[QUOTE=dnooman]
Mercury switches.
[/QUOTE]
Here. These can be opened up to remove the glass switch inside.
By an astounding coincidence, these are located in the small NJ town I grew up in. What are the odds?!
[QUOTE=hlanelee]
You can get a new sextant here: Edmund Scientific , it really works.
I took celestial navigation when I was college.
[/QUOTE]
Cool. I’m another one who has always wanted to pick up and learn how to use a sextant.
Another thing I’ve always wanted is a penny farthing. I’ve seen them a few times, usually in parades or theme parks ridden by guys in period costume, but I don’t know where to buy one. I suspect it would be out of my price range anyway.
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.]
Here. These can be opened up to remove the glass switch inside.
By an astounding coincidence, these are located in the small NJ town I grew up in. What are the odds?!
[/QUOTE]
Those look like light switches. Are they actually tilt switches?
[QUOTE=dnooman]
Those look like light switches. Are they actually tilt switches?
[/QUOTE]
They are light switches with a mercury tilt switch inside.
A 1961 Chevy Impala SS with the 409 engine and 4-speed tranny.
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield]
…Then I realised something: You never see people wearing Monocles anymore. Which means I have to go and find one so I can wear it. 
But do you think I can find one? Noooo. I even asked a friend of ours who works at an opticians, and after she’d finished laughing she said “Oh God, you’re serious, aren’t you? No, I don’t know where you could get one, and even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you because you’d actually wear it in public or at work or something just as embarrassing.”
Now, I’m sure that I can track one down, but it would require a lot of effort (and probably expense) to track one down- and it wouldn’t get a lot of use. Having said that, it would also be incredibly cool to have one; but not quite cool enough to justify putting vast amounts of time, effort, and cash into getting…
[/QUOTE]
You never heard of eBay? http://tinyurl.com/2hmood
When I was a little kid my parents had the most amazing armchair in the galaxy: it was huge, had big arms that curled over and had curved wood details in the front, and was upholstered in this magnificent, deep red brocade. It looked like a throne. I loved that chair.
Unbelievably, they gave it to a church auction. If I could find such a chair again, I would so buy it right away, except that I lack a) house room; b) money.
[QUOTE=davidm]
You never heard of eBay? http://tinyurl.com/2hmood
[/QUOTE]
We covered that earlier- I don’t do eBay. I appreciate the offers to help, though.
[QUOTE=cher3]
Inthelake, the glasses-on-a-stick things are called lorgnettes. That’s still not an English word, but that’s what they are called.
[/QUOTE]
Oooh, really? so funny… in French, a “lorgnette” is literally a peeping hole. Very cute word, and an adequate one for that object I find. I wonder how native English speakers pronounce it though 
[QUOTE=Inthelake]
Oooh, really? so funny… in French, a “lorgnette” is literally a peeping hole. Very cute word, and an adequate one for that object I find. I wonder how native English speakers pronounce it though
[/QUOTE]
I’d pronounce it “lorr-nyet”
Back to sextants, one of the larger suppliers of yachting stuff in the US is West Marine. Their cleverly-named website is http://www.westmarine.com
Typing “sextant” into the search box on the home page brings up 5 types they sell new, ranging from $43 for a plastic but fully functional one to $500 for a traditional looking one in a $100+ fancy wooden box.
I’d like a working reproduction of a Rumford lamp, what they used before kerosene became the lamp fuel of choice. It burns vegetable oil (which is too thick to move more than a fraction of an inch up a wick) by using a seperate reservoir to feed oil to the wick the same way those pet water dispensers work.
A Soviet Army Great Coat. Not because I’m a commie, but because they’re warm! You can supposedly sleep outdoors in a Siberian winter while wearing one and not have to worry about freezing to death. All the ones I’ve seen for sale are either cheap knock-offs or insanely expensive.
An Underwood typewriter. It was the typewriter for many of the great writers of the 20th Century.
One of those large globes with a bar inside of it.
And for those folks who like to drool over old machines for sale check this site out. They’ve even had Enigma machines for sale!
I’ve always wanted a well made colonial British pith helmet. Still no luck.
Oh there are so many things! I think if I knew how to use, and wasn’t so afraid of, eBay and PayPal, I would be much much poorer.
I want a bayonet for my Kentucky Long Flintlock, revolutionary period replica rifle. I’ve found a few, but not one that’s just right.
I also want a Soviet Army Great Coat, for the same reason as Tuckerfan.
I want several cannons. I already have a mortar. Now I just need some field artillery (Revolutionary War period).
A MacDonald clan Great Kilt would look magnificent with my bagpipes and dress sporran.
I want the sword that Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, but I think that might be a stretch even for eBay.
I saw a table once, long long ago, that I have wanted ever since. It looked like some kind of war-planning station. It was round, and in the middle was a beautiful globe, with gold writing and crystalline seas and whatnot. It was sunken into the table, so only the top half was visible, but it spun in every direction you could ask it to so that you could swivel up whatever you liked. Man I wish I had that thing.
There’s more, I’m sure, but that’s all that comes to mind at the moment. Le sigh. What I wouldn’t give for the money and time to do this crap.
Thought of something else.
I want one of those full auto BB guns that are powered by an air compressor. Like you used to be able to shoot at the fair.
[QUOTE=Soul]
I want several cannons. I already have a mortar. Now I just need some field artillery (Revolutionary War period).
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Soul]
OI want several cannons. I already have a mortar. Now I just need some field artillery (Revolutionary War period).
[/QUOTE]
About 10 years ago I was visiting my folks, and we went to Fredrick MD to browse the antique shops. One had a beautiful ship’s canon (maybe 2" bore), without the trolley. It was only something like $350. I was really tempted, but I thought it would be too much of a hassle to ship back to AZ. A few years later, we went again, and it was gone. I would have bought it if it was still there.
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan]
DIY instructions.
[/QUOTE]
I foresee an angry fiancee, perplexed neighbors, and sever gleeful weekends in my future. You are my new hero.
ETA: Add to my predictions “a lot of begging my grandfather-in-law with a small metalworking shop for time and expert help.”
[QUOTE=Soul]
I foresee an angry fiancee, perplexed neighbors, and sever gleeful weekends in my future. You are my new hero.
ETA: Add to my predictions “a lot of begging my grandfather-in-law with a small metalworking shop for time and expert help.”
[/QUOTE]
Here’s something that’ll help you with a coverstory. And what kind of collection would it be without a gatling gun? :eek:
You build any of these, and I expect an invite to [del]play with the toys[/del] see your collection.