WORK No. 131 - Published September 19, 1891

Hi everyone. Now and then we'll have an article appear in work that prompts me to reiterate our Disclaimer. For those of you just tuning in there's a disclaimer below that begins: Articles in Work describe materials and methods that would not be considered safe or advisable today.

Cultural hindsight being what it is, we tend to look gravely upon historical industrial practice, lest we doom ourselves to repeat licking radium off paintbrushes or delousing each other with DDT. It's extremely important to admit to ourselves that humanity's track record with dangerous materials is fraught with unwitting tragedy and overconfident bungling, so we can approach new technology with due care and respect.

Then again, this gig would be no fun if we didn't allow ourselves a chuckle at the bad idea potluck. The long nonsense to our left is an asbestos-cloaked chain for plumbers to use when making lead joints. Genius. It stops one from having to clumsily spoon and splash lead into a hastily formed gasket of clay. It's probably not as bad as it sounds. (I found a better looking video here but the plumber makes a bad joint) Nowadays we run lead joints with fiberglass.

For my next trick, allow me to to direct your attention to the Timed Incendiary Device that you can keep next to your bed! You build it yourself, and it masquerades as something of an alarm clock-cum-teakettle! Guaranteed to serve up your morning cuppa with a blazing house fire. This from the same country that brought us Lloyd's. Even if you don't incinerate yourself you run the risk of being late for work because your alarm clock ran out of fuel.




If you're rather done being sickened by the the antics of suicidal tinkers, by all means check out the article "Notes On Hand Saws." It's full of wisdom and good sense. Choosing, Sharpening, and Setting hand saws are all covered by none other than Manfred Powis Bale, the author of Woodworking Machinery as well as other no-nonsense titles. He does wax ecstatic about the miracle mineral on page 265, even going so far as to proclaim that the best asbestos may be found in the Italian Alps. -T



PS: Learn more about lead from my new favorite YouTube channel, Periodic Videos.


Disclaimer: Articles in Work describe materials and methods that would not be considered safe or advisable today. We are not responsible for the content of these magazines, and cannot take any responsibility for anyone attempting projects or procedures described therein.
The first issue of Work was published on March 23rd, 1889. The goal of this project is to release digital copies of the individual issues starting on the same date in 2012, effectively republishing the materials 123 years to the day from their original release.
The original printing was on thin, inexpensive paper. There are many cases of uneven inking and bleed-through from the page behind. Our copies of Work come from bound library volumes of these issues and are subject to unfavorable trimming, missing covers, etc. To minimize harm to these fragile volumes, we've undertaken the task of scanning the books ourselves. We do considerable post processing of the scans to make them clear but please bear with us if a margin is clipped too close, or a few words are unreadable. We would like to thank James Vasile and Karl Fogel for their help in supplying us with a book scanner and generally enabling this project to get off the ground.
You are welcome to download, print, and pretty much do what you want with the scan for your own personal purposes. Feel free to post a link or a copy on your blog or website. All we ask is a link back to the original project and this blog. We are not answering requests for commercial downloads or reprinting at this time.

• Click to Download Vol.3 - No. 131 •