I don't know a lot about these but they get decent reviews. I can't help but admire the level of design that had to go into this ring, from inception to execution. There had to be some pretty daunting challenges and a lot of people would have given up. These folks seem to have pulled it off all enough to make a product people are happy with. That's impressive.

Rather than a thread on this one device, I think it might be useful to have a thread devoted to electronic appliances that catch your eye and make your jaw drop. Feel free to throw in you own findings.

 

Like I said in a different thread, I am really impressed with the design of my new laptop.

 

Like I said in a different thread, I am really impressed with the design of my new laptop.

Nice handy laptop. What model?

 

Nice handy laptop. What model?

Lenovo Yoga 920.

I wiped the drive as soon as I bought it and installed Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. Runs like a charm.

Now that 18.04 LTS is out -- and they've done away with Unity -- I'll probably install Solus Budgie. Another good design.

 

I've had the pleasure to buy some new tools for a project recently and I've been impressed with all of them.

First up is an oldie but goodie - the venerable 42" crow bar. There's nothing much special about this one, but every time I use it I wonder about all the work that went into defining the details of its shape, the curves and notches. How many iterations has the design gone through? How many strained muscles, sore hands and busted knuckles went into the effort? For pulling hundreds of deck nails and general demolition work , it's simply perfect and I can't think of any practical way to improve it. Just $20.




Next up is a much more specialized tool designed specifically for pulling deck boards. There are several similar designs out there but this one is probably the highest rated. It wasn't cheap - $75 I think - but worth every penny. If you think you'll save money and just use the crow bar, you're making a terrible mistake. This thing is a tremendous time saver and more importantly, a work saver. The long (5' ?) and padded lever bar allows you to apply enormous leverage to the business end. The duck bills are laid on either side of a rafter and apply all that leverage to the lower side of a piece of decking. It'll often pull the wood right up past the nails.





Finally, an indulgence. One reason I'm doing this work myself is to reclaim some of the wood. To that end I got myself a planer to clean up the weathered wood. This thing does an absolutely stunning job of that. Quick, easy, precise, and relatively clean (I've put a filter bag on the output). Everyone that has seen it turn a trash board into a furniture-ready piece of lumber has been awe-struck. My deck boards are over 26-yrs old and yet shaving off just 1/8" from each side exposes a fresh wood smell and color. It's magic. I figure I'll use it now and maybe sell it again in a few a years.

 

First up is an oldie but goodie - the venerable 42" crow bar. There's nothing much special about this one, but every time I use it I wonder about all the work that went into defining the details of its shape, the curves and notches.

It is designed to be "reversible" depending upon whether you wish to produce blunt trauma (round side) or deep penetration wounds and instant death (pointy side).

 

The crowbar first appears in writing in Shakespeare in ~1400. The history prior to that may be lost to antiquity. Old as iron itself?

 

The crowbar first appears in writing in Shakespeare in ~1400. The history prior to that may be lost to antiquity. Old as iron itself?

Don't forget the Stone Age version:

 

From ~860 BC in modern-day Iraq.

The lack of the characteristic curves might be evidence that those curves were a later innovation.

 

http://www.felo.com/en/catalog/

 

To me, one of the best designs ever is the 1945 spring-loaded center punch:

https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/a2/a8/e1/bf419b4a7a37be/US2384707.pdf​

It's beautiful how a common tool was made even more practical and easy to use through the direct use of ingenuity. It's an invention that could've easily been made more than a hundred years before, and yet it took a 20-century mind to bring it to fruition.

@shortbus, I'm sure you appreciate this device at least as much as I do.

 

To me, one of the best designs ever is the 1945 spring-loaded center punch:

I gotta get me one of those.

 

To me, one of the best designs ever is the 1945 spring-loaded center punch:

View attachment 152761

https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/a2/a8/e1/bf419b4a7a37be/US2384707.pdf​

It's beautiful how a common tool was made even more practical and easy to use through the direct use of ingenuity. It's an invention that could've easily been made more than a hundred years before, and yet it took a 20-century mind to bring it to fruition.

Mine looks just like the drawing. An elegant design doesn't need improvement.

I hope the inventor made a _lot_ of money.

 

Mine looks just like the drawing. An elegant design doesn't need improvement.

I hope the inventor made a _lot_ of money.

I hope the people that stole the concept for the Network Punchdown paid him because if you put a punch on the end does the same thing.

kv

 

It's beautiful how a common tool was made even more practical and easy to use through the direct use of ingenuity. It's an invention that could've easily been made more than a hundred years before, and yet it took a 20-century mind to bring it to fruition.

It was. I have a few from earlier than 1945. I have a Browne & Sharp catalog from the 1930's that has a couple of models of them.

 

It was. I have a few from earlier than 1945. I have a Browne & Sharp catalog from the 1930's that has a couple of models of them.

Now you have me curious. Did it take that long to issue the patent or was the 1945 patent an improvement on the ones in your old catalog?

 

Now you have me curious. Did it take that long to issue the patent or was the 1945 patent an improvement on the ones in your old catalog?

Most likely an improvement of the existing design. Without totally dismantling the old ones, they function exactly like the newer ones.

 

Aren't these mostly used in metal working as opposed to woodworking? I don't do much with metal and there are plenty of alternatives when marking wood.

 

Aren't these mostly used in metal working as opposed to woodworking? I don't do much with metal and there are plenty of alternatives when marking wood.

Yes, working with metal is their original intention. But I'm afraid that thieves love to use them to shatter car windows in a fraction of a second, so they can steal whatever the owner left on one of the seats in plain sight.

 

Yes, working with metal is their original intention. But I'm afraid that thieves love to use them to shatter car windows in a fraction of a second, so they can steal whatever the owner left on one of the seats in plain sight.

First responders also carry them for breaking car windows.