We are getting closer to announcing Commemorative Tool # 17–we think it might be the best yet, but you will ultimately be… the decider! (had to throw some politics into that sentence to remain topical)
Below is an incredibly useful image created in the latter design phases of the CT-17–useful to me that is.
The clue: “There is beauty in numbers.”
Care to guess what purpose this image serves?
–John
PS: Consider this fair warning to a certain Oceanographer who saw an early version of this tool while in Portland a couple of months ago–I will use my considerable Tool Potentate Powers if any of your comments betray my weak moment while you were here… let’s start by pondering the following phrase: Banned for life.
I love power!
I’d never say anything to betray your trust, John.
Besides, I don’t have a clue!
– Peter
“…… will use my considerable Tool Potentate Powers if any of your comments betray my weak moment while you were here… let’s start by pondering the following phrase: Banned for life.”
Peter,
I’ve heard that tone before, he’s serious!
-roger
I’m guessing it’s a layout tool.. Am i hot or cold?
John,
hmmm,
My first initial – guess – impulse – would be that the CT-17 would be a device to arrive at a curved arc surface in 3 dimensional space.
Think of a sailboat, with the wind blowing at the sail – and freeze that moment. The Ct-17 will allow one to create that “sail” in “space” and then transfer those points to one’s workpiece.
Another visual would be the sectional elements of a domed structure, such as these… http://www.lancasterdomes.com/coppercase.htm
or the individual elements that would make up this,
http://www.treklens.com/gallery/Asia/Malaysia/photo348020.htm
(think of pieces that would make up a 3-d puzzle)
The creative uses for such a tool that creates and then transfers such a curved surface would be incredible, and if that’s not what the CT-17 function is – then perhaps it would be for the CT-18!
-roger
John,
also…..
….the “mechanism” that would allow for the incremental adjustment in 3 dimensional space from a flat – laid on the ground sail – to a blowing in the wind sail – clearly would have it’s inspirational roots within the rotor mechanism of the helicopter!
It’s the middle of winter in Antarctica…
Roger–You are stranded in the Arctic, it is 30 below zero and you want ice cream?
That said, I like the 3D point cloud tool idea!
–John
John,
Uses for such a tool would be for example, a curved clamshell like lid for a jewelry box, the two halves of a “sculptured” flower vase,
the ribbing of a sculptured wall sconce, the complex curve for the back or seat of a chair, the sweep of the arm of that chair, and on……
…this tool would be used for helping with visualization as well as a layout and transfer tool.
When could I put my order in?
-roger
How about a clue number 3? Or how about you just show us the tool!
John,
“It’s the middle of winter in Antarctica…”
Well, as to function of the “above” CT-17,
it sounds like I’m a bit cold.
Gosh, I’m going to have to expel more brain cells.
-roger
John,
hmm,
What about an adjustable sanding block that self adjusts as one is working on curved surfaces?
Something everyone could use.
It’s getting a little nippy here in Antarctica,
do I get a cup of hot chocolate yet?
-roger
John,
An adjusting Compass plane.
(you haven’t done one of those yet)
-roger
John,
It’s a device that aids in cutting a mitered union
in the same way the,
Kerfmaker aids in the sizing grooves and dado cuts.
or the,
Tenonator aids to cut a tenon perfectly without external devices.
It’s the third member of the trilogy.
Welcome the “Miter-master”.
Drumroll please.
So, am I now on a sunny beach drinking Margaritas?
-roger
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John,
“Banned for life,” Peter’s no stranger to that phrase. From the corner store to the Playboy Mansion, to the White House, if only he had a dollar for everytime he heard that! This time I think he may change his ways, who could stand having their tool supply cut off?
As for me, I’m not going to guess, I’m not shaking the box, I’m not going to waterboard anyone, I’m just going to stew in my blissful ignorance until you reveal the CT-17.
-Rutager
To All (so far);
So much for global warming.
–John
“Care to guess what purpose this image serves?”
John,
It is clear that everyone else is thinking too hard. The image is a tease, serving the purpose of generating discussion and hype over the CT-17.
In the image, I see arcs and straight lines. I can’t think of any single layout tool that will do both, and I don’t think that the lines shown are the product of the CT-17. It occurred to me that it is an illustration of how the light reflects off of four CT-17s, but the top and middle sections don’t fit in. I’ve tried to look at it as a positive and negative image as well as 3D. I’ve got nothing. Maybe the CT-17 is a new CAD program? I doubt that.
My best guess – a digital divider/compass. By digital, I mean adjustable in predetermined steps like the Incra system.
Chris;
Tease. Discussion and hype?
Of course!
But the image is a real and a tangible product of this tool and you will soon learn, it is indeed real.
As far as people thinking too hard…when was that ever a bad thing?
Now let’s get back to the hype…
–John
John,
Well, one thing that it is not – is the Cover Image for a “Bridge City App” for the Iphone or Upcoming (Saturday) Ipad.
Because I know that your a devout PC/ Blackberry user.
But that doesn’t leave any excuse for Michael not to come up with a BCTW APP.
Talk about … “There is beauty in numbers.”
The “numbers” that a decent App for woodworkers, model-makers, designers, architects, etc, etc would bring in would be off the charts.
Come to think of it you and Michael would perfect dead ringers
For the two guys representing PC and Mac users.
If you haven’t seen some of them take a look her…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCL5UgxtoLs
.
how about a tool for creating segmented arc angles – take an arc and define the number of segments and length of the arc and the tool will calculate and be set for each angle?
should I get gloves and a scarf?
neil
It is…[drumroll please]….:
$424.99 (with Founder’s Club discount) and slathered in black chrome.
Flipping the picture around, it put me in mind of a “compound honing guide”–kinda-sorta along the functionality lines of Veritas’ MKII honing guide: things that look like partial protractor ranges (bevel), linked up to other protractor ranges (skew), with some of the intersections curved (chamfer).
…or a plane along the same principle.
I’m with dmarkowi. It’s a tool designed to empty our wallets.
It looks like something capable of dividing a curved profile into equal-angle segments. Or possibly scaling a curved edge to a larger or smaller size.
Either would be needed if, say, you wanted to take a rotor you love on one size helicopter and build one for a larger or smaller helicopter.
But I’ve been so wrong with these puzzles before…
Since we are all stuck in the ice age I’m willing to bet this tool has nothing to do with arcs, radii, etc.. Nor is it a layout tool. I’m getting the feeling it’s a new invention and something we have never seen or thought of before. I’m getting excited!
Compound Honing guide? I would be disappointed if that was the choice for this years CT! Doubt it! And I don’t think you take a week vacation to design it!
So, with that said. I gotta be getting warmer man?!
There is yet another clue contained within the description of the image…
“…useful image created in the latter design phases…
Lastly, what is a wallet for if not to be emptied–isn’t this the purpose of marriage?
–John
Hey, just got back from smelt fishing and this one is easy John.
You are either getting into garden tools becuz
this is a picture of a new rake design.
OR, you are making smelt nets?
Am I close?
Cooter
@ForumMFG: I note I didn’t get a “you’re cold”! 😉
My guess was directed toward John working out the math of the compound angles in the function of whatever this is–which I’d guess would only “move” along the lines shown, rather than look like them.
That said, I don’t have the foggiest, other than it’s not being cheap or Made in China. }-)
Well now…
Here’s another clue contained in the text;
“Care to guess what purpose this image serves?”
And warm to the suggestion that I am “working out the math…” (There is beauty in numbers…).
–John
Cooter Ditchman: You are ice cold on the smelt net and rake.
Purpose: Getting certainty on the points that the business end of whatever the device is goes through as the device is rearranged/reoriented? I was thinking the device might function along trigonometric principles.
Hi all,
I want to take a stab at this. It is warming up and I like cold places….
I think John is developing a tool which will allow me to plot a point in three dimensions, thereby predicting the fabrication and placement of a specific piece of material to arrive at the desired outcome.
Cold or what??
Dennis
Dennis;
The by-product of pressure is heat.
No pressure here.
-John
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John,
I would like a holographic sketchpad.
(Not a 3-d image on a 2-d screen.)
That could then be turned around as needed.
A zooming as well as an xray feature would be nice.
-roger
John,
I said that I wasn’t going to guess what the CT-17 is, but in this blog you aren’t asking for us to guess what the tool is, but what purpose the arcs in the picture show, so my guess is they are a graphical representation of the range of motion the tool can work through.
Can I at least get some hot fudge sauce on my bowl of ice cream?
-Rutager
RUTAGER!
Nice job taking the time to read the words–you win my “Whoopee in Woolens Award“!
You are hotter than a stolen tamales!
Good job. And no, I am not sending you one for free.
OK, for those of you who are hitting the Advil bottle, the graphic was created to empirically determine a set of data points.
The magenta arc was equally divided in 12 segments (no significance to the number 12). The end points of each arc segment became anchors for the cyan lines which are all of equal length. Their intersection on the magenta arc became the center for each of the orange arcs which intersect the yellow arc. These intersections served as the dividing points on the yellow arc so I could measure the angles between each yellow radii. Now this was incredibly useful for me, just as I shared. The magenta arc and the yellow arc are non-linear in their relationship to each other in a couple of ways. You will soon see.
After the image served it’s purpose I thought it was too interesting to toss away, hence your involvement.
That wasn’t so hard was it?
You guys are great–this little contest was a fun addition to the week.
–John
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Congratulations Rutager!
buuuuut,
Ok, I don’t think the party is over yet,
We now know that the graphic represents the range of motion
through a set of data points through which the “tool” will function in some way, (either in physical or mathematical form)
Great.
Fantastic.
Out of this world.
Now, I still want to know what the print title on the Bridge City Brown box that will enclose this “tool” to my doorstep
will be.
Tick, tock.
-roger
Roger;
This is a Commemorative Tool and they come in a black box. Small detail, but a fun one.
–John
Roger,
Since you come across as a very creative person, I don’t understand why you haven’t figured this out yet. Finding out what CT-17 will be is really quite simple. We just need to have a friendly “talk” with Peter, or I suppose we could just wait until it’s announced, I’ll be on the next flight to CA!
-Rutager
Rutager-
Peter’s roots are Canadian – He is not easily intimidated.
John-
Wow, a black box!
The air of mystery just went up a few knotches!
-roger
Rutager – if you promise to buy me one, I’ll tell you what it is.
After John has announced it.
“Banned for life” send chills down my spine. Ebay is good, but not good enough!
– Peter
John,
Given your early background in the great state of Iowa and the home of John Deere Plow Co., I would guess that the curved surfaces are part of the latest version of the the new and latest version of the John Deere plow, V99.1 and it will be labeled Snackledrog or Wracklefritz!
Stumper
Stumper-
Actually, with a bit of a stretch, you are not far off…
AND, I am sure if I had failed my 12 years of the Iowa Basic Skills Test (no, there were no repeats….) , this tool would not exist.
–John
PS; And just maybe we should bring back the Iowa Basic Skills Tests to fix the output problems that plague many K-12 grades…
I am going to guess a scaling copy-arm of some sort. Would be very useful converting drawings to a different scale for construction. Laurie will need one of these…
John,
“A device for applying texture in a curved manor.” – on either a flat or non flat surface.
This may be a stretch…
….the tool would function in a way that incorporates the irons of the HP-6v2 series (or such similar) in a plane body (or housing) that would be used in a similar fashion as a a jig that holds a router to cut out circles or ellipses.
-roger
Roger;
You are ice cold on this but you are making me warm with ideas.
-John
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John,
Your welcome,
this might be the first blog -comments that reach 100.
& referencing your comment @ 7.52am above – hmm,
Included in 12 years of the Iowa Basic Skills Test are – Math Concepts and Estimation, Math Problem Solving and Data Interpretation, Math Computation, an so forth…
(by Wikipedia)
-roger
.
Roger,
You sure like your igloo building and ice cream cones!
Lots of “cool” ideas though, speaking of ideas, we haven’t seen any JMP things in a while from you. So I’ve had to start working on some of my own. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Hope to see some more soon from the master!
I don’t think this one will hit 100 responses, but it sure seems like we all enjoy a good guessing game.
-Rutager
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John,
Something tells me there is, (either with this one or another)
a bearing rail (al-la JMP) that when pushed back and forth activates a cam action in order to propel a circular motion – that will act as a driver for something……………………… somehow.
Just some rambling thoughts.
-roger
Folks-
This blog thread has been fun–I have had several customers/followers comment privately that they love trying to figure out what we are up to. So the question is; would you like us to make your brain hurt more frequently than we make your wallet hurt?
–John
Well, I kind of feel that I’m “along on the journey” – I’m kind of earning the tool rather than just paying for it. The problem is, I think I’m out of my league on this one. My creative juice allowed only one drip and it froze the moment it came out……The old addage that “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink” can be re-written as “you can lead a man to wonder, but you can’t make him think”…..I’m wondering a LOT about what this model could represent, but I confess, I’m stuck. My brain has not begun to think. How about another clue? I feel embarrassed to even ask….
DJ
Your model takes two related curves and plots them against each other into a three dimensional representation of the two dissimilar originations.
How the bleep is that useful?
There IS beauty in the combination of the two origination curves, and that is the point, I believe. The $64.00 question: When would I wish to scribe two arcs and end up with a three dimensional component?? My first guess is “when I am trying to find balance in a deisgned piece. I think the answer lies in the orange component of your diagram. All other components are in place to create that final element…(you did not start with any part of the orange element to create the others). The relationship between the Cyanne and Yellow arcs is a curiosity. How you chose these may also be a clue to the secret? It certinly will have an affect on the shape of the final element!
So much for thinking…….
By the way, What does the word “decider” have to do with this? It implies that I will use the tool after “deciding” something? The politically correct comment went over my head…maybe because I’m not…(correct).
Still stumped…Maybe I will sleep on it…
DJ
John,
Purchasing a quality tool has never brought any pain to my wallet. using tools that do what they’re supposed to do and do it well, enrich my time in the shop! Yes, I do enjoy the “kicks” to my head that you deal out on occasion.
Besides the clues and guessing games, it would be cool to get progress reports on some of your ideas, for instance a while ago you made a comment on chasing the elusive manual rip cut. I’m very curious to know if you have figured it out and if you’re working on designing a tool for it.
Thanks for caring about your customers, it’s rare these days!
-Rutager
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When I look at the Yellow & Magenta arc I’m seeing the Cyan arc as the link between them.
The Yellow & Magenta arcs also determine what the Cyan arc does next, not the other way.
The Yellow & Magenta arc can function in unison or independently. Either way the Cyan arc reacts.
I also agree that the Orange arc is the “key” element in this set-up. I also see it functioning as hinged to the Cyan & Yellow joint.
Orange is the leader, the general – the trigger.
All other colors serve the orange.
—————————–
John-
In reply to your last question.
I’m up to the hunt for the Holy Grail.
Eking out an occasional clue or riddle would help.
So far without looking back, I have that it has something to do
with mathematics, numbers & John Deere tractors residing in a black box.
-roger
-roger
“Decider” is just my way of using an inappropriate word–it was used by one of our past Presidents (hence the political link) , and being a president myself, I appropriated it–it’s a power thing… 🙂
Clue number three will posted within an hour because I want to go watch “Life”. And if you haven’t seen it, then you have something else to look forward to!
–John
Roger,
Orange? Right you are, but not hot enough for the coveted “Whoopie in Woolies” award.
John
Hee hee! This is so fun! I can see why you torture us like this, John. It’s much more fun from your end than ours…
I love seeing the creativity that everyone has brought to this problem. It reminds me of an old scifi story I once read, where the government assembled a team of engineers and physicists to try to figure out how this anti-gravity machine worked. The government had a prototype that had become mangled in a crash, and some fuzzy film footage of someone using it to float through the air. The group spent weeks looking over the broken machine, and examining the footage, and finally managed to create a working anti-gravity machine.
Thing is – the anti-gravity machine never existed. The government had made this fake, and mangled it, fudged some film footage, all to make the group think that it was possible. And once the group thought it was possible, they managed to build one.
So here we have a group seeing a few very (!) obscure clues, and designing a whole new set of tools. It’s a wonderful thing to see such a clever set of minds tackle such a problem.
Now John has a year’s worth of good tool ideas to pursue. Kudos!
– Peter
Peter, I may look dumb, and act foolish, but guess what? I am both.
Best-
John
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When you pull together the two focal pints of the Magenta & Yellow arcs towards each other – the Cyan connector between them will match up to the curve of the Orange arc.
I believe that if the graphic above were put into an animation that-that would be the sequence.
-roger
So you’re saying that you’re open to suggestions and ideas?
– Peter
I’m going to take a stab at this: I think that the yellow and magenta represent a part of this tool, each rotate from where all the lines of each meet at one point. Both the magenta and yellow parts connect to the cyan part. When the magenta and yellow parts rotate, the cyan part acts like a cam and it moves the end result which is the Orange lines.
The image served as a way to find the maximum and minimum rotation and travel.
What John used this image for is very similar to what people do when they design equipment that have Hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders.
.
hmm,
Unless I hear differently from John – I have a suspicion that the “graphic” may only represent the motion of one part (or the breath of one action of the CT-17.
We may only be looking through the keyhole with only one facet viewing, the rest of our view obscured.
-roger
.
Also, if we move beyond the “keyhole” we may find a whole field of these graphics. These little guys may be working in concert with each other.
-roger