Re: Soldering irons: made in America but designed in Russia?

Allus Smith wrote in

>>All this talk about soldering irons makes me think how crummy too much >>>American industrial design is. >>>Some US industrial design looks great but some looks downright, well, >>>Russian.

and John Larkin stood in defense of American innovation:

>
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Absolutely, the US is the powerhouse of invention. However the industrial design reflects the somehow conservative esthetics of the US population. My favorite example: electrical outlets and switches. The basic shape looks like it was designed in the fifties and never changed:

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You just don't have stuff like this in Europe--the customers there demands fancier, modern design, like the Decora switches. I am not saying this is inherently good or bad: the standard switch costs fifty cents, and is super-reliable.

Another example is the dominant furniture style: IKEA making slow inroads against the standard velvety sofa

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przemek klosowski
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Of course. People manufacture what customers want to buy. And taste is arbitrary.

We have all sorts of fancy outlets and switches here, including Decora, and some people buy them. Personally, I don't like the Decora switches.

Hardly "dominant", but common and comfortable. We have all sorts of furniture here, too. A lot of the Ikea stuff isn't comfortable.

This is a big country with a lot of variety. And there's nothing wrong with tradition.

John

Reply to
John Larkin

I'm not much of a Decora fan either, but that's the only style they make GFCI outlets in. I sorta like everything in the room to match, so the Decora goes in the basement and garage. ;-)

IKEA certainly isn't dominant. In fact I've never seen it in anyone's house. Perhaps it's ubiquitous in left lefty land but not the rest of the country.

I prefer Ohio Amish built Mission style furniture, in Cherry.

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...and it'll last longer than particle board with a picture of wood on it.

Reply to
krw

I have an Ikea stool in my office. It keeps people from lurking too long since it's very uncomfortable.

Reply to
qrk

We did our offices mostly in Ikea. This "computer workstation" makes a very nice workbench, except that they have discontinued it.

ftp://jjlarkin.lmi.net/DSC01371.JPG

The cabinet to the left is Ikea too. I like their office furniture better than their home stuff, but it's all OK, and cheap.

We bought some Ikea stuff for the cabin in Truckee. We had to haul it from Sacramanto, because there's not a single Ikea in Nevada.

Their swedish meatballs are pretty good.

Wood? All the way through?

John

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John Larkin

Looks pretty light. I'm used to 1-1/2" laminated maple tops.

Ikea meatballs taste like sawdust. ;-)

Cherry. All the way through. The Amish still build real furniture.

Here is our dining room:

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We don't have the corner cupboard or the buffet, but have six chairs. The table has four leaves stored in the center section and opens to

10'. It's heavy stuff.
Reply to
krw

I don't have any place for guests to sit. They don't stay long in my office either. ;-)

Reply to
krw

I've also got those shelves here. Ivar series or something? I am not such a fan of Ikea, had stuff fall apart and warp at times.

We used to have to haul stuff from the Bay Area since that was the only Ikea for a long time until the once in West Sac opened.

Oh yeah!

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That is a whole 'nother level of quality and sturdiness. We have a similar bed set from Germany. It's now around 100 years old and not at all worn. Made it through two world wars (and my parents-in-law were bombed out of one apartment).

I bet the Amish wouldn't have it any other way.

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Joerg

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If you also don't want too many people using your bathroom this could be installed:

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Joerg

A _real_ table (granite)...

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...Jim Thompson

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| James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
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It would certainly discourage women from visiting.

Reply to
krw

All of the counters in our house (five in the kitchen, two in the great room, and three full bathrooms) with the exception of tha laundry are granite. I'd rather have wood for some of them but my wife doesn't like butcher block counters.

Reply to
krw

Granite is cold and so hard that anything bumped against it shatters.

Corian is fabulous stuff. I buy hunks on ebay and use it for electronics fixtures, like pogo probe assemblies and such. It's good for high temps, is a superb insulator, and machines better than delrin.

We made a couple of precision magnetic-field mapper systems (lots of stepper motor stages and such) on granite, because it's so stiff and stable. But it's a bear-and-a-half to machine.

John

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John Larkin

It's great for baking though and it stays clean.

Corian is great stuff, just not for countertops. It's too soft and it will scorch. I like the "cultured" quartz. Too rich for my blood though. The granite came in the house or I surely wouldn't have used so much of it.

Granite is used for optical benches too. I've never seen one but I'm told that it's used for table/cabinet saws too. I'd think it too hard for that (chips), particularly for the "T" slot. Cast iron is good enough. ;-)

Reply to
krw

Wood (and even plastic) butcher blocks collect bacteria (and other wondrous things) in the "scratches"... and are hard to clean.

...Jim Thompson

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| James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
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Jim Thompson

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Not so much wood. Plastic, certainly. Wood has natural anti- bacterial properties that plastic doesn't have. The fact that the wood grain splits actually helps. Wood cutting boards are much preferred over plastic. Corean is the pits.

Reply to
keithw86

Granite optical benches are very stable and have a huge thermal mass, being huge solid chunks of ceramic. They work especially well for things like bridges, where e.g. you need to mount a laser pointing vertically down on the main table.

The bad part is that they don't have 1/4-20 holes on 1-inch centres.

Cheers,

Phil Hobbs

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Phil Hobbs

I've seen them that way, eons ago.

Around here, where granite kitchen counters abound, I would imagine most any counter-top installer could provide you with such holes.

...Jim Thompson

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| James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
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Are those the Home Depot (or Lowes?) Italian tiles? Heck, I laid them a couple years ago and can't even remember. They were a little over $3/sqft.

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Joerg
[...]

BTW, your taste of art is, ahm, ahem, weird ...

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