"Carl's Lounge" (Off-Topic Discussion, Traditional Knife "Tales & Vignettes")

I found myself using the term "dead nuts flush" in a thread today.

When I was a young engineer, I was given one of those sheets of paper which served to propagate jokes before we had emails and internet. It was a list of terms used to indicate engineering precision of manufactured parts. Among the terms were "Good enough", "meets spec", etc.
The bottom term was "What spec?"
The term for the absolute highest engineering precision was "dead nuts".
 
knarfeng said:
I found myself using the term "dead nuts flush" in a thread today.

When I was a young engineer, I was given one of those sheets of paper which served to propagate jokes before we had emails and internet. It was a list of terms used to indicate engineering precision of manufactured parts. Among the terms were "Good enough", "meets spec", etc.
The bottom term was "What spec?"
The term for the absolute highest engineering precision was "dead nuts".
Click to expand...

“It’s an industry term.” 🤣

 
knarfeng said:
I found myself using the term "dead nuts flush" in a thread today.

When I was a young engineer, I was given one of those sheets of paper which served to propagate jokes before we had emails and internet. It was a list of terms used to indicate engineering precision of manufactured parts. Among the terms were "Good enough", "meets spec", etc.
The bottom term was "What spec?"
The term for the absolute highest engineering precision was "dead nuts".
Click to expand...
Used in surveying too. “How did it check?” “Dead nuts!”

“Good enough” is also widely used to describe sloppy work.
 
knarfeng said:
I found myself using the term "dead nuts flush" in a thread today.

When I was a young engineer, I was given one of those sheets of paper which served to propagate jokes before we had emails and internet. It was a list of terms used to indicate engineering precision of manufactured parts. Among the terms were "Good enough", "meets spec", etc.
The bottom term was "What spec?"
The term for the absolute highest engineering precision was "dead nuts".
Click to expand...
I remember that phrase "dead nuts" as well. This conversation brings to mind a saying we used for electronics gear back when I was serving with the Air Force's Air Defense Command:

"Works fine, lasts a long time, paint it black, and it won't rust."
 
Peregrin said:
I remember that phrase "dead nuts" as well. This conversation brings to mind a saying we used for electronics gear back when I was serving with the Air Force's Air Defense Command:

"Works fine, lasts a long time, paint it black, and it won't rust."
Click to expand...
old military instruction, "If it moves, salute it. If it doesn't move, paint it."
 
Famous Cutleries didn't just produce folding knives, they made other blades; Razors, kitchen knives, box cutters and other things, and also scissors!!!
Here are two, KeenKutter(Simmond's), and Henckels!!Scissors 1.jpgScissors 2.jpgScissors 3.jpg
Hopefully you can see the "twins" logo in the stamp!!
 
waynorth said:
Famous Cutleries didn't just produce folding knives, they made other blades; Razors, kitchen knives, box cutters and other things, and also scissors!!!
Here are two, KeenKutter(Simmond's), and Henckels!!View attachment 3151290View attachment 3151291View attachment 3151292
Hopefully you can see the "twins" logo in the stamp!!
Click to expand...

That’s pretty cool, Charlie. I particularly like the Keen Kutter scissors (maybe that’s just because the Keen Kutter stamp looks good on just about anything). 😁

Here’s an old pair of scissors I picked up at a flea market/antique store here in Minnesota a couple years back.

iCBB7ge.jpg


They’re stamped “Arrow” (stylized with an arrow through it) over “Nashville, Ark.” I bought them solely for the stamp from my home state.

bPol2RH.jpg


I haven’t been able to find much about Arrow, only a few other examples online of old scissors/shears with the same stamp, but while reading up on the history of Nashville, Arkansas (a small town in the southwest corner of the state) I found a couple sources that said the town had cutlery factory that was owned by W.R. Case & Sons and operated from 1952 until the mid-70s, so perhaps these scissors were made there.
 
btb01 said:
I haven’t been able to find much about Arrow, only a few other examples online of old scissors/shears with the same stamp, but while reading up on the history of Nashville, Arkansas (a small town in the southwest corner of the state) I found a couple sources that said the town had cutlery factory that was owned by W.R. Case & Sons and operated from 1952 until the mid-70s, so perhaps these scissors were made there.
Click to expand...
Some Case experts lurk on BF, Barrett!!! Maybe they will come up with an answer!!
 
5K Qs said:
I usually hear (or say) "Good enough" with further qualification:
Good enough for government work.
Click to expand...
We used to say that all the time, but we actually were government employees, so...um...never mind :p

5K Qs said:
I usually hear (or say) "Good enough" with further qualification:
Good enough for who it's for.
Click to expand...
Good enough for what we're doing.

5K Qs said:
I usually hear (or say) "Good enough" with further qualification:

Good enough until we can get a pro in here to check it out.

- GT
Click to expand...

That one was funny until we realized that we were the pros 🤣
 
mbkr said:
We used to say that all the time, but we actually were government employees, so...um...never mind :p


Good enough for what we're doing.



That one was funny until we realized that we were the pros 🤣
Click to expand...
I thought your entire post was good enough, Mike. ;)

Your last comment suggests that there's a lot of responsibility and pressure that goes with being a pro. :eek:😁

- GT
 
I haven't seen this one mentioned yet, but during my time as a test technician on airborne military microwave systems in the 1970s, we frequently used the phrase: 'Close enough for government work!' It was a staple of our shop humor whenever we were dealing with tight specs. ;)
 
At a shop I used to work out for quite a few years, "government work" was code for personal side project for one of the employees. The owner would walk out through the shop during lunchbreak, and see me cutting something on the waterjet or laser, or welding table and say "wow, you're working through lunch! Must be an important customer" and I'd say "it's a hot order for government work that just came in!". He would wander off and I'd finish up quickly. hehe I'm sure he knew what was going on.
 
Peregrin said:
I haven't seen this one mentioned yet, but during my time as a test technician on airborne military microwave systems in the 1970s, we frequently used the phrase: 'Close enough for government work!' It was a staple of our shop humor whenever we were dealing with tight specs. ;)
Click to expand...
Yeah, Gary, in my checkered past it seems like "good enough" and "close enough" were used interchangeably.
(Or maybe I didn't realize the difference between them, but I figured my comprehension was good enough.)

- GT
 
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