At Lifehacker, we normally aren’t a huge fan of specialised tools and gadgets. For example, nobody needs a popcorn maker; a saucepan and lid already do a perfectly good job. However, there are exceptions to this rule that might be worth seeking out – from the pickle strainer to the automatic paper plane gun.
[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2012/07/top-10-pointless-single-purpose-appliances-that-are-cluttering-your-kitchen/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2012/07/PlasticJunk-410×231.jpg” title=”Top 10 Pointless Single-Purpose Appliances That Are Cluttering Your Kitchen” excerpt=”From hot dog cookers to doughnut makers, we’re easily talked into buying kitchen appliances that perform just one task, or grabbing a novelty gadget for someone else as a gift. Chances are they’ll be wasting space in cupboards before the month is out. Here are 10 of the worst offenders, and what you should be using instead.”]
r/SpecializedTools is an ultra handy subreddit that features devices that do very specific things. The tools featured therein will make you want to take up a hobby or a whole career just so you have an excuse to buy them, like driving a semi truck so you can clean snow off the top, or making huge stacks of toast with this efficient butter spreader.
And some of them, like this semi-automatic hammer and this motorcycle cover, are actually useful for everyday tasks. You’ll need those to save some time, after you waste a whole day looking at all the GIFs and videos of these monotaskers. Here are our favourites.
Tools for home
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Use the pickle strainer to pull pickles out of the jar without a fork or wet fingers.
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The manual coin sorter shakes each denomination of coin down to a different level.
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The magnetic window washer wipes down both sides of a window at once.
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The wind-up tube squeezer gets all the goo out of a paint tube.
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An adult can help a little kid cut paper with double-handled training scissors.
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We’re not supposed to like kitchen monotaskers at Lifehacker, but the mini rice ball maker looks fun.
Tools for professionals
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The automatic honey dispenser is like steampunk for wood. Woodpunk.
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If you watched Salt Fat Acid Heat, you might recognise this olive harvester that wraps around an olive tree and shakes it down.
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These calipers and wedges level out floor tiles.
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The bowling alley lane polisher is like an efficient Roomba.
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This moving dolly helps you carry boxes up stairs, and this handle grip helps you carry big planks of wood or other flat objects.
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Some tools use surprisingly basic technology to accomplish a task. This analogue tachometer measures the RPM of a motor using its vibrations.
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The artificial animal womb looks freaky; it’s a fluid-filled incubator for premature lambs.
Silly tools
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The automatic paper plane gun folds and launches its own paper planes. Someone needs to install ten of these onto a golf cart converted into an aircraft carrier.
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The spaghetti straightener seems designed for Marcel Duchamp.
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The homemade nail puller is the most work anyone has ever put into building the back end of a hammer.
Homemade tools
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The ping-pong ball collector cleans up a messy game room. It’s a small trash can screwed to a broomstick, with the bottom cut out and a few elastic bands snapped across the hole.
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This four-person tree log bender was clearly built in the workshop. It looks so dangerous!
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The homemade humane mouse trap drops mice into a bucket.
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One redditor posted their grandfather’s homemade avocado picker, and it turns out lots of grandpas built similar tree pickers—basically a hook and a bucket on a pole.
If you like that subreddit, try r/redneckengineering, r/mechanical_gifs, and r/EngineeringPorn.
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