remove Without Damaging The Rims
This Is A Metered Concrete Truck, Basically It's A Mobile Concrete Plant, Mixes And Dispenses Concrete On Construction Sites
General Radio Gr900 Precision Tuner 1 - 8.5 Ghz / 50 Ohm. Used To Cancel Standing Wave Ratio Reflections In Measurement Circuits
Finger Mits That Came With My Metal Coffee K-Cup, For When It's Hot
"I Didn't Order A New Caulk Gun. Honey, Did You?" Everyone, My Wife's New Jerky Gun
Volvo 9995497 - It's For Removing The Rear End Delta Link / Suspension Link / Whatever They're Calling It These Days
These Are Shotgun Adapters Aka Chamber Reducers Aka Shotgun Inserts And Called By A Few Other Names. They Allow You To Fire Lower Gauge (Caliber) Shotgun Shells Out Of A Larger Bore Gun. They Are For Use In Break Action Type Guns And Won't (Or Shouldn't. I Haven't Tried) Cycle In Repeating Guns
Which tool impressed me most? Your tool to reduce the number of entries in a post. Once again you shortened the list, in this case from more than thirty entries to thirty, with no way to see the skipped entries or to respond to answers to users' comments in those entries made before you shortened the list. You notify us of those answers but we can't access them. That way you also cut off the possible likes a user can accrue because you make it invisible. All in all quite amateurish don't you think?
I don't understand why they do the "reduce it to an arbitrary number of entries after a while" thing in the first place, but now they seem to have done away with the "see the rest of them" link it's more baffling.
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I have 2 different gadgets for putting on socks and tights. I have even advised people on which type to get for different uses eg: compression stockings. The right tool for the right job
Which tool impressed me most? Your tool to reduce the number of entries in a post. Once again you shortened the list, in this case from more than thirty entries to thirty, with no way to see the skipped entries or to respond to answers to users' comments in those entries made before you shortened the list. You notify us of those answers but we can't access them. That way you also cut off the possible likes a user can accrue because you make it invisible. All in all quite amateurish don't you think?
I don't understand why they do the "reduce it to an arbitrary number of entries after a while" thing in the first place, but now they seem to have done away with the "see the rest of them" link it's more baffling.
Load More Replies... I have 2 different gadgets for putting on socks and tights. I have even advised people on which type to get for different uses eg: compression stockings. The right tool for the right job
