Wibble Wobbler (interesting geometric solid)

thingiverse

This is my family's heirloom from a very old object that has been passed down through generations. It's said to be over 200 years old, making it an excellent example of the ancient craft of Chair Bodging. Nomadic groups of skilled woodworkers would travel between villages in Britain, crafting furniture for the locals, mainly chairs. These bodgers lived and worked on-site, deep within the woods. They performed coppicing and used primitive tools like ad-hoc built treadle lathes and shave horses to shape green wood into functional pieces. Interestingly, my family name is Beech, a common surname among bodger families. The treadle lathe was a crucial tool for making legs and spindles, and a new one would be constructed at each new site. To showcase their expertise, the bodgers and apprentices would create small, intricately crafted objects that were lightweight enough to carry with them when visiting potential customers or employers. This print is an example of such sales examples, featuring a ball-like object created on the treadle lathe with grooves and patterning. It would then be bisected, rotated 30 degrees, and reattached with a peg. This process resulted in the pattern on the surface looping continuously without interruption. Not only did this demonstrate the precision of the lathe work, which required significant skill to ensure the ball's symmetry, but it also created a captivating visual effect when rolled on a flat surface, drawing the eye of potential customers. I'm delighted you can print and appreciate this example of a highly skilled profession that has been lost to time.