I had a celestial telescope sitting in my living room. My friends accused me of watching the neighbors!
I had a celestial telescope sitting in my living room. My friends accused me of watching the neighbors!
Hey George, Kidding aside. I spent some time around Williamsburg in the late 60s. It was a peaceful place to spend Sunday afternoons away from Ft Eustis. In conversations with people there I was told that they had warehouses full of all kinds of things from18th c. You must have been able to see lots of tools including saws with nibs. Do they still have all that that the public doesn't get to see.
Jim
Yes they do. They rotate items in the Wallace Gallery. But,t is just not possible to display everything at once. Even worse at the Smithsonian,where I have been able to go behind the scenes and see their full collections of things like musical instruments., They have been given(as well as having purchased) all manner of things. Some things are odd ball one offs that someone made,and not fit to display.
Thanks George. I know a job is work but it must have been nice a times to go to storage for an example and than make a musical instrument or a plane or anything like that. Your knowledge of these things is a great asset to this forum.
Jim
No, not with John. He never built telescopes before going to work for NASA. He was one of the guys that Pam's Dad showed how to find the North Star though. That was around when they were working on COBE, but before he won the Prize. My friend's name wasn't on the Prize because it was John's idea, but was on the team.
I was eating dinner with some of those guys, and someone asked me who I was. I told them I grew up with Harvey, and we built telescopes together when I was a teenager. He replied, "Yeah, he still is."
Three days in the storage areas and conservation shops of the Smithsonian were exhausting to me,even in my early 30's! There were no windows,and these places were deep in the buildings. I don't know where the air came from! Interesting to be sure,though. I learned many things,and taught a few things too.
A great benefit was when I was building a copy of the single manual(keyboard) Kirkman harpsichord in the Governor's Mansion. These were mass produced in the 18th. C.,and were quite alike. They happened to have an identical Kirkman turned upside down,and with the bottom off in the Smithsonian instrument conservation shop. I was then able to get first hand data on exactly how the bracing,etc. was made.
Last edited by george wilson; 06-28-2016 at 10:10 AM.
[QUOTE=george wilson;2579389]Three days in the storage areas and conservation shops of the Smithsonian were exhausting to me,even in my early 30's! There were no windows,and these places were deep in the buildings. I don't know where the air came from! Interesting to be sure,though. I learned many things,and taught a few things too.
George That covers a lot as far as what you have to say. To see something from 6 feet away or having your eyes 1 foot away makes huge differences in perception. i.e. It would be very difficult to see if a saw had never been sharpened from 6 feet away. Keep doing what you do even if you ruffle a few feathers at times.
Jim
James,I appreciate your faith in me,but am having trouble relating what you said to the quote. Can you please explain? Thank you.
George, Not many people get a chance to see history up close. It is very different to see things that way. When you describe things it is from that up close perspective. I don't think most people have any idea of what the Smithsonian actually has in those storage places. When you talk about things like that harpsichord you got to see or other things it is from experience. That is all I meant by it.
Jim
Thank you,James. I did get to see a lot of things. In much later years I made a trip there with the Apothecary Shop to see medical instruments. That was before I made that big,curved amputation knife for them. They have an incredible amount of surgical and medical things in their collection.
This was freehand ground to nearly the thin ness of a razor along the cutting edge,and about 3/16" thick along the back. I wasn't sure I could pull it off with a flat faced grinding belt wheel,but did.
My journeyman Jon made the handle of ebony.
George,
'you remind me of a cranky old curmudgeon I worked under many years ago when I was a kid. Most didn't care to deal with him but he was very skilled and I spent as time with him as I could, I wish he was still around.
You forgot the nib George. That is what I mean about all the things you have seen and done.
Jim
It has a nib for the same reason men have nipples. Case closed!