Perfect Timing

Called - long distance - a company to arrange the return of a product for servicing/repair. Went through the automated menu to select the correct department. _Then_ got a recording that the offices were closing at 3:00 (my time and theirs) for the holiday. Only it was already eight after.

Ah, well; I used their online request submittal form, which doesn't get a vacation. :-)

Universal (Almost) Slicer

There's a tool I really want. I have one, but it's old, I don't remember where I got it, it's getting worn, and I can't find any more. It's a variation on the Gigli saw: stainless steel wires with square cross-sections braided together, with a ring on each end. Cuts bone, wood and soft metals with speed. The variation has bits of tungsten carbide or carborundum braided in the wires. This is no "commando saw" but a serious tool for cutting hard metal. I used the old one to cut case-hardened steel (a fair-quality padlock I had lost the combination for) with little trouble, and even put a groove in quartz with a bit of work.

You'd think the "survivalists" alone would provide enough demand for such a tool. The potential uses by - as an example - military engineers and field mechanics also justify it. So why can't I find it? No-one makes this any more, that I have been able to discover. Oh, I can find "commando saws" and real Gigli saws. Just not this.

What Should Have Been

Fifteen years ago the DC-X showed us how it could be done:

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1196/1

(worksafe)