#60273
03/12/2002 12:58 PM
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
My sweet Max, you could wear it on a (breakaway) chain 'round your neck, Dearest. Just a thought.
|
|
|
#60274
03/12/2002 1:06 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866 |
Titanium is all the rage with jewellers for a number of reasons - and, for jewellery grade stuff, IS quite expensive. I apologise however for not knowing the relativities of price with other metals. Fancy a visit to the London Metal Exchange site anybody.....?
One of its benefits is that it passes through a range of vivid colours when heated (as do other metals, but arguably not so prettily). The colour is retained when it cools, so the item can be blue, straw, pinkish, violet or some other combination. If the heat treating is applied locally on the piece it can exhibit a range of colours across its face.
My neighbour's son, a talented young jeweller, made a beautiful ring from gold and electric blue titanium. It was like a sandwich, the outer band of gold had a celtic pattern cut into it, exposing the blue titanium below. An absolute eye catcher.
stales
|
|
|
#60275
03/13/2002 12:04 AM
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094 |
Ooo, I didn't know they could make colored titanium. I wonder if that'll be the next colorful Mac thing: Blue Titanium G4 Powerbooks. (No, probably not, all there products are white now.)
I've actually been wondering if my Titanium Powerbook is actually titanium. It's a dull gray, not really shiny at all, and there are a few scratches on the bottom. I had the impression that titanium was impervious to just about everything.
|
|
|
#60276
03/13/2002 12:33 AM
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear Jazzo: Titanium can be made fairly hard. I have a set of drill bits that package said were titanium, but I am sure they are just plated or something. For aircraft, the wonderful thing about titanium is that when air friction at high speed heats it up a lot, it does not sag the way aluminum would. One undesirable thing about it for boats is that it is a bit brittle when very cold. I wonder if it will ever be used as girders in big buildings for that reason. I thought at one time magnesium would have very desirable uses in buildings, until I remembered seeing German WWII aircraft made of magnesium burn like gigantic Forth of July displays.
|
|
|
#60277
03/13/2002 12:50 AM
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
|
|
|
#60278
03/13/2002 1:47 AM
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
underable
Is this a real word? I love it, Dr. Bill!
|
|
|
#60279
03/13/2002 6:03 AM
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146 |
Magnesium simply shouldn't be used where intense heat is likely to occur. Therefore, no buildings, no warships and no military aircraft should have it in their structures. The Brits were nuts to use it in their warships, but even they learn. Titanium, as stales said, goes through a range of colours when it's heated, and this colourisation can be controlled quite minutely by the application of heat at the point when the colour is desired. Me missus has a real liking for expensive titanium earrings which are made in a range of colours by just that process. Whoever invented the method should be taken out and shot ... 
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
|
|
|
#60280
03/13/2002 8:43 AM
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
|
|
|
#60281
03/13/2002 11:52 AM
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
noun-verb number agreement Calme-toi, Chéri--we love you anyway. Plus, that sort of thing is easy to do when one is caught up in the "heat" of the moment... 
|
|
|
#60282
03/13/2002 2:18 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear Jackie: " underable " should have read " undesirable".
|
|
|
#60283
03/13/2002 3:54 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773 |
why are chargers called chargers?
charge, n, adopted from OF-F, comes from OF-MF chargier, to load, whence "to charge", orig to load, hence to place, upon someone, a load other than of weight... A charger, whether a large platter or a cavalry or ceremonial horse, carries a weight ...
.......-- Origins A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English
Chargers are also called service plates or place plates. They can be made of china, metal or wood. A charger is in place when the diners come to the table; the napkin may be centered on it, with a place card centered on that, in which case the diner and not the server removes the napkin for use and puts the place card aside. A soup plate, with or without an underliner, is placed on the charger; a soup cup requires an underliner even if a charger is used. A plate of oysters or clams may also be placed on the charger.
The charger is removed after the soup and shellfish courses, so that a plate for the fish or meat course may be substituted. For proper removal, the server must stand behind the diner and lean to the right to remove the charger and then immediately lean to the left to slip in a fresh plate, so that at no time during a proper dinner, until just before dessert service, is the place in front of the diner empty. A dinner plate may be used instead of a charger, and is just left in place for use during the main course.
My chargers are metal.
|
|
|
#60284
03/13/2002 6:29 PM
|
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Dear Sparteye,
Thanks for the information about chargers. I always figured that the horses in battles were called chargers because they charged forward into battle, so your information taught this old dog a new mental trick.
You also wrote:
Chargers are also called service plates or place plates. They can be made of china, metal or wood.
At the family reunions and church picnics, we often see the woven grass paper plate holders. Would they be classified as "The Plugger's Chargers"?
Curious,
Wordwind
|
|
|
#60285
03/13/2002 7:12 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
I remember, but can find no confirmation, that the quart sized dispensers of carbonated water for mixing drinks used to be called "chargers" because carbonated water was also calle "charged water."
|
|
|
|
|
