Subdeacon Joe Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted February 9 Author Share Posted February 9 Related 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 And people think our ancestors were incapable of designing and building highly complex machines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 I really enjoyed that second one. But I do have a question. To make his files, he first needed to get his blanks absolutely flat. And the way he got them absolutely flat was to file them. But how is it done the first time? When someone is going to show you how something is done back in the long ago time, it seems like they should show you without tools. "This is how you make a file. First you pick up a file and make this piece of stock perfectly smooth." But what if you don't have a file to make the stock perfectly smooth? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted February 10 Author Share Posted February 10 (edited) So.... they should show digging the ore? Building the bellows? Which would mean cutting the trees for the wood and killing an animal for the hide. Smooth, flat stones. Or two somewhat flat pieces of metal and sand. Kinda like, "To make a hammer, you need a hammer" problem. Edited February 10 by Subdeacon Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Harley, #14153 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 8 hours ago, Alpo said: I really enjoyed that second one. But I do have a question. To make his files, he first needed to get his blanks absolutely flat. And the way he got them absolutely flat was to file them. But how is it done the first time? When someone is going to show you how something is done back in the long ago time, it seems like they should show you without tools. "This is how you make a file. First you pick up a file and make this piece of stock perfectly smooth." But what if you don't have a file to make the stock perfectly smooth? Legitimate question. I used to work at a pretty sophisticated research lab and always wondered who made the first micrometer to verify accuracy of all the other micrometers? Who made the first 500 gram mass with which we calibrated scales to measure the weight of other 500ish gram masses? Turns out it’s a group called the National Institute of Standards and Technology. As to the “Who made the first file?” question, I’m comfortable with the flat rock answer. Old tools have always fascinated me, especially the skills to really use them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted February 10 Author Share Posted February 10 28 minutes ago, Charlie Harley, #14153 said: wondered who made the first micrometer Maybe not the first, but... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.