Wibble Wobbler (interesting geometric solid)

thingiverse

This is my recollection of a very old object my great grand mother had, Which even at her time was claimed to be over 200 years old. it's effectively a sales example for the ancient craft of Chair Bodging. Nomadic groups of skilled wood workers in Britain would travel between villages and make furniture for the inhabitants, mainly chairs. The bodgers would live and work on site, in the woods. Performing coppicing and using very primitive tools such as ad-hoc built treadle lathes and shave horses to work green wood to make the furniture. My family name is Beech, apparently a common name for bodger families. The treadle lathe was an important tool for making legs and spindles, and a new one would be built at each new site. To demonstrate their skills the bodgers and apprentices would make small, finely crafted objects that were light enough to carry with them to show to prospective customers or employers. This print is an example of one of those sales examples, a ball like object would be created on the treadle lathe with grooves and patterning. It would then be bisected, then the 2 halves rotated through 30 degrees to each other and re joined with a peg. This would make the pattern on the surface loop on itself in an unending, unbroken loop. Not only did this demonstrate the accuracy of the lathe-work, which took considerable skill to ensure the ball was symmetrical enough for the pattern to be twisted through 30 degrees, and still match. The ball would carry a bewitching pattern and describe a unique snaking path when rolled on a flat surface, catching the eye of customers. I hope you print and enjoy this example of a long-dead, highly skilled profession.