On Monday 18 Jul 2011 07:42:09 Duncan wrote: > Anne Wilson posted on Sat, 16 Jul 2011 07:06:04 +0100 as excerpted: > > An amazing number of solutions to a single problem :-) > > Indeed. Altho they're variants on a theme that each have particular > strengths and weaknesses. A pipe wrench, for instance, grips amazingly > well on a rounded pipe, but can damage the corners on a hex head and is > extremely heavy and cumbersome for the task of turning one, so is seldom > used for that, except where the corners are already so rounded that a > normal wrench or crescent can't get a proper grip (in which case it's > working at its strength again, gripping a mostly rounded object). > > > Your Crescent Wrench is the one that I have - a slightly smaller and > > lighter version of David's. > > > > None of the other pictures look like the other one he uses. > > Imagine a single piece of iron, like a flattened umbrella handle. > > Underneath the curve is serrated to be one half of the jaw, and down the > > straight are a number of holes. A second, entirely separate piece of > > iron fits around the handle, with the curved upper surface being > > serrated. There is a single hole, where a pin locates it into the > > adjustable part. It's a very primitive tool, to my eye. Maybe I can get > > a photo of it. > > This remains quite interesting to me. I have the general idea, now, I > think (thanks for the second attempt at a description), but such things > as the curve and attack angle are critical to getting a proper conception > of how well the tool works in practice and what its strengths might be, > and while you might be very good at describing embroidery patterns (I > remembered that from when I followed kde-planet), those sorts of details > are difficult to convey or even notice without a draftsman's eye and > likely a reasonable understanding of the physical forces and interactions > involved. > > From what I've read of Gene's posts, if he saw one he might be able to > describe it well in words, but I'm definitely /not/ making a similar > claim for myself, tho I could probably grok the functionality reasonably > well, to intuit the type of strengths and weaknesses it might have (as I > described for the pipe wrench above, for instance), at least to myself, > for the purposes of evaluating the right tool for the job at hand. > > In short, it's the picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words problem. =:^D > > I did stay a year with my grandparents as I entered my teens, and while > by that time they had sold the farm and bought a house in town, so > grandpa had no doubt left a lot of tools behind (and part of the reason I > was there was because he was gradually losing it by that time, and > grandma felt better with someone else around, to run to the neighbor next > door and call the police, if it came to it, so it wasn't as if I could > really ask grandpa), I do remember playing around with a number of tools > I hadn't seen before and may well never see again. I'm just wondering if > I saw a picture, if I might immediately recognize something I didn't know > the function of back then, perhaps because I only saw the separate > halves. The the word description alone doesn't trigger the association > or memory, but a picture would very likely do so if it was something I > had come across either then or at some estate sale or the like. > > So if you happen to have a cell phone with a camera or some such, or > happen to come across a picture on the net, I'd be much obliged. But if > not, don't sweat it, I don't either (the closest I have is the webcam on > the netbook, but it's facing the user so is hard to use to take photos of > anything but myself, with... and BTW, I don't know of any kde software > that works with it either, except perhaps kopete for visual chat, but I > don't use it as I'm too deliberative a thinker/typer to be effective at > IM/IRC, something simple to do stills and movies with would be nice). > It's not as if anything important depends on my seeing a picture. > > But I can't shake the feeling that something like a year from now, I'll > chance across a photo or something, and it'll be "Oh, so THAT was what > Anne was talking about! DUH! I should have thought of that!" > > Meanwhile, that's enough of a description that I'm at least somewhat > likely to recognize one if I see it, perhaps at a yard sale, or come > across a photo of it myself, so that year-from-now or whatever scenario > isn't unlikely. Here you are: http://imagebin.org/163773 As you might guess, it's very old - a family "heirloom" :-D Anne -- New to KDE Software? - get help from http://userbase.kde.org
Attachment:
signature.asc
Description: This is a digitally signed message part.
___________________________________________________ This message is from the kde mailing list. Account management: https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde. Archives: http://lists.kde.org/. More info: http://www.kde.org/faq.html.
