"ANCIENT CHINESE SECRET"

Thekla Daniels asked a question about fly control that I happened to know a bit about but like all of us, you don't realize something is of value so it is never offered.
Here is the link to her query: https://permies.com/t/48180/goats/remedies-mosquitos-biting-flies-dairy

My post asks you, "What do you know, that could be of great value to most permaculturists or even people in general?"

*My little brain thought of the process of replacing a hammer handle, I was rescued by a guy that had an old timer show him. Turns out less is more.

Hi Mike,

Nice video to share...

This is called (old common practiced method of fitting a new handle, and if I can find it somewhere around here, it has the same meaning in Japanese):

"jumping on" It can apply to any handled tool (i.e. saw, file, hammer, ax, adz, katana, etc) that has a "mortise and tenon" fitting.)

Regards,

j

Jay, I was amazed when it was showed to me, right before intervenining my friend saw me put the head of a hammer similar to the one in the video in a vise. I was reaching for a large sledge, I was going to show the handle "who was the boss".

Like you said, light little taps "jumped that handle" into the unsupported head. For a logical thinker it made no sense.

I was hoping this thread could get some traction, I bet you could fill an encyclopedia with your secrets.

Hi Mike,

This is one of those "tricks" that when you see it the first time...it just seems like magic. It is actually a "logic test" and demonstrations of basic physics (aka every action has...) I was blessed with being an only child so my Grandmother (circa 1898 ) and her group of friends over the years (circa 1870's to 1880's) became my friends and teachers. She use to "jump on" her shove head and some of her other gardening tools, and from here it just got better. The first time I saw a Teahouse Daiku "jump up" his saw blade into its handle I realized this was a common method in many cultures. There are so many "little things" that when you add them all up, they become the "secrets" that old Guild Masters wouldn't teach accept to those special members of the Guild.

Traditional apprenticeships and these old Guild habits of "holding knowledge too closely," has left many cultures with gaps in their skill sets and understanding. Fortunately there is just enough left living that know this that some of us are doing everything we can to get it recorded. I can't begin to speak to the "silliness" that is all over the web...however...the internet is also a saving grace in becoming a rapid and expansive place to gather information and condense it down into very useful formats. Just the little bits I have been able to write here on Permies could be read and 80% understood in a long weekend by just the average skilled "craftsperson." That same information took me 40 years to get into my head, so for me the future is bright and the young minds I am meeting almost daily are even brighter for it...I think we are on the edge of a brand new "reinsurance" where "super high-tech knowledge and skill sets" coalesces with "lithic age traditional wisdom."

Regards,

j