How far we have come - a 1949 iPad

When I was a kid there was barely television. You could outrun the cops and get away. You could drop out and really be out. When we were in school we had strict teachers and we watched a 16 mm movie in the auditorium once in a while (if we were lucky). You could die if you fell asleep in the school bus and you ate what your mother packed in your lunchbox.

 So I came across this Whoo's Whoo bird teaching, electric board. I vaguely remember something like this from 3rd grade growing up on the east end of Long Island. I think that it might have been heavily used by the time I saw it but it looks strangely familiar. Basically this "teaching tool" is a picture on a piece of plywood with some wires, a battery and some lights to quiz and reward kids. I don't specifically remember seeing this particular wonder of technology but it must have thrilled kids in the 40's and all the way through the early 60's. It was state of the art.

 The tag says that it was designed by the Museum of Science in Boston MA. The museum is still going strong and I searched their archives to see if there was a reference to this cool article of history but I came up with nothing. If anyone knows anything about this or remembers seeing it in action please let me know. 

 The back of the board has has wires, probes and a battery holder. It was definitely made in a homemade style but mass produced - probably about 25 of them were ever made. 

The craftsmanship reeked of world war two styled stuff and it is clear that it was built by a person that had some science or electronics background. The battery box at the top of the back was framed in pine. The "answer probes" were ripped off from a meter or perhaps some WW II salvage/left over materials. 

Really rugged and so tough it has lasted into the year 2014 still in working condition, Not like the plastic relics created in the middle 60's and through the 90's.

It appears that the objective was to match the screw and grommet next to the picture of the bird with the screw and grommet next to the name of the bird. The front of the teaching tool had two lights that were wired to light up if the correct association was made between the two.

I can hear the giggles and roars of my classmates to this day while looking at this relic of better times. 

Simple times! A couple of batteries, some plywood, bird pictures and a room full of screaming kids. Pretty cool.

A close up of the probe. Definitely vintage electronics when compared to an iPhone or an Xbox.

I think that even if you are a recent actor on the stage of life with all of your fancy stuff you can appreciate the simplicity of this device. Kids were drawn in by the "technology" and the awe of magic flashing lights just like they are today with the magic of precision electronics and manufacturing. This was the iPad of 1949.

An excuse for no post and be here now

So I tried to write something meaningful to cover my lack of recent posting for the Workbench Rescue thread. I am a little sad to say this will be all for me today.  This is all the strength I can muster to talk about anything right now - a short post about a horse on a stick on a piece of Maple. That is all.  Nobody likes to read anymore anyway - right? I promise I will get back to writing about the bench soon. I will also put some more pictures up about the bench.  

For now though here is a nice repurpose of a gold painted horse wind vane top. It is mounted on the base of a gnarly piece of maple with some punched text. The finish looks very nice and I think that once it has been left to see some sunlight that it will mellow into a nice honey brown (like the bench) and will surely become a coveted piece for someone soon.

 The horse is obviously happy and getting ready to prance off. A nice pose that I am sure there is a horse name for. The gold paint even makes it look a bit rich. In person it is a nice piece. Something that people will like to glance at. I think that it would look nice on a mantle or in a window with the sunlight beaming over it. The wind vane top is made of cast white metal (possibly aluminum). Someone, somewhere along it's existence decided to paint it gold. No one can be sure why they picked gold but under the gold there was some sky blue paint that must have been it's former coat. It was then mounted on a nail on top of a really nice piece of maple. It looks like someone stamped some letters and words into the wood and painted in the letters with black paint. The things people with too much time on their hands do.

The text says be here now. As far as I can tell this is from the Ram Dass. 

“Early in the journey you wonder how long the journey will take and whether you will make it in this lifetime. Later you will see that where you are going is HERE and you will arrive NOW...so you stop asking.” 

― Ram Dass, Be Here Now

Perhaps the person repurposing this object thought that the wind will point you in the right direction but meanwhile you are here now - who knows? I especially like the backwards 3 in the date and the jagged placement of the letters suggesting chaos. So enjoy the the moment. Enjoy the pictures. Think good thoughts and I will be back soon. I also promise that I will be back on track in the next post.

Workbench Rescue

Picked up a great workbench form a home up in Rhode Island a couple of weeks ago. I was not told too much about it other than it was used by the seller's father. There were a few customizations added to the bench and it was raised by adding leg bottoms. It was also covered in all different colored paint.

I sat around staring at it and was going to leave it alone but I just couldn't stand not knowing what it looked like under the splatter of decades of paint that covered it. I wanted to know what the underlying finish and patina looked like. I guessed that the bench was factory built in the early 20th century between 1905 and 1925. Based on condition, I thought that it had a few homes and a few owners that used it for different things.

I think that the original owner was a wood worker or a cabinet maker. I think that that person treated the bench very well and (aside from the occasional saw kerf-mark) really respected the bench. I decided that subsequent owners (possibly inherited the bench) were the ones that used it for a general work/paint bench and did not really consider the impact of painting all kinds of stuff on it and just beating it up.

Given these assumptions and by making a few small scrapings I decided that the bench needed to undergo a very gentle cleaning. I started using oils, steel wool and scrapers but that was going to be way too slow so I switched to a product that I have used successfully in the past. The product is called Smart Strip (by Dumond), a  water soluble "green" product. I tried it on a small section on the top of the bench.

The small section that was cleaned showed some very nice colors. The bench top looked like it was made of maple. It had aged nicely and seemed to reinforce my belief that the first use of the bench was not a paint shop splatter bench. I oiled the top and used fine steel wool to smooth out the surface further.                  

The small section that was cleaned showed some very nice honey brown colors. The bench top looked to me like it was made of maple. It had aged nicely and seemed to reinforce my belief that the first use of the bench was not a paint shop splatter bench. I oiled the top and used fine steel wool to smooth out the surface a bit more.

For the most part the bench top was in (relatively) excellent shape. I decided to leave a bit of the paint and the darkening stains left behind so that one could see that the bench was used. My intention was to provide a little TLC to expose the great natural patina but not to make a new bench. I hope that the "new" finish will not subtract from the value of the bench as I know many "purists" do not like to see anything done to piece of furniture. I consider what I am doing a cleaning not a restoration.

Further cleaning exposed the vise top being made of oak. The bench dog squares were also maple except for those located on the main vise. I had not yet cleaned the side vise or the tool tray so I do not know what I will find under the paint there.