Good evening all:
Thank you for all your contributions to this thread. It
seems to be slowing down a little, so this might be a
good opportunity for me to summarize and respond
here and there to various posts that have particularly
caught my attention.
First, I really never dreamed that this would generate
such response. Possibly some of you have issues with
prior teacher abuse, but all in all, I have been quite
fascinated by the range of response to what was initially
a pretty simple question: " Where can I get some cheap
vernier scale calipers that are accurate enough for
bicycle work?"
While I anticipated a certain percentage of "you are a
dinosaur, do you still hunt with a bow and arrow?"
responses, I did not anticipate the vehemence with which
some of you are willing to defend your right to digital
information. Some of you guys could use some lessons
in the gentle arts of persuasion. Anything that looks
like it could have " ...and the horse you rode in on"
tacked onto the end of it is unlikely, in my experience,
to change anybody's mind about anything.
Here is an example of a reasonably persuasive argument:
"I think it would make sense to require calipers, and then give them options of which ones to buy based on their own budget, understanding of the varying qualities and types, and future usage."
Here is an example of one less so:
"I understand your point and to some extent I'm sympathetic but in the real world people aren't going to spend the time needed to learn the "basics" if they know there is an easier, faster way. Do you insist people learn to write programming code before letting them use a computer?"
I am not swayed much by this for several reasons.
If the people I'm trying to teach this skill to are unwilling
to devote the five to fifteen minutes required to use a
vernier scale, why should I be willing to spend the
four evenings planned to teach them to lace, tension,
and true a set of wheels? What they do afterward
is between them and their own personal mechanical
gods. I don't care, (honestly i don't). And we have
already established that a workable plastic (Nylon?)
model can be got for about two bucks. So what, i ask
you, is the BFD?
For those of you concerned about the students paying
for these lessons and being pushed around and abused
by being forced to spend money on a tool they will never
use again, I have to introduce a little perspective here.
I'm not certain at this point that there will be any tuition charge -
certainly I'm not charging anything and because they
will also be browbeaten into buying a $55 folding
truing stand and another 10 bucks for a set of Avenir
spoke wrenches (BTW are these as good as the Park?);
the feeling at this point is that there will probably be no
charge or minimal charge for the class by the SBK.
Thanks especially to Danno and tcs for the links to
products and the previous thread. Thanks to FBinNY
for the philosophical support.
Which brings me to the Slight Philosophical Digression
(those of you who are uninterested in such things, feel
free to take a break -- smoke 'em if you got 'em)
I am particularly fascinated by the fact that this whole
thing is happening in Bicycleworld, where old steel
road bikes and fixies seem to fascinate so many people
(really to the point of obsession in some cases).
These are, of course, old technology. Am I to presume
that those of you who object teaching these kids to read
a vernier caliper by using one - and no one has argued these
are not up to the job at hand and more durable, only that
dials and digitals are easier to read (when they work)-
all ride on carbon fiber whatsits with only the best and
latest index shifting gruppos hung on them?
To interest people in using vernier calipers do I have
to call them "Vernies" and offer them in a wide array
of color customizable formats with hideously expensive
vernier scale aftermarket replacements in neon pink
and orange?
One of my favorite books of all time is "The Logic of Failure"
by Deitrich Doerner. On page 58 he says:
"As Brecht observed late in life, advocates of progress often
have too low an opinion of what already exists."
I can particularly recommend his detailed analysis of the
human comedy of errors that led to the disaster at Chernobyl.
(pp28 and following). Many people still do not realize that
the Chernobyl meltdown was 100% due to human errror
and a bunch of guys who thought they knew what was
going on having no real idea how the damn thing really
worked. The proximate cause was a series of safety tests,
apparently carried out by Laurel and Hardy.
On a more positive note, you all got me to thinking with
all your posts about how you never use your verniers
any more that there must be a huge pile of pretty good
verniers gathering dust in various drawers and workshop
cabinets all over the country. I looked on Craigslist and
just came home with a beautiful Matui and a Russian model
that may very well have come from Chernobyl -- I probably
ought to run them past a radiation monitor.
Again, thanks for all the contributions and intellectual
stimulation -- we old guys need that to fight off senility.
Anyone who wants to send me their unused high quality
verniers let me know by PM and I'll be happy to pay
postage. You have nothing to lose but your old technology.
Respectfully,
Mike Larmer