There's this lore that goes around my workplace that a machine we use almost daily (to punch metal discs) was converted from "a WWII era zipper maker" and I finally went to see if it was true and 1937 Oh my god
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Shoutout to Canadian engineering. Do you think the guys who built this ever imagined that people would still be using this thing daily long after they died
jul 29, 2025, 9:45 pm • 40 0 • view
This is what it looks like BTW. What an absolute beast and almost ninety years old
jul 29, 2025, 10:00 pm • 34 0 • view
not unlike myself
jul 29, 2025, 10:01 pm • 2 0 • view
This totally scans. When I was a kid we had a 1960s era Hoover vacuum that was built like a fuckin' tank. Also, I still have my grandmother's breakfast room table that she bought in maybe 1940 in my office. Weighs 5x what a modern table that size would weigh, but sturdy as a rock.
jul 29, 2025, 10:51 pm • 0 0 • view
In my product design class in the 80s, we were taught "this is how you shave weight and cost off a product to increase profit." In hindsight, this was shitty af.
jul 29, 2025, 10:51 pm • 0 0 • view
That’s a beauty and a monster all at once. Goddamn.
jul 29, 2025, 10:01 pm • 2 0 • view
We have that exact same machine at my workplace! Except not surrounded with safety glass LMAO
jul 29, 2025, 10:58 pm • 1 0 • view
Oh my god
jul 29, 2025, 10:59 pm • 1 0 • view
considering how many things were made to Last maybe like, many things were built with repairability in consideration but like, probably as an ongoing thing lol service level agreement types. Customer retention.
jul 29, 2025, 9:47 pm • 3 0 • view
Wouldn’t surprise me. Folks had expectations of things built well *lasting*. Nice to see something built “locally” (in Ontario) out in the wild.
jul 29, 2025, 9:49 pm • 1 0 • view
if it ain't broke...
jul 29, 2025, 9:44 pm • 1 0 • view
YEAH BABY
jul 29, 2025, 10:02 pm • 1 0 • view
can it still make zippers
jul 29, 2025, 10:06 pm • 0 0 • view
No idea!! Probably not
jul 29, 2025, 10:22 pm • 1 0 • view
We have a Westinghouse sewing machine that was built in the 1940s. We bought it for $20 at a thrift store in the late 90s. We had to replace the power cord. Otherwise, it does its job well.
jul 29, 2025, 9:56 pm • 3 0 • view