The pisser of this comic was originally Bud was to have shot a nail through a hat Chet would have been wearing, but it seems nail guns didn’t come around until the 1990s or so. At least I couldn’t find any references to them before 1990, so I changed it to a saw, which is not as funny in my opinion, but you get the idea… Chet is in for some trouble!
Okay, “If I Had A Hammer” is NOT a rock song, but it tied into the nail gun and I got tired and didn’t look for a saw song, and I’m sure I’ll be reminded by you all! Remind away…
More construction hazards this week!
😀
LOL. Well, Bruce Cockburn did If I Had A Rocket Launcher in 1984…so this title is pretty close to a rock song after all. 🙂
leonoard nimoy did an AWESOME rendition of that song. 😀
actually in Google Books I’ve found this one
http://books.google.com/books?id=l-xg8encuEcC&pg=PA373&lpg=PA373&dq=hilti+dx100l&source=bl&ots=uI1nSOxDx_&sig=V_Yt9MICGyT-T4CDFBNz6nrmgjU&hl=en&ei=i5MjSt2eGs2R_QaZvpHDBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1
which I’ve found due to searchin’ for the Hilti dx 100 L, a device still functional, stored in my father’s workshop. It indictaes that those nail-firing things were around way earlier. Since Hilti makes sturdy tools you can still find those at auctions online like here
http://www.hood.de/auction/32260217/bolzensetzgeraet-bolzenschussgeraet-hilti-dx-100-l.htm
(this one’s sold, so it doesn’t count as ad, does it?)
According to Hilti’s product history timeline
http://www.hilti.com/holcom/modules/company2/comp2_mstones.jsp
similar (hammer-droven) devices were around since about 1957.
Another device at father’s, called Tornado T6, doesn’t need a hammer, but is an actual shooting device, and it looks far older than the Hilti. Can’t find references at the net, which may as well be an indicator for ‘old’.
I remember that I helped my Dad as a lad fixing some wall panel construction with that beast. Problem is, you need to know what kind of material the wall is, so you’ll choose the correct ammu. My Dad asked the customer, and he was all ‘oh yes, solid concrete, no worries.’ Turned out it wasn’t, and the very first test nail shoot right through the wall and through the back of a closet at the next room. So my father had to fix that closet as well additionally to his work schedule, and wasn’t amused about it. That’s the last time he used that device, since it’s more safe, at least as durable, and, not least, faster to just use the drill driver through the wood construction into the wall and rawlplug it directly.
Veni, vidi, risi. I came, I *saw*, I laughed.
(My Latin may not be wholly accurate; it’s been a while!)
don’t worry I was USING nailguns in the late 60’s early 70’s. none of those wimpy safety models either.. lol.
Go back a bit and you’ve got the Beatles’ classic “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.” Such a perky little tune.
Or if you want a saw-related title and don’t mind moving forward a bit there’s “Cuts Like a Knife.”
@ Chuck — the Latin’s fine if we make allowances for the English pun.
Re: Makkabee – Brian Adams! DOH! I generally as a rule will try to have some sort of connection to the 70s to use a song title. Brian Adams wrote a song for Bachman-Turner Overdrive in 1978 under a different name (Adams producer also produced BTO in 1978)… so, I could use any Brian Adams tunes as he’s tied into the 70s. Kinda like the 6 degrees to Kevin Bacon… it’s the 6 degrees to 1977!
🙂
Oh, anyone notice the “Crafty Man” name on the saw? My little joke on Sears’ brand name Craftsman.
😀
RE: not a monkey – I was really sure nail guns were around in the 70s, but I couldn’t find a specific example (and I did not look too hard either) but now I just may go ahead and crank the nail gun “incident” comic out as well.
Excellent references too! Thanks! 🙂
some own pics, maybe for reference
hammer-droven
http://www.mannm.org/tools/hilti_dx100l_bolzensetzer_1.jpg
http://www.mannm.org/tools/hilti_dx100l_bolzensetzer_2_komplett.jpg
shooter
http://www.mannm.org/tools/tornado_t6_bolzensetzer_1.jpg
http://www.mannm.org/tools/tornado_t6_bolzensetzer_2_komplett.jpg
the manual has no date anywhere, but layout and inside photos make it appear like something from the 60s
Had a nice week-break? I missed you!
Love the comic, I check it every day.
Kisses.
Actually, the best ballistics can be coaxed from misusing *table* versions of most tools. For example:
Nitwit stoner feeds 2X4 backwards into table saw (with anti-kickback pawls and kerf knife not yet installed or removed “for utility”). Result = high speed airborn spear of death. (Kickback is when this happens when you feed the wood the *right* way in and it binds. I have a friend with no index finger on his good hand as a result of this).
Example: Lackwit stoner feeds 2×4 into table-mounted router *between* blade and fence. Result: airborn high-speed spear of death *and* satisfying recoil at the tool end. Nothing gets the old juices flowing than a table mounted high-speed rotary tool leaping at your face. This I have done. Never use manly power tools when tired.
Drill presses are good for accelerating long bits of whatever in a circle until they hit something. Typically this is the operator’s chest.
Belt sanders really can run off like the one in “Captain Ron” did. I recommend using a Porter Cable one because they still use a lot of metal in their belt sanders, so when they hit they *really* hit. A belt sander, a plank on sawhorses and a boob reading the manual at the end of the plank – comedy gold. Don’t be the guy with the manual. This one appeals to me because you don’t just launch the workpiece, you launch the whole tool. A runaway belt sander is the very epitome of excitement, especially if combined with earplugs and a 100 foot extension cord. Don’t ask how I know this.
Bench grinders not only offer the possibility of aerial sharp things, but if misused enough by stoners (particulalry apt here) an entire wheel can break up. *That’s* excitement.
.22 calibre black-powder nail guns are good. People are killed every year by idiots deploying these in a manner explicitly contra-indicated in the instructions. The manufacturer clearly states how to use and how NOT to use the things, and builds in what one might think is a foolproof safety mechanism in their product, but every year someone tries to put up sheetrock with a machine designed to nail into concrete, creatively defeating the safeguards and raising the death index in the vicinity from slight to almost-certain. this is a tool made for Bud.
I think Bud should try his hand a plumbing next.
Love the strip. Welcome back. Hope you are rested.
Steve.
Alternate Title Knowall Dept:
“I Saw Her Standing There”. :o)
RE: roxysteve – Son of a bitch, man, this is COOL! You’ve given me tons of “new” ideas for this week’s segments. Of course, I get total credit… as I’m a ‘professional” writer!
Thanks!
🙂
I looked it up. Nail guns were invented in the mid-fifties by four guys who ended up losing the patents at a public auction when the bank liquidated their assets. Bostich bought them, and has been making nail guns ever since.
(I only just now got that the flying saw blade cut the instructions in half, and was, indeed, flying through the panel. Quick, put some motion lines before anyone else notices!)
With all the doggone weather we have gotten as of late I am stuck indoors, fortunately there is the internet, thanks for giving me something to do. 🙂
Yeah, you’ve never lived till you’ve heard Leonard Nimoy belt out “If I Had a Hammer”, and follow it up with Bill Shatner’s “Rate how drunk he was when recording the song on a scale of 1 to 10.” rendition of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”.