#0, 2008.02.15: ballsy
Posted by Gryphon on Feb-15-08 at 10:08 PM
<Z-Gryphon> ah, okay <Z-Gryphon> tonight's How It's Made is TiVo titled "Brass bells", not "Brass balls" <Z-Gryphon> er, bronze, not brass <Z-Gryphon> that was what initially confused me, not having heard of bronze balls <wedge> they were the first iteration of brass balls :) <Z-Gryphon> heh <Z-Gryphon> actually, first Neolithic man would have used stone balls <Z-Gryphon> but they're too heavy and they crack easily <Z-Gryphon> next, the ancient Egyptians would have tried copper balls, but they're too soft and get dull too quickly to be any good for serious work <wedge> and oxidize <Z-Gryphon> indeed <Z-Gryphon> and nobody wants verdigris-covered balls <Z-Gryphon> then bronze, then iron, then the great Victorian ballsmiths would have started making them in brass <Z-Gryphon> and eventually steel, especially in Birmingham <wedge> band name <wedge> Victorian Ballsmiths <Z-Gryphon> after that, not much change until the 1960s, when the Soviets started experimenting with titanium balls <Z-Gryphon> lightweight, stronger than steel, highly corrosion-resistant, but very expensive <wedge> it's all carbon fiber now. <Z-Gryphon> mm <Z-Gryphon> and I hear the Japanese are experimenting with graphite nanotube construction <Z-Gryphon> expanding on the groundbreaking theoretical ballwork of R. Buckminster Fuller--G. -><- Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
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