here's a little more modern version in a hand tool

 

Looks like some form of wire cutter.

 

My dad was a mechanic from the time he was 12 years old and helped support his family. He had a tool box full of odd tools that I doubt anyone would know what they were used for, some I would guess he used for purposes they weren't intended for but he was inventive. I grew up helping him work on cars and he would show me the tools and how he used them. He got out of repairing cars as a profession when I was was in my early teens and put most of the tools in the back of the very cluttered garage he kept. When he died it wasn't a very good time because not only because of his passing but because there were a lot of family problems caused by my mother. I gathered all of his tools and brought them home and stored them but over the years they have found there way into many places. Sadly I probably lost quite a few but I'll have to dig through some old storage boxes and see what I can dig up. There are a few, like the heavy brass hose clamp maker I posted previously, that are very unique and odd.

One tool he repurposed to use for something completely different than what it was intended for was button hooks. They were around way before my time but in the old days when shoes were fastened with buttons instead of laces you needed a hook tool to pull the shoe buttons through the holes. My dad had a drawer full of them that he used for removing headlight retainer springs. Many people used pliers or screwdrivers to pry them out. My dad had a friend who was removing one of these springs with a screwdriver, the screwdriver slipped and went into his eye. This incident encouraged my dad to use the button hook. I remember this guy coming to our house when I was maybe 5-7 years old and his fake eye would freak me out. Anyways, my dad would always remind me of this story whenever he saw me prying around on something with a screwdriver.