Completely off-topic. We tend to be impressed with good engineering here, so I thought you all might appreciate this: As some of you may know, I make wine in my spare time. Well last fall, I bought a press as a winter project (no, it's still not done...). With it came a Budde & Westermann Iron Corking Machine:
Budde & Westermann Corker by Scott, on FlickrThis is a cast iron corker, circa-1900. It's a beast. I didn't really want it, it takes up a lot of room, and I didn't figure it was worth anything other than looking at. I tucked it in a corner of the garage thinking it would be a nice decorative object near the wine rack in the basement that is also on the project list (no, it's still not started).
So, in order to progress some of the woodworking projects yet this summer, I have been rearranging and clearing space in the garage today. I bottled last weekend, and there was a cork sitting nearby the iron corker. Thought I, Hmm - I wonder if the cork would be compressed by this thing? Tried it, and with some effort, the cork passed through the head of the corker. Hmm, thought I, I wonder if this corker would actually work? Grabbed a bottle, and expecting shattered glass to rain down:
Now that's cool...
It's still destined to be decorative, as my Portuguese corker is smoother and easier to use, but I'm honestly surprised, and again, impressed with early 1900s engineering. What we've all seen in old camera design and execution, well, there were other industries over-engineering things at the turn of the century.
Thanks for looking.
Scott
