You might be stunned to learn that mainstream watchmaker Seiko still manufactures affordable mechanical wristwatches.
When I was an active model railroader, I used to scratchbuild structures in Z scale - 1/220 the size of real life (and until recently, the smallest commercially produced gauge of model trains). It was a real test to see how small I could build something out of wood and strips of styrene. It's been a while, but I still like to keep an eye on what's going on in Z. It's so tiny that it used to take real specialist knowledge (and really good eyes) to produce models at so diminutive a size. In these boom days of miniaturization, there's more going on than ever in this tiny little world despite the bankruptcy of the scale's original inventors and largest Z manufacturer.
The Z community isn't standing still. Here is an eye popping project that has got to be the smallest model railroad in all the world. The text accompanying the YouTube post is easy to misinterpret, so here's how small we're talking. Imagine you're a Z scale person - around a centimeter in height. Now with your tiny hands you build your own working model train. That's how small we're talking - a scale of 1/35,200. This is a tremendously clever feat, and while it's a bit of a gimmick, it's a darned fine one.
This astonishing accomplishment makes my Z scale collection seem gigantic and clumsy in comparison. Magnificent work like this shows that there is still plenty of inspiration and cleverness left in the world.
that went on inside. As I pursued writing in high school, I bought a 1930's Underwood manual typewriter because it felt important to get in touch with what it meant to be a “real” writer.
The packaging is a reminder of something else. The 70's weren't all blacklight fuzzy posters and mod prints as the decade is often depicted on TV. For a lot of people, the 70's were aggressively earth toned. Remember when M&M's became cheerless and autumnal colored? That's the 70's this device hails from. A somber, penny-pinching 70's.
If you've ever bought shoes you know
what a Brannock Device is, though you may not have ever thought of it as having a name.
Charles Brannock invented the foot measuring device around 1925 (he
built the prototype with an erector set) as an answer to the other
unreliable gadgets of the day. His shoe store became known for
offering the best fitting shoes, and demand for his device grew.
Eventually he started a company in New York to manufacture his
namesake device. The company continues to operate today in a factory
not far from the original site, and they still sell the same Brannock
that they always have.
is
that the dream continues in the same way that it always has. The sturdy aluminum device is still built to last (retailers replace their
Brannocks every 15 years or so as the numbers wear out), the
manufacturer resisting temptation to maximize profits by offering a
shoddier product. Brannock devices are still manufactured in the USA,
and have changed surprisingly little in the last 80 years or so.
I hadn't chosen a font, so the note came out in the default typeface: courier. That's right, the font that every typewriter uses. I reflected on this, bringing up to my boss that after all that effort it still looked like I'd used a typewriter. He replied excitedly, “Yeah, isn't that great?”.
Computer generated dinosaurs are amazing on the big screen, but if you're building a museum display you want something even more alive and in your face. Disney elevated entertainment automatons to a high art in his theme parks in the 60's, but his "imagineers" weren't the first to create animatronic beasties.
The 37-inch long locomotive is capable of hauling 10 adults under ideal conditions, with a working pressure of 900 psi. It weighs 170 lbs and features two gunmetal cylinders, Walschaerts valve gear and mechanical lubricator. Twin Sandboxes are mounted on the top of the boiler in line with the brass steam dome, giving this stunning locomotive a distinctive look. 
