This made me think

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D

DCBluesman

Passed Away Mar 3, 2016
In Memoriam
Joined
Aug 22, 2004
Messages
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Location
WOODBRIDGE, VIRGINIA
of my friends Eagle and Skiprat (Steven),so for those of you on the east coast of the US, don't worry about the smoke... I've turned my brain back off.
“ To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. â€

- Thomas A. Edison
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This made me chuckle some, I'm 14 and aspiring to be an engineer. People including my parents, get ticked off when i pull out little pieces from the trash or from broken items. I keep a junk pile around so if i ever need a solution to a problem, or need to fix something i have some parts handy.
 
I did that too at your age Aderhammer. I built an Edison phonograph, telephone system, arc lights, lasers, holograms, 6' solar furnace, Tesla Coils, scale model roller coaster, model railroad with the working signals and scratch built buildings and stuff, Rubik's type cubes, human powered vehicles, and other projects. I'd say that messing around in the shop has served me well in my career. I always had something going, even before I got real tools. You can't have too many cans of springs, gears, switches and wires, or whatever. If you can think outside the box and utilize the skills and knowledge you gain from messing around with stuff like that, you will always have a job, and will always be ahead of those that don't.
 
Lou, you are correct. It takes a great mind to turn useless items into a great workable piece. But it takes a great eye to turn it into art. You my friend fall into the latter.

Mike
 
I often pass garbage bins at various businesses and look at all the useful items. Especially screws of every imaginable description. Have you ever priced stainless steel screws at the hardware stores ... :D
 
Ah, Edison was indeed a masterful person!! He and my Great Grandfather worked for a time together on the Great Western Railway out of Kingston, Ontario, Canada and were friends (I believe I've read that Edison was let go from the railroad for almost burning it up from unauthorized experiments he did on it---seems he was selling newspapers at the time). In my Great Grandfather's obituary it said he took the first telegraphic order from Thomas Edison. My Great Grandfather also later worked out of Minnesota for and was a personal friend of James J. Hill of the Great Northern Railway---another masterful mind of forethought and development of the railroad & commerce to the West.
 
Do you realize that Edison only made one scientific discovery - the Edison Effect- which is to do with the production of an electron stream from a heated tube? He never had the intelligence to understood this and used to demonstrate it as some form of curiosity.
He did not invent the light bulb. The Englishman, Joseph Swann beat him to the punch and was installing light bulbs before Edison went into production with his version . Edison lost a subsequent court case over this matter.
What is surprising, considering Edison's incredible work ethic and his desire to absolutely protect everything he invented, is that Edison failed to patent his reticulated electricity supply system. This would have ensured him of a massive fortune.
But then, you can't win 'em all!
 
Originally posted by R2

How the hell do I edit articles on this site?
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ONE MINUTE after you post, YOU DON'T!!!!

Gotta read twice, post once then read real fast - if you made typos, hit edit REAL QUICK!!!
 
I thought you had longer than that Ed? I thought it was about half an hour or something like that?[?]
I'll try edit this later and see. Unless someone knows for sure.
 
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