Though it will undoubtedly come as a bit of a surprise to many, there are times when my mind wanders. Today I was working to rectify some obvious alignment and concentricity shortcomings on a Winchester M70 300 WSM. As I was setting up the barrel in the lathe the term that flashed into my mind (A dark place where a flash is a rare occurence)was, "Crooked as a dog's hind leg". It immediately occurred to me that, while the term was certainly descriptive enough, it was hard to tell when it should be applied. I mean, just how crooked is a dog's hind leg? Luckily, the answer was no further than my own front yard. I picked up a straight edge and headed out the door to where the unsuspecting Beagle Bailley snoozed in the springtime sun.
Bailley is apparently only too aware of the inability of humans to let sleeping dogs lie and woke up as I opened the door. Now, the last time I had approached her with any sort of instrument in my hand had been to trim her dewclaws. This had not been a real positive event due in part to her lack of co-operation and my ineptitude. The bleeding eventually stopped though and no real harm done or so I thought. Obviously her thoughts were somewhat different.
With the straight edge in my right hand I reached for her left hind leg with my left. With a startled yelp she leapt to her feet and spun to face me. I feinted left then, with a show of speed and agility belying my advancing years, dove right, easily capturing the still drowsy beagle. After a brief struggle I laid the straight edge against the leg in question. There was no doubt about it. With apologies to The Beag, (who is, after all, a respected family member)that hind leg was most definitely crooked (I'm sure she likes to think of it as curvaceous. Whatever!).
Armed with this confirmation of a term I had previously taken for granted, I went back into the shop and took another look at that Winchester barrel. I started the lathe and looked at it as it turned. I shut the lathe off and regarded the barrel at rest. There was no doubt about it. It was crooked as a dog's hind leg! Regards, Bill.

Bill, I take it that today is a lazy day for you That story was Great. I'm glad it was your dog and not mine as I'm sure I would probably need stiches or body parts after attemping that stunt with a sleeping, sunning 165lb Rotty with PMS

Science marches on!

Bill, wonderful story but I am a bit confused.

Quote:

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The bleeding eventually stopped though and no real harm done or so I thought. Obviously her thoughts were somewhat different.

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I am assuming then that Beagle Bailey bit you (and it was you bleeding) in this toe nail circumcision and he/she did not like the taste.

I was just thinking something else here. If the bore was originally concentric with the barrel and then when the barrel was bent to this dog legs likeness then the bore would then follow that crooked path. Now if you straighten the barrels outside, the inside will have some bends and such and the bullet will eventually bend the barrel the other way becuase the off side is now weaker because or your "correction" on the alignment. Then after a few years, you will decide to correct it again and as the barrel was attempting to actually straighten the bore, by the time you get there, the metal will all be gone.

Now I did start off by saying that I was confused.

Thanks Bill.....that's a great bunch of humor......and you just made my day.....

Bill, I don't think you're done yet. We're all waiting, sentences held in abeyance, to know the proper usage of the phrase "crooked as a dog's hind leg..." March back out there with your goniometer, and please, advance the state of human knowledge by telling us, just HOW crooked is a dog's hind leg?

Bill, you need to check both back legs and report back with a margin of error. Beware, checking the 3rd leg might cause you more serious problems..

Well, that's why we come to these forums, to share knowledge and experience. You have done both exceptionally well, I salute you (and Bailley) for your contribution to not only our knowledge, but to science, as now we have a difinitive quantification of measurement. What shall we call this new unit of measurement? We can't call in "toe-in" or "toe-out", someone in the auto industry has undoubtly performed this same measurement when aligning a car and coined that term. However, "paw-in" and "paw-out" are not taken.

I would, however, point out another, and appropriately apt, often used cliche' that might have prevailed in this incident with Bailey. That being the terms "let sleeping dogs lay" comes to mind.

Great job Bill, keep up the good work!

Bill, you sound to be making nearly the same amount of progress that I have been on a couple of stocks as of late. Like I keep telling myself on the golf corse, dont worry about that duffer you just hit, it's a forward thing!

I want you to know that my family thinks my mind is going by the wayside as well, the way Im busting up laughing at a dumb computer..

Man, you really crack me up!

Chris

I think the phrase must be used judiciously. You can't measure it in inches, it's like similar triangles.

You see, a Chihuahua's hind leg is just as crooked as a Great Dane's!

Obviously higher order geometrical terminology is required to codify this issue!

Don

I didn't think many on this site would grock fractals, so I didn't go there.



Didn't want to seem like a NERD! (But I am...)

Don

Yep, I'm an old Nerd who likes Robert Heinlein.

[NERD]

"Specialization is for insects."

"Women and cats will do as they like, and men and dogs should get used to the idea."

"Yield to temptation; it may not pass your way again."

He had a million aphorisms- all with a grain of truth.

Here's a long one:

"I want to mention one of the obvious symptoms [of a sick culture]: Violence. Muggings. Sniping. Arson. Bombing. Terrorism of any sort. Riots of course - but I suspect that little incidents of violence, pecking way at people day after day, damage a culture even more than riots that flare up and then die down. Oh, conscription and slavery and arbitrary compulsion of all sorts and imprisonment without bail and without speedy trial - but those things are obvious; all the histories list them."

"[But] I think you have missed the most alarming symptom of all. This one I shall tell you. But go back and search for it. Examine it. Sick cultures show a complex of symptoms as you have named . . . But a dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than a riot."
[/NERD]