[rollei_list] Re: Rotting Rollei Case Stitching
- From: Don Williams <dwilli10@xxxxxxx>
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 05 May 2009 17:05:50 -0500
At 12:03 AM 5/5/2009, Peter Mattei wrote:
Jerry,
Not to worry...WD-40, the greatest hat trick San Diego has ever
fostered (not counting Dick Silberman or J. David Dominelli) is
composed of a light paraffin distillate, mineral spirits and
surfactants...a simple formulation that is easily reproduced and now
virtually obsolete. WD-40 is a testament to marketing, not
technology. People simply do not understand that WD-40 is not a
lubricant; rather, it is a marginally successful water displacing
coating. As such, it creates a varnish over time and that residual
causes scores of problems with mechanisms over time. On leather,
one would run the risk of having the solution penetrate, soften and
compromise the substrate. Best to stay away from WD-40. Buy the
stock, though, we're an abundantly stupid consumer society.
Very good interpretation of the WD-40 story. I can add a couple of
things to that-
1. When I was at GD Astronautics, WD-40 had a strong hold on them and
sold it to them by the barrel. It is indeed a very simple
combination of materials, nothing magic about it. I came to GD in
Feb 1958 and WD-40 was very popular in San Diego. I got some,
smelled it, and decided that it was trash, mostly kerosene or
something like it. In those days new houses were going up all over
the place and we bought one, before it was even built. The next step
was to get with your neighbor and build a redwood fence.
As part of my little test of WD-40 I drove some nails in one of the
posts and sprayed them with WD-40. The nails quickly rusted.
2. In mid 2007 I went to the 50th anniversary of the Atlas Missile,
just before moving back from La Jolla to Oklahoma. WD-40 was one of
the sponsors of the meetings and was put in a place of honor at the
display tables, along with some of the stuff I had helped do,
tracking systems components, that is. As part of the handout packet
I got a pocket-sized can of WD-40. It's still sitting, waiting for
some need for it.
What really amazes me is that most folks think it is a lubricant,
among other functions. It does actually lubricate, or at least wash
off the rust, of our garden snips, nothing more.
Yes, I remember Silberman and "Electronics Capital Corporation", and
also every morning J. David morning radio commercials. I figured it
was too good to be true. After he fell I went to his old office in
downtown La Jolla. Incredibly exotic entrance, all carved wood, etc.
DAW
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