It strikes me that todays children don't play with toys of this nature so I imagine it might be a "skill" which is lost in the midsts of time.
I can just imagine a few tens of thousands of years from now the equivalent of Baldrick (Tony whatisname) musing over some trinkets found in a box buried in some place of historical place of interest. He holds up the cotton reel and what's left of the remains and wonders what this device was used for!
PoP
The wooden bobbins aren't universal any more... The plastic ones are too light and don't notch! Make sit harder to pass on the skill.
Thomas Prufer
Going back on topic, some kind of sex toy perhaps? Mechanical gerbil?
I have a nice wooden cable reel that held 50m of 10sqmm T+E....wonder what that would be like?
THe mind boggles! :-)
I think you'd need a rubber band that might be used to launch a Jumbo Jet!
PoP
Maybe a wooden condom as they most likely wouldn't have a brilliant idea of the size of mans equipment in the 21st century......
PoP
I allege that one such book was the Ladybird "Things You Can Make", or some such title: had various little toy-making projects using cotton reels, date boxes (so wait till Christmas time for the materials for this one, right?), and matchboxes. Went a bundle on toy boats, ISTR - including a paddle-steamer, rubber-band powered of course.
ISTR there was something that one could do like this involving soap used at the stern of such a small boat in the bath. I think it had to do with change of surface tension creating an effective force to move the boat.
.andy
To email, substitute .nospam with .gl
There was a book by a guy called Leonard de VRies (I think) that ISTR had good stuff in it....but can't remember the title.
I think I had that one as well, paddle steamers suddenly spring to mind, as does corrugated cardboard.
I am forming an opinion.....
Good DIYers most probably experimented with "physical" toys when young, so as to discover the dexterity one adopts when older.....
Shouldn't have been a glutton for those glasses of wine with my tea tonight.....
PoP
6inch nails, a cork as a body, knitting needles and plasticene blobs to make a chappy who balances on bottle tops.
Less elaborate, surely, but a bit of soap in the fork of a part-split matchstick works...
Thomas Prufer
Hole in treacle tin lid, invert tin over gas burner, turn gas on for a few seconds, lid on, light, retreat, wait, bang.
Phil
-- Phil Addison The uk.d-i-y FAQ is at
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