We fooled a lot of people last week. Hardly anyone correctly guessed that the Toolsday mystery gadget was a combination can opener and knife sharpener. Many people thought it was a tool used to lift the lid off a pot-belly stove, some thought it was a rug-making hook and others guessed that it was a pick for cleaning horse hoofs.
We randomly picked one winner from all the comments. The lucky winner is JohnB, who thought it was used to pry oyster and clam shells open. Congrats, JohnB. You have one week to reply to our email before we choose another winner.
Next Tuesday, we will be giving away a Black & Decker lithium hedge trimmer. This powerful tool can hack off branches up to 3/4-inch thick. It comes equipped with a 36V rechargeable lithium battery so it holds a charge five times longer than standard batteries. And it has a more powerful transmission than most trimmers its size.
Are you looking for some DIY decor projects? We’ve got do-it-yourself headboard projects, new ideas for old window treatments and more how-to instructions for giving your home a new look.
To enter the Black & Decker hedge trimmer giveaway, post a comment (click “comment” above) and tell us what this old-timey tool was used for? You don’t have to answer correctly to win; we will randomly pick one winner from this post. 
On Tuesday, June 12, we will select the winner then start up a new giveaway for another tool, which will be given away the Tuesday after that.
You have until June 12, 2012, 2:00pm (ET) to enter to win the hedge trimmer.






yep–eye glass thingee, for sure!
A magnifying glass for reading .
I don't agree with Rick. I think that this tool is a surveyor's tool.
Surveyors tool
Hmm…after seeing other comments, I have to say that I think that the people who think it was an old way of measuring glass prescriptions is a good guess. However, I was also thinking of something to do with solar…perhaps from the recent eclipse and today's passing of Venus that can be seen in front of the sun…but I'm not sure how the item in that image would work for that!
It looks somewhat like an old time magnifying instrument
Simple optometer
Early surveyors tool?
something a eye Doctor would know how to use
antique optometer
some kind of measuring dodad maybe for an eye doctor
This weeks antique is an optometer. It is an instrument for measuring ocular refraction, the power and range of vision of your eye.
HECK IF I KNOW—!!!! TRIMMER WOULD SURE BE HANDY !!!!!!!!
Its called an optometer. Used by eye doctors back in the day to see what strength lens you needed for your glasses
Antique Stereoscope card reader/picture viewer
A tool for creating maps.
Antique microscope
Looks like something to measure an eye glass prescription.
It measures the optical distance for a lens grinder.
It could be an eye doctor scope.
Early tool used by eye doctor….is it clearer now?
It is definitely a scope for maybe a telescope
A scope of some kind.
I think it is something from the past that a sailor would use to chart the distance from one point to another
richard didnt post that I just posted that why did it come up under richard?
leveler
Optometry.
I had the same idea as MichaelJ. Perhaps a solar corona viewer?
It’s a microfilm reader from WWI of course.
looks like you would look around the sun by blocking the sun with the adjustable item on the shaft.
After reading all the other great guesses i think it is an optometer used to determine what reading glasses were needed.
surveyor tool?
I think it's something a doctor would use.
Possibly it could be an optometer? Trimmer would be nice to receive.
It is to survey
Maybe it's part of a surveyor's equipment???
It is a level
It looks like a Surveyors Scoop to line up property lines.