6th Mar 2014, 6:18 pm | #81 |
Pentode
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 246
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Re: Forgotten Knowledge
As we discuss forgotten knowledge / (skills), not all of it electrical / electronic here are a few more..
1) the relationship between an audio cassette and a hexagonal pencil 2) filling an ink pen with ink from a bottle /cartridge 3) sharpen a pencil with a pen knife 4) building a tree-house 5) building a go-cart (2 bits of wood ,pram wheels , wooden box , nails , the important nut and bolt (washer) and some rope) “ bogie “as we say in Leeds... nothing to do with noses! 6) climbing trees (let alone a conker one!!!) 7) rope swings..... and how to get the leader line up in the 1st place 9) simple maths (My bill came to 70p I gave the ”youngster” £1.20 ,they were most insistent about giving me back my 20p until I said ring it up on the till , (one 50p coin later it was all clear) less change for me, more change for the shop if required. 10) the art of conversation/ talking to friends ..... face to face ..not texting etc 11) the ability to fix things , in this “throw away age” Other things on the “endangered list” are “please” and “thank you” In reply to others... “Laying a coal fire“ by Herald1360 /post #2 does this include “drawing” the fire with a sheet of newspaper and knowing what to do when the paper catches light!?. “Using a saw properly, all the teeth” by Robin Coleman post #46 ...can I add files to this? Such a growing thread!! 60 replies in 2 days , a record? I'm off for a lie down now!! S-W |
6th Mar 2014, 6:53 pm | #82 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Oxfordshire, UK.
Posts: 4,311
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Re: Forgotten Knowledge
Quote:
"I don't know. Ever since that wretched Mr Gutenberg invented movable type all my daughter does is sit in silence with her eyes going from side to side like the clappers and her head in that ... what do they call it ... 'book'. I tell you it'll be the death of saga-singing. And can you find a decent scribe or illuminator these days ... ?" . Cheers, GJ
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6th Mar 2014, 7:32 pm | #83 |
Octode
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Worcestershire, UK.
Posts: 1,880
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Re: Forgotten Knowledge
Typesetting.
Screen printing.
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6th Mar 2014, 9:11 pm | #84 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Brentwood, Essex, UK.
Posts: 5,349
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Re: Forgotten Knowledge
Sharpening and setting a saw.
(I only learned this through the step-by-step illustrated instructions printed on the sleeve of a circular saw that Dad bought for his "Selecta" home workshop). |
6th Mar 2014, 9:35 pm | #85 |
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Re: Forgotten Knowledge
If you try to reset some modern saws, the teeth snap off.
Fortunately my eye wasn't in the way!
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6th Mar 2014, 10:00 pm | #86 |
Octode
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Worcestershire, UK.
Posts: 1,880
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Re: Forgotten Knowledge
Saws are now a disposable item. Builders merchants stock them by the 1000 at a few quid each.
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6th Mar 2014, 10:44 pm | #87 |
Dekatron
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Derby, UK.
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Re: Forgotten Knowledge
Modern saws have the teeth induction-hardened after initial setting and sharpening. The edge of the blade is heated by using a high-frequency electromagnet to induce eddy currents deliberately in a very small region where the field is concentrated, so only hardening the metal where it is required.
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7th Mar 2014, 12:50 am | #88 | |
Octode
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Location: Watford, Hertfordshire, UK.
Posts: 1,270
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Re: Forgotten Knowledge
Quote:
When I asked another what was 13 x 5 he replied that he would tell me once he returned to his desk and where he had a calculator. Material things? Using Fluxite, rewinding cassettes with a Bic Biro and adding currency to the powers (or should it be Base) of 4, 12 and 20. And what's a Guinea anyway and I am not talking about the Pig!
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7th Mar 2014, 1:20 am | #89 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Leominster, Herefordshire, UK.
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Re: Forgotten Knowledge
21/- or £1-1s-0d.
My first tranny was 101/2Gns
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7th Mar 2014, 1:47 am | #90 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, UK.
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Re: Forgotten Knowledge
What a wonderful thread, best one for a long time!
Quote:
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"Nothing is as dangerous as being too modern;one is apt to grow old fashioned quite suddenly." |
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7th Mar 2014, 3:05 am | #91 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Brentwood, Essex, UK.
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Re: Forgotten Knowledge
How to use a steel pen.
Thanks for the info on modern hard point saws: all mine are "vintage"! I could add "how to sharpen a masonry bit", now disposable like saws: my dad's first rotary bit, a "Mason-Master", came with an illustrated leaflet giving the correct angles for the DIY resharpener, and a voucher for sending it back for a free resharpening. |
7th Mar 2014, 4:33 am | #92 |
Retired Dormant Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Alicante, Spain.
Posts: 17
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Re: Forgotten Knowledge
Ask city kids where there food comes from - Tesco. Get a coal fire going.
Rice, oats are grasses. Na mait, grass is dat green stuff for playin footy. U no, dat green stuff U av to cut wiv a mowa (have to cut with a mower). It took me a while to "tune in" to the local lingo! When living in London - Westham I asked a lad to draw a map of where he lived. The result was an inverted T. He explained. Dats to wes counry(west country), das to safend (southend) & das upnorf . Any land beyond Rickmanworth is Scotland. |
7th Mar 2014, 5:17 am | #93 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, UK.
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Re: Forgotten Knowledge
This thread is a bit of a misnomer. By definition this knowledge is not forgotten, it's just passing into history like much before it, including 90+% of species that ever existed.
I remember banking the fire up with slack at night, then drawing it next morning. I also remember the resulting smog. We had a working gas light in our first house in the 60s, and not long before that the last gas street lights were converted (how long would the exposed lamps last now). I went to secondary school in short pants, and we would take off our hats when a hearse passed by. Dogs roamed, but they were mostly harmless mongrels. You would hold the door open for both sexes, and when I left school, the thought of owning a car didn't cross my mind. Materials were expensive, Labour was cheap, so make do and mend persisted long after the War. It's the opposite now, hence the wasteful throwaway society and loss of associated skills. We all have examples, depending on Geography, age, occupation etc. The best you can hope for is that the last survivors find a home in a Museum, if any survive, or there's always the Internet. Used wisely it's a time machine. |
7th Mar 2014, 9:26 am | #94 |
Dekatron
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Re: Forgotten Knowledge
Dare I say it.................making a crystal set(although I have built several and never got any to work)
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"Nothing is as dangerous as being too modern;one is apt to grow old fashioned quite suddenly." |
7th Mar 2014, 9:33 am | #95 |
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Re: Forgotten Knowledge
V24/RS232 interface.
Male or female connectors? 9 pin or 25 pin? Gender benders? Straight or crossed connections? In our office we reckoned that V24 meant it took 24 hours to get it working. It generally required the use of a break out box and wire jumpers to work out the correct connections before making up a lead. Many a time I just looped back pins 4 & 5 and 6 & 20. Having done that you had to do the software settings or DIL switch settings.. Speed, bits, parity, Xon/Xoff flow control etc. etc.
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7th Mar 2014, 10:31 am | #96 |
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Re: Forgotten Knowledge
How to use a projector with a laptop.
This must hold the record for the fastest forgotten knowledge because at every meeting in every company, the three most highly paid people in the room spend 20 minutes trying to get the same stuff going time and time again. I know it's recent technology, but it's a fine example of how quickly knowledge can vanish. What's embarrassing is the groundhog day nature of it all. David
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7th Mar 2014, 10:46 am | #97 |
Octode
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Sheffield, South Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 1,453
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Re: Forgotten Knowledge
The interesting thing I'm finding about this thread is how many of these things I actually do on a regular basis. I sharpened and set a saw yesterday for instance.
I remember going to the Elsecar Heritage Centre with a mate a few years ago and going 'round the museum saying: "Got one of those... Got one of those... I was USING one of those last week." - Joe |
7th Mar 2014, 10:47 am | #98 |
Rest in Peace
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Bridgnorth, Shropshire, UK.
Posts: 787
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Re: Forgotten Knowledge
Sorry if this has been mentioned before but I'm really irked by people who begin an answer to a question with 'So,...'. 'So' implies that I have just been made aware of something, and that now a consequence is about to be revealed. English is fast becoming a lost skill.
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7th Mar 2014, 11:00 am | #99 |
Guest
Posts: n/a
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Re: Forgotten Knowledge
Cableform lacing.
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7th Mar 2014, 11:01 am | #100 | |
Nonode
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Dukinfield, Cheshire, UK.
Posts: 2,038
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Re: Forgotten Knowledge
Quote:
Eg; John Humphreys: Now Professor, you've been tackling this issue with gene splicing. How does this work? Prof: So..what we do is... It drives me nuts, and I find myself shouting at the radio 'SO WHAT!?'
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