Old Tech thread

[mosaix]

C'm on, it's Bugsy - nothings going to happen. Now, if it was Daffy doing it...

Nothing's going to happen if the shells are made by Acme.

 

[Ursa major]

Well, someone has to re-fuse those shells....

 

[Danny McG]

A nearby pub to me often has big barbecues in the summer.
They have the classic half an oil drum for the charcoal and use the sides and bases of shopping trolleys as the grill.

At one side of the yard is a steadily growing mound of trolley wheels/handles etc and the burned through older trolley sides, at the end of summer they take these to the scrap metal man.

I've never been there when it's happened but allegedly they've said at times "will someone go for another trolley? Two free burgers if you do"

 

[dask]

Pre-Wi-Fi:

 

[Vince W]

That is some fine cable management.

 

[Astro Pen]

Curta Mechanical Calculator.
@thaddeus6th brought this device up a few years back on another thread but it is worth putting Steve Mold's short vid about it on here.

 

[farntfar]

Curta Mechanical Calculator.
@thaddeus6th brought this device up a few years back on another thread but it is worth putting Steve Mold's short vid about it on here.

Yes. Very nice.

 

[Ursa major]

Looking up the Curta's page on Wikipedia, it amused me to discover this:

It was not long before Herzstark's financial backers, thinking they had got from him all they needed, conspired to force him out by reducing the value of all of the company's existing stock to zero, including his one-third interest. These were the same people who had earlier elected not to have Herzstark transfer ownership of his patents to the company, so that, should anyone sue, they would be suing Herzstark, not the company, thereby protecting themselves at Herzstark's expense. This ploy now backfired: without the patent rights, they could manufacture nothing. Herzstark was able to negotiate a new agreement, and money continued to flow to him.

I do like a story with a happy ending.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Curta Mechanical Calculator.
@thaddeus6th brought this device up a few years back on another thread but it is worth putting Steve Mold's short vid about it on here.

It's been a while since I've had a play with it but that looks the exact same model. I think there are two different types. It's pretty damned cool.

 

[hitmouse]

These are quite valuable. I thought about buying one a few years ago after reading William Gibson’s Pattern Recognition, where one of the characters requires payment in Curta Mechanical Calculators. One could buy a half-decent hifi for the prices quoted on ebay.

 

[dask]

 

[Danny McG]

1973 drill!

 

[Christine Wheelwright]

1973 drill!
View attachment 128180

If you have one of those old Choppers in decent condition you can get good money for it on Facebook Marketplace. They are sought after.

 

[Astro Pen]

View attachment 128112

I'm guessing that the word 'snapshot' was still a while from entering the vocabulary.

 

[Pyan]

If you have one of those old Choppers in decent condition you can get good money for it on Facebook Marketplace. They are sought after.

How about £3,295?

1974 Raleigh Chopper Mk2 - Shop Prestige

Completely restored Raleigh Chopper Mk2. 1974. Frame was stripped and taken back to the bare metal. Resprayed and new decals fitted by Bob Jackson in Leeds. Wheels, Mudguards, Handlebars etc rechromed. New Tyres front and rear. Basically as good as it was when it left the factory 50 years ago.

shopprestige.com

 

[Ursa major]

If you have one of those old Choppers in decent condition you can get good money for it on Facebook Marketplace. They are sought after.

Only if they have the right wheels....

​

 

[dask]

 

[Danny McG]

My mother had one of these in yellow, it's when (1971) Britain was turning decimal, I think it was so you could add up in the new currency as you went shopping, basically a learning thing.

 

[Dave]

Yes, I remember someone having one. I don't remember the colour, but don't think it was red.

 

[Astro Pen]

I remember as a quick calculation to old money we used to multiply by 2 and put a line through it
eg.
62p =12/4 (12 shillings and 4pence)

It was simple and accurate (even though, to me, it seemed illogical with an incongruous 240 old pennies to a pound)