obsolete technology

[john k]

I believe the photos in the Foxfire book are probably better than anything I could accomplish.   There are books, Practical Carriage Building, Wheels,wheels,wheels.   Putting on the tire is difficult, need at least 3 people, and a solid wheel stand.  Have a mortising chisel I have yet to try out.   The Amish still sell new hubs, spokes, feloes.   Just need more OLD TOOLS!

[scottg]

I've got the attention span of a fruit fly in a farmers market.
 Old bottles.
 Old tools of all kinds!
 OK all the rest of this list?  Just put an "old" in front of it, so I don't have to type it 20 times willya?
 
Cutlery of every type
Scissors and shears in every size and type in case you didn't know these were cutlery
Gold watches
Clocks in general
Silver tableware (pre 1900 only)
Glass tableware (ditto)
Kitchen tools
Toys large and small of all ages
Musical instruments and other audio equipment. The only area I will take new, when I have to
Lamps, both oil and electric but nothing past the late 1920's
Fire gear
Cameras if they are really early
Pearl opera glasses
Glass Christmas ornaments, but have to be -really- early. They don't really go back before 1910 though
Beaded handbags if highly elaborate
Did I mention old bottles?  (1900 being the cutoff date, anything newer, yuck)
Sewing machines, treadle and electric but nothing past 1965
Chinese immigrant stuff from the mining/railroad days (except its not all Chinese, they just called all short people with black hair and slanted eyes Chinamen)
Gold Rush stuff of any kind
Slot cars from the 60's
Scientific, optical and electronic instruments

 yours Scott

 Oh, PPS
 I really need a left handed archery bow!! Even a high class child's bow would be better than nothing. I am drying some yew but that is a long ways away.
 Also, nobody ever offers me guns! Ever!!
  I would love a few more, but only zillion dollar, mostly plastic modern things I would have no use for, is all I ever get offered.  I want on old side by side scattergun in the worst way!!
 


 

 
 

[scottg]

PS
 You can have a truly great professional microscope for almost free, if you go back only a few generations of them.
 Same applies to telescopes and many other things.

 Fortunately, yuppies only want new new new, so anything a little older is nearly given away.
 I am typing to you on a $200 computer, free shipping!
  My wife helped construct the University of Missouri and the City of Chillicouthe websites on the same kind of computer. 
 Every photograph you ever saw from me was done on an "obsolete" camera.
 5 cents on the dollar and 98% as effective.
    yours again Scott

[Neals]

I believe the photos in the Foxfire book are probably better than anything I could accomplish.   There are books, Practical Carriage Building, Wheels,wheels,wheels.   Putting on the tire is difficult, need at least 3 people, and a solid wheel stand.  Have a mortising chisel I have yet to try out.   The Amish still sell new hubs, spokes, feloes.   Just need more OLD TOOLS!

I saw it done once as a child. We had a wagon that one of the wheels had shrunk to the point of where the rim wouln't stay on. Took it to the local blacksmith. Beside his shop he had a ring of 6 or 8 rocks which were level. He built a coal fire between the rocks and laid the rim on them. As sections turned dark red he raked part of the fire out  to keep them from overheating while the other sections were heating. When the rim looked right to him he quickly raked the fires out and with a few ( don't remember how many) guys set the wheel inside the rim. Placed a few thin wooden shims between the rim and the wheel. Drove the shims in and let it all cool. The wagon lasted several more years until we got a rubber tired one.

[fflintstone]

I use lots of obsolete technology,
I use DVD’s and not blu-ray
My sawzall has a cord and not a battery.
My phone sits on my desk and is not smart by any means.
You get the picture…..

[Branson]

I'm more used to seeing the tire dropped over the wheel.  Three men on the tire make it easier to keep the tire level than two.  I've got two pair of tongs with the jaws set at right angles to the reins for just this purpose.  I think that the fellow in the Foxfire book used a scrap of hickory to check for the right temperature of the tire so it's not so hot it just burns the felloes, and not so cold it won't shrink enough.  My first teacher used scraps of hooves.  If they just skate across the metal, it's right.

There are special vises for shrinking tires, but you can do it with a wide leg vise.  Same process.  Make a bump in the tire, heat the bump and clamp it in the vise, and upset the iron back to reduce the circumference. 

[Branson]

Good grief, Scott, where do you put it all?  I bow to a greater magpie than I am.

[scottg]

I am just --really-- selective. Only a few examples of each thing. 
 I actually have a small house. Its fairly packed, but its small.
 I can't get anything new, without something else has to go,
so it has to be better than what I've already got.
 And I have been at it most of my life.

 Actually you could probably say I collect research more than anything. Find out what was the best made in any particular field I am interested in,
 then sit around like a fat alligator waiting for it to appear someplace I can get my teeth on it, cheap.

  I have always tried to collect what is --not-- popular.
Trying to collect what everyone else already wants, is suicide.
You will never get anywhere that way.

  Opera glasses are still free!!
  You can still get the best ever made, fully pearl covered right down to the adjusting nut, and fine optics, mint condition,  in a nifty leather covered molded paper mache' case,
 right now,
  for under $30 if you watch and wait.
But they are picking up steam.
 In another 5 years they will be gone and the best of them will fetch very high prices.

  15 years ago, mechanics tools were completely free. Down in the junk boxes underneath the sales table, and your choice for a dime.
  Opportunities still come around, which is why all of us are here. But it is becoming a popular collectible.
           In 10 more years they will all be gone.
 
  40 years ago antique cabinetmakers tools were -completely- free. Nobody wanted them at any price. It took a long long time for the big tool clubs and auctions to gain any foothold so I had a good run at finding them. It would be pretty rare I could get anything good now. 

   This is how I operate. Always did.
  Do your research, stay out ahead of what is popular, and you have a good chance.

  My worst problem is that I always know. But there isn't anything I can do about it!
I always know what is going to fetch the high price someday.  And I see it offered cheap.
 But I am usually too broke to take advantage of very much of it.
I get a little taste of all of it though, so that keeps me going.
And my house is full of things I couldn't possibly afford to buy at today's values.
   yours Scott
 

[bonneyman]

With the rampant outsourcing of just about everything the past few years I'm a sucker for "old school" period! Even stuff I never even thought of. If I see an vintage made in USA item chances are I'll find a reason to snag it.
And I agree with Scott - within 10 years all of the old good stuff will be gone and all they'll be is new junk or what you have stashed!

A short list of things I've grabbed that just had to have:
most any kind of hand tool
pocket knives
egg beater drills
metal flashlights
analog multimeters
liquid thermometers
blank cassette tapes
light bulb continuity testers
small kitchen appliances

On the lookout for a decent, two slice toaster. My new-fangled, plastic-bodied Chinese job is giving up the ghost, and I ain't paying $40-50 for another new one!

[scottg]

 Keep that guy away from my ToaSTer!!!!

  I've got an original 1953 Sunbeam tombstone toaster.
I've replaced the plug several times and the cord twice, but otherwise it has never missed a beat since 1979 (I got it NOS at an estate sale.) 
 
 But I'll keep an eye peeled for you George. I have a soft spot for toasters anyway. 
 BTW, you buy your toaster by-the-pound.
   If you can pick it up very easy, its not for you!
  yours Scott

[rusty]

Years ago my buddy gave me a 4 slice sunbeam toaster, because I griped my toaster had died (in fact , it exploded like 4th of july, which I guess would have been fun, but not at 6am)

The thing was awesome, when you pushed the button, the lights in the house would go dim for 3 seconds, and it hummed like a swarm of angry bees. I swear the thing sucked $2 of juice every time I made toast with it.

(I ended up giving it to someone else, I never eat 4 slices of toast in the morning...)

[fflintstone]

Vintage toasters only work for pre sliced bread. I like toasting bagels and hand cut bread. I had a cheap ($9) two slice toaster that lasted well over 10 years. It died two months ago.
The new one was about $25, and it had the widest slots I could find. It does a good job but takes forever.

Getting back to TOOLS, I don’t own a hand saw, With the exception of a Japanese pull saw. No hack saws either. Everything that cuts wood or metal has a motor.
I did have a few handsaws and hacksaws before the fire. I never used them. I see absolutely no reason to replace them.

[Papaw]

You are missing the joy of cutting wood with a properly set and sharpened saw!
Of course, 99% of saw users never get that either these days.

[fflintstone]

You are missing the joy of cutting wood with a properly set and sharpened saw!
Of course, 99% of saw users never get that either these days.

the only "set" on my saw blades were they set in the corner.
saw sharpening and setting the teeth is a lost art.
my pull saw was a joy to use at first but it is in need of a new blade or a professional touch.

[scottg]

 Pull saws are kind of disposable.
 They are nasty to resharpen.
 
 You only have to learn to sharpen a proper saw once.
There is no substitute.
  Nothing more satisfying that watching the saw make 2" in a heavy plank, with every stroke!
 Or a dovetail saw you are actually scared of, because its so sharp.

 Also a hacksaw? one that weighs 2 pounds (heavy frame)?
  with a sharp bi metal blade??

 Like a sharp file, these are tools too!

 Problem is cheap plywood handle saws (God forbid plastic),
  Cheap featherweight hacksaws,
 Modern borg files??   

 These are --not-- tools. They are merely sculpture,...."artist conception" tools. People think tools don't work when they buy these atrocities. Because the crappy ones don't work.
 Not like crappy sockets which do at least work until they break, bad files or saws never work at all. 
  yours Scott