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This Week's Meaningless Topic (#81) (March 26)


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Hi all.  Being a handy lot, this thread's readers are adept with a variety of tools. As we put together our BBQs and IKEA furniture, we whip out the old tool box and have at it with hex wrenches flying. And that leads us to this week's topic.

 

THIS WEEKS MEANINGLESS TOPIC:  What tools are you most skilled at using?

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Now this one is easy Rodger....for me, it is easily my BFH (Big Friggin' Hammer :D). Of course, handy to tap things together or knock stuck or rusted parts apart. But, also, and very important, very handy to beat on things when I get frustrated. Problem is, sometimes the thing that gets beaten is the very project I am trying to work on...oops! Still, the stress relief value that the BFH offers is more than worth it :) 

 

Landon

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I'm good with all of the above.  The BFH from my days in the blacksmith shop. All the rest go without saying.  But today I mostly work with a "commander," a "runnerdown," and a "tollicker.". Now to answer a question with a question, what is my trade where I use these?  The answer will come later.

 

Ken

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2 hours ago, Ken Q said:

 Today I mostly work with a "commander," a "runnerdown," and a "tollicker.". Now to answer a question with a question, what is my trade where I use these?  The answer will come later.

 

Ken

No guesses?  Here's a little help, in the old grade school tradition of the multiple choice quiz. 

 

It is an 18th - 19th century trade, and one of the following:

 

A)  Perruquier

 

B). Cordwainer

 

C)  Hatter

 

D)  Tinker (AKA " Whitesmith ")

 

(I work in a Living History Museum - semi-retired now).

 

Ken

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18 minutes ago, flyingleaf said:

Bottle opener.:PCheers.

Along with the hammer, ax and knife, the two absolutely essential tools: the corkscrew and the church key!

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I think most are good with a BFH, it's works for most things or just relieves the stress...when I first joined the Army I found the magazine on our issued SLR (not camera) worked as a good church key for them bottles....no good with it but love my Dewalt rechargable drill, I always have a big grin when I get to drill holes......

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3 hours ago, wain71 said:

I think most are good with a BFH, it's works for most things or just relieves the stress...when I first joined the Army I found the magazine on our issued SLR (not camera) worked as a good church key for them bottles....no good with it but love my Dewalt rechargable drill, I always have a big grin when I get to drill holes......

A power drill is a great tool, very versatile, but a part of me still takes pleasure from the old brace and bit.

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21 hours ago, Ken Q said:

I'm good with all of the above.  The BFH from my days in the blacksmith shop. All the rest go without saying.  But today I mostly work with a "commander," a "runnerdown," and a "tollicker.". Now to answer a question with a question, what is my trade where I use these?  The answer will come later.

 

Ken

 

Most for hat making?

 

Personally, my favorite tool is a back hoe.

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7 minutes ago, Rob Abernathy said:

 

Most for hat making?

 

Personally, my favorite tool is a back hoe.

Hi Rob,

 

Right you are!!!

 

A commander is a cotton cord tied in a loop with a slip knot.  A steamed, hot wet cone shaped felt hat body is placed on the crown block, and the commander is drawn tightly around it near the top.

 

A runner down is a wooden tool which is flat near the bottom with a notch or groove cut in it. It is used to force the commander down the felt and block to the band line.  

 

Tollickers are a variety of wooden or metal tools used to further shape the hat.

 

You win A (virtual) Gold Star!

 

Ken (the Hatter at Old Bethpage Restoration Village)

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21 hours ago, Ken Q said:

No guesses?  Here's a little help, in the old grade school tradition of the multiple choice quiz. 

 

It is an 18th - 19th century trade, and one of the following:

 

A)  Perruquier

 

B). Cordwainer

 

C)  Hatter

 

D)  Tinker (AKA " Whitesmith ")

 

(I work in a Living History Museum - semi-retired now).

 

Ken

Ken, serious question--if I remember correctly, the old phrase "mad as a hatter" had a basis in the realities of hat-making. Something to do with the chemicals involved. Can you enlighten us on that?

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Ho boy!  You would ask!!  

 

Actually I can answer in two words, but that would not be fair so here goes:

 

Hats are made from felt, which simply said is matted animal hair.  Making felt is complicated, but to make it simple, step one, remove the hair from the skin or pelt (incidentally "felt" and "pelt" are ultimately the same word).  Then open the microscopic hooks and barbs on the outer layer, or cuticle of the strand of hair.  Early on felt makers learned that a plentiful, naturally occurring chemical helped both processes: urine!  Later it was discovered that Hatters in one shop were more successful at this process than others, and raised the question, since one or more men in the were being treated for syphilis, could that have something to do with it?  The treatment at the time (16th century) was inhaled mercury vapors.  A little experimentation established that it was, this man (or men) was (were) excreting mercury in their urine, and it amplified the effects on the pelts.  So Hatters started adding elemental mercury to the baths used to prepare the pelts.  Later nitric acid was substituted for the urine. Of course working with mercury (a heavy metal poison) for years had nasty effects, including hair and tooth loss, hallucinations, dementia "madness" and eventually kidney failure and death.  So that said, yes it was an occupational hazard for those who made the felt, though it took years of exposure, and consequently was not very common, at least in its worst manifestation. The process was finally outlawed during WW2 to conserve mercury for the war effort.

 

Incidentally, the famous and familiar "Mad Hatter" of "Alice in Wonderland" is not a hatter at all.  He's a politician:  William Gladstone!  It's like Rocky and Bullwinkle, A political satire, among other things. And, incidentally, the March Hare is not mad, he's horny.  Just watch our native jack rabbits (actually hares) in the Spring.

 

Ken

 

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5 hours ago, Rob Abernathy said:
5 hours ago, Rob Abernathy said:

 

Most for hat making?

 

 

Bibliographic note for Rob, and any one else interested:

 

Hi Rob, 

 

I know you're particularly interested in the Northwest fur trade.  I don't know if you have encountered this book, but it is an interesting read.

 

Frances Backhouse. "And Once They Were Hats; In Search of the Mighty Beaver".

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I was very handy with a corkscrew. Seems nowadays the cork tree is a dwindling resource. It is fast becoming a twist top wine culture! It's a real novelty when you get a bottle of red with a real cork. That said, I'm very fond of my water pressure cleaner. IT'S SO SATISFYING!

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