A Big Hello to the Brass Goggles Community

Posted by on December 18th,2009

Hi everybody,

Let me start by introducing myself. My name’s Leonardo Wolfe but feel free to call me Leo. I’ve long been the occasional visitor to the Brass Goggles website and once had a stint at writing for the blog however unfortunately, I think only a couple of my posts came to fruitrition. Long story short, I got myself into a commitment I couldn’t fulfil due to my terrible time management skills which leads me onto the irony that I’m a student with the British Horological Institute where I’m training to be a clock/watch maker.

So, why am I here darkening your doorstep? I have a proposition for all the amateur and professional engineers and inventors out there and I need your help however big or small to spread the word and join in.

I currently live in Cambridgeshire, England. The famous home of 84 Nobel Prizes and 8 Field Medals. The plan is to start in Cambridge and then to branch out nationally and potentially internationally. I’m hoping it really could become that big but I’m only testing the water here and it could go in the complete opposite direction. But what on earth am I talking about?

The idea is to start a guild (easy there MMORPG fans) of people that are mathematically and mechanically minded in the pursuit of creating devices and inventions from a period  now long gone but which we’re all here to enjoy, admire and relive. A rebellion against the torrent of cheap, mass produced capitalist junk that rolls out of the worlds factories to end up in the garbage day after day. Melted down to create the next fad and stale function. However we’d be by no means political and this is something that would have to remain key to the guild. Discrimination and snobbery also wouldn’t be tolerated.

So, due to the high level of talented students and professionals within the area, this seems like the ideal place to start such a project. Before we talk about drafting manifestos and creating secret handshakes (I joke), I need to gauge everybody’s initial interest. Now, the plan is we hold regular meetings within the Cambridge area however this will be determined by the average availability of those interested. A good idea if this takes off is to actually take minutes from our meetings so that we can publish them here or on a separate dedicated site so that others not so local and abroad can join in and contribute. As some of you may know, there’s regular lectures open to the public here in Cambridge and I don’t see why we can’t work our way up to some accredited recognition. However, this is a long way off. The plan is also to support each other in our inventions, that would be the heart of the guild be it swapping skills or maybe even applying for patents.

So, I need your thoughts and ideas. This isn’t my guild, it’s our guild! (As a note, the title “guild” is currently a working title)

Thank you for your time and I look forward to your ideas and suggestions. Also, a big thank you to Harold for allowing me start this project and post on Brass Goggles!

Lets get the steam ball rolling!

Direct E-mail: theagie@me.com.