After a long and varied career as both an Apprentice then Qualified Electrical Engineer working in U.K. Coal Mining Industry, Electrical Testing of Traction Control Gear (Railway Locomotives), followed by European Wide travel as a Engineering Consultant to various Civil Engineering Sectors I ended my Manual working days and Enrolled as a VERY VERY Mature Post Grad Student in pursuit of a more cerebal challenge. After completing my Post-Grad studies for around 10 years thereafter I taught at a Faculty of Further and Higher Education and in a Business School. I mention all this, not because I'm submitting a Curriculum Vitae (Or Resume as our U.S. Cousins might call it) for employment purposes, but rather that a Teaching Aid I frequently used becomes pertinent to what I'm about to suggest. Nowadays technology is very much to the forefront in Further and Higher Education delivery. My daughter, currently at University and studying for a Doctorate in Bio-Medical Science tells me that Lecture Notes and Hand Outs are no longer paper based, but are posted on-line. Work is no longer submitted on paper, but again is done on-line where it is then run through a snazzy bit of software which ensures that whatever is submitted has not been copied or plagiarised from elsewhere. Things were so very different only 10 years ago when I finished teaching, as my still full-to-bursting Filing Cabinets would testify. It was whilst attempting for the umpteenth time to clear out some of this now obsolete Academic clutter, that I had what may, or may not turn out to be, Eureka Moment. Again, where the ubiquitous MS Power Point is now predominantly used when delivering lectures or making presentations, this wasn't always so. Oftentimes I used whilst teaching, as I'm sure many, if not all Trolls during their Schooldays and beyond will remember, one of these in classes :- Now then, it's not so much the Over Head Projector that will be of interest to Lathe Trolls but rather, what goes on them. Truth to tell, I've been following the Thread on the Vinyl Recorder Repair/Refurbishment with great interest, and somewhere within that Thread it was suggested that Photographic film is great to use for making the Cones instead of Laquered Paper. Now in and on my aforementioned Filing Cabinets there are dozens of boxes similar to these, I might add that they come in smooth or textured varieties, it's the smooth type to which I'm refering :- Now whilst endeavouring to clear out some of the filing cabinet clutter, it struck me that these acetate sheets might just make a suitable substitute for the Photographic Film for use in Cone Making during DIY Cutterhead building. Whilst having a little play and messing around trying to fashion Cones with strips and circles cut from them, I was struck by something I'd never noticed when using these OHP Transparencies before (perhaps it's because I've only ever printed on them and I'd never previously been near them with a scalpel, scissors and dividers and other scratchy/pointy things) and that was how easily and readily they can be marked. Now I've not searched the forum archives to see if these things have been suggested as a suitable Cutting Media before, but for those wishing to try them I think these could possibly make a great, and inexpensive "Flexidisc" alternative. As my own Lathe build is still a long way from completion all that's now needed, is for some adventurous Troll to give it a go, at either cutting or embossing these OHPs and giving an appraisal of them for other Trolls to benefit from this Potential Low-Cost media. After all is said and done, suggesting use of these OHPs as a "Flexidisc" Cutting Media strikes me as only being as whacky as using Picnic Plates or XRay Plates ain't it?? Thanks for Looking
Soulbear
