Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Snap

Trying to avoid allowing the snowfall of time obliterating my tracks through the day.
I was going to let the day slip by with a place mark again, but looking back at my entries for March as mentioned yesterday I was inspired not to let things slip so easily under the perfectly formed snowflakes of time.
Just a sketch I am afraid, but it did occur to me that, if you have never used an ink or a chalk line, yesterday's object might be a bit of a mystery. Here I am just snapping in a line on a plank. There is a little handle with a fierce pin on the end of the line (left), you stick that in to match one end of your line and pull the body of the unit along to the other end, while pushing on a little button to charge the line with ink, then you pinch a grip on the line thusly, match the end, pull tight and let it snap onto the surface you are intending to mark. Hey presto, you have a nice straight line to saw along, measure from or completely ignore if you change your mind.
Because the line recoils into the body of the device with some speed, you might want to look away if you lose your grip on the pin bearing part when pulling it out. As it hurtles towards its home, which you hold in your hand, there is some slight danger of unintentional blood samples being given.