An Excellent Boy Scout Project

[Tom Bender]

A magnet, two nails, a bit of thread and Bob's your uncle

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[Patty Hann]

I guess I'm denser than I thought....what is it / What does it do?

[Tom Bender]

It's a compass

[Patty Hann]

It's a compass
oh...I see.
I guess if I had seen it in real life [moving] I would have caught on. :rolleyes:

[Bill Howatt]

You've got to be careful what you think is cool these days. Years ago I worked with a Cub Scout leader. He knew I was into photography at the time so he asked to demo at a meeting. Plan was to show them how a picture was made from a negative so I took in a negative strip, and chemicals to make a contact print. Done with about 3 groups of kids in a closet. After the print was made I asked each group what was wrong with what we had achieved. Expecting the answer to be, "it's small", every group said, "it's not in color".

The same colleague was collecting toilet paper inner rolls one day. When asked he said the cubs were going to make crystal sets by winding wire on the roll etc. I thought that was great having made one myself many years earlier. Next day I asked him how it went, terrible, he said. It turned out all the kids had CB walkie-talkies and weren't the least bit impressed with a crystal set.

Time does march on!

[Patty Hann]

You've got to be careful what you think is cool these days. Years ago I worked with a Cub Scout leader. He knew I was into photography at the time so he asked to demo at a meeting. Plan was to show them how a picture was made from a negative so I took in a negative strip, and chemicals to make a contact print. Done with about 3 groups of kids in a closet. After the print was made I asked each group what was wrong with what we had achieved. Expecting the answer to be, "it's small", every group said, "it's not in color".

The same colleague was collecting toilet paper inner rolls one day. When asked he said the cubs were going to make crystal sets by winding wire on the roll etc. I thought that was great having made one myself many years earlier. Next day I asked him how it went, terrible, he said. It turned out all the kids had CB walkie-talkies and weren't the least bit impressed with a crystal set.

Time does march on!

Yep... kind of like the time I showed my Financial advisor one of my wood small projects. He was impressed (not knowing it was still made by a novice :D ).
He called in his colleague (age 40) to view it.
The guy looked at it and said (I'm paraphrasing): Why would you spend time making that? I wouldn't. I would just order something similar online from Amazon or AliExpress.

I had no answer for that sentiment then.
I still have no answer for it now.

[Mel Fulks]

Patty, verify that neither giant has what you need , then wrap the document around a rock that will make an excellent “paper weight “,
and let him have it.

[Bill Howatt]

Yep... kind of like the time I showed my Financial advisor one of my wood small projects. He was impressed (not knowing it was still made by a novice :D ).
He called in his colleague (age 40) to view it.
The guy looked at it and said (I'm paraphrasing): Why would you spend time making that? I wouldn't. I would just order something similar online from Amazon or AliExpress.

I had no answer for that sentiment then.
I still have no answer for it now.

That strikes a bit close to home! I made a peppermill for step-son Christmas gift. Had the mechanism for year but never got around to making one. Unfortunately, I looked on Amazon and other places and I could buy a peppermill for less than I paid for the mechanism only and they didn't look too bad either.

[Bill Dufour]

I found several years ago that jr High Students were impressed by carbon paper. They had never seen or heard of it. This was the carbonless kind with no seperate sheet of carbon.
Bill D.

[Kent A Bathurst]

The same colleague was collecting toilet paper inner rolls one day. When asked he said the cubs were going to make crystal sets by winding wire on the roll etc. I thought that was great having made one myself many years earlier. Next day I asked him how it went, terrible, he said. It turned out all the kids had CB walkie-talkies and weren't the least bit impressed with a crystal set

I did the same thing, and loved it

Man - I had a blast in Scouting back in the day. The "rustic" version I guess. 3-day canoe trips. Backpacking the App Trail. Too much tech needs learning for me to get by today.

Plus my Philmont belt is no longer fit for purpose :)

Eagle '67
Philmont '68
OA '68

[Patty Hann]

Patty, verify that neither giant has what you need , then wrap the document around a rock that will make an excellent “paper weight “,
and let him have it.

And also tell him I paid $50 for it.... that probably impress him ...