Oh Fuuuudddgggee.

Rumored to get? Lucky you.

My first experience with casting included watching a quarter-inch diameter ball of solder leaping out of a plaster mold and onto the back of my hand. Some of it stuck -- I still have the scar.

The worst part was that the only other thing I learned from all of that is that when you make a bullet for a matchstick cannon that is heavier than the cannon, when you light the thing off you hear a "bang" and both the cannon _and_ the bullet disappear!

Plastic handles are great, aren't they?

It's also the reason most pro weldors wear earplugs even when it isn't noisy.

Pete

i laughed out loud when you said that, i figured that was a universal experience for welders. i'm not a professional but i've done some welding and it sucks when a spark goes in your ear, you can hear sizzling, very difficult to control your flinch reaction to that.

b.w.

(...)

Lucky for sure. The worst I've gotten so far is a solder splash on my hand. Luckily, unlike in your case it splattered rather than 'bore in' and it didn't leave a mark.

I was impressed at the time, though.

(...)

Sounds like a great 'flanking weapon', though it must look odd to point the gun Stage Left instead of downrange. :)

--Winston

My favourite Lucas sign:

"This is a darkroom! Please do not open the door, or all the dark will leak out. (For a refill, please call Lucas Electrics)"

Pete

We were probably lucky the damn things didn't blow up in our faces and take out eyes. Hell, I think I'm damn lucky that I survived to 25. I'd be dead now from heart attack, except that my kids seem to get their caution from my wife.

Heck of a lot of fun to load one with a dart made from a Q-tip and a pin, and shoot at the side of a shed.

My favorite Lucas joke was a bumper sticker I saw in a last-page photo in R&T or SCG, on the back of a Mini: "Why do the Brits drink warm beer? Because they have Lucas refrigerators."

-- Ed Huntress

Oops: I said "matchstick" when I meant "match head". Shaved match heads, to be precise.

Now why do I still have all my fingers, toes, and eyeballs?

And the MG headlight switch labeled "OFF - FLICKER - SMOKE"

--Winston

We had a much safer version as kids, firecracker pistols. Mine had two 1/2 in. nipples, one about 4 in. (the barrel), and the other about

3 in. (grip/chamber). I had a pipe cap on the grip end with about a 1/8 in. hole in it, and the two nipples joined by a 45 deg ell.

The firing procedure was unscrew cap, load firecracker with fuse through fuse hole, replace. Stuff chinaberry in barrel, charge after opponents while holding burning punk to fuse. You talk about long lock times...

During one particularly ferocious battle with the neighbor kids, one of my cousins had the ingenious idea of plugging the end into some gravelly mud. That worked pretty well. Other weapons included carbide bombs. Get something with a screw on lid like a brasso can, stuff in some carbide, a little water, then screw on the lid tight. Wait until it swells up some, then toss. Makes a bang and stinks bad. Our opponents generally just threw rocks.

We generally used an old above ground grease rack as our fort. The neighbor kids fought from behind their butane tank across the drive.

When we weren't having wars, we played baseball. Nobody ever got hurt except playing baseball (one broken arm I recall), although my brother carries a little shrapnel in his leg to this day.

And you doubters say there aren't angels.

I can remember when a bunch of us 10 year olds found a live 22LR cartridge. We weren't old enough to own a proper 22 rifle so we taped the cartridge to the end of our BB gun so that fired, the BB would crush the rim.

I can still remember the whir as both the case and the bullet departed tumbling in opposite directions.

Except on the weekends, when he pretends that he's the 'Queen of Emgland'. ;-)

Murphy is Lucas' brother. You should see them try to fix a fridge! ;-)

Surely, there must be a God?

What are they - cobalt or some mineral screwdrivers that prevent current flow. Plastic is a secondary.

Mart>>

The one I was talking about was an ordinary Craftsman steel screwdriver. I'm occassionally thankful for the plastic insulation. d8-)

And that brings back memories of being in ah...coitus delectus in the back seat of a VW with a lady who was 6' and 165lbs. As I was 6'3, and

210...we sorta kinda busted the backseat..directly over the battery.

It was hot that night...the people were hotter...then the back seat caught fire.....sigh..those were the days.

Chuckle..she and I still see each other, with her now long term spouse..and when one or the other of us flicks a Bic...it never ceases to bring hysterical laughter to us both..and puzzled looks to our spouses.

I suppose someday will will tell them...but its way too cool.

(grin)

Gunner