Things I Learned Over the Last Few Days

[gfish]

• Pangea was not the first supercontinent. There was one before it called Rodinia, and probably others before that one. They form every ~600 million years. Which makes sense -- being on a sphere, continents can only tectonically drift so far apart before they start coming back together again at the antipodes. At that point the thermal insulation effect causes a whole news series of rifts to form and the process begins again.


• You cannot cast silicon rubber onto untreated investment/plaster. Being porous it soaks up one of the components, leaving an unset mess at the boundary.


• Very few places that sell pewter quote prices on their website or want to deal with individuals at all.


• One of the best sources of obsidian in the country is a 6 hour drive away in Oregon. It's BLM land and you can take 100 pounds a day. I really want to learn how to flintknap now. 'Flintknap' is a relatively new word, only a few hundred years old. The entire art of lithic tool formation was reinvented in the western world upon the invention of the flintlock rifle.


• At least one teenage couple seems to think the small park across the street is a good place to have sex.


• Con audiences are far more receptive to The Grace of Tears than the average group of people. They even appreciated the commentary on the 5th postulate!

Comments

[gfish.livejournal.com]

I think sealants are recommended, which I'll try next. Using the silicon to make a negative in which to duplicate wax positives works. I'm now experimenting with making a silicon postive, on which I'd cast investment negatives. That way I could skip the burnout process -- convenient, and it removes leftover wax volatiles from the list of unknowns that could be messing up the casts.

The fancy-schmancy term for the pile of shards is debitage. Flintknapping, like bicycles, picked up a bunch of French terms. You don't hit it with a stick, you hit it with a baton.

Yes, the park is very small and very open. It wasn't very subtle. Nor, unfortunately, particularly interesting to watch.

[randomdreams.livejournal.com]

Well, teenage sex, if I recall correctly, wasn't even particularly interesting to participate in, so I can't imagine it would be any too great to watch.

Next time I come out, I'll bring some flint and we can play around. There's a place in Moab where the ground is solidly covered in it, like ankle-deep, just huge gigantic chunks everywhere.

[plantae.livejournal.com]

Next time I come out, I'll bring some flint and we can play around.

Ooooooo. Me too! Me too!

You'd think I'd be interested in picking up useful skills, wouldn't you? But no, I seem to be preparing for some massive time-machine accident(s). I've wanted to learn to do that since I learned such a thing exists.

[vixyish.livejournal.com]

I rather enjoy the thought of a flint-knapping party on my balcony.

Just try not to hit the car with any shards.