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Leitz apprentice 1948


greyelm

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I managed to get the gist of the reply using Google but your help would be appreciated. I am hopeful that poseidon will be successful in getting more information when he shows the picture to his contacts.

 

Malcolm

 

I will be pleased to help you as soon as poseidon or any other friendly helper has found out something.

krauklis

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... But a COMMANDO (*) is always something special... ;)

 

 

(*) it IS ? vertical cylinders... maybe an Atlas...

 

I think it is possibly a 650SS or a late Dominator. Very nice frame (the Slimline Featherbed) but a weak engine maybe due to lack of crankcase rigidity. Like most 1960's British motor bikes, you never needed to waterproof your boots, as they constantly sprayed them with a fine mist of oil. It was a real eye opener when I moved over to an Italian Aermacchi Ala d'Oro 350 in 1966 and found it did not leave a pool of oil every night where you parked it and it was quicker than a British 650.

 

Wilson

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I think it is possibly a 650SS or a late Dominator. Very nice frame (the Slimline Featherbed) but a weak engine maybe due to lack of crankcase rigidity. Like most 1960's British motor bikes, you never needed to waterproof your boots, as they constantly sprayed them with a fine mist of oil. It was a real eye opener when I moved over to an Italian Aermacchi Ala d'Oro 350 in 1966 and found it did not leave a pool of oil every night where you parked it and it was quicker than a British 650.

 

Wilson

 

...mmmhhh... it was 1974 when I made my 18 years, but the "Ala" was still one of my dreams... and, two years after, got a used 350 TV which was its "quiet-but not too much" last daughter...:o... Ducati Desmo 350 vs. Aermacchi 350 was a matter of love, faith & taste...

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Does the google-translater tell you, what "poseidon" in #2 in the German thread said? If not and if you don't find anybody to help you understand his remarks and those which will follow, feel free and tell us. I'm pretty sure there will always be someone to help you, (including me).

Poseidon knows that building and the room/workshop and he will show the photo to people who used to work there.

 

krauklis

 

 

...this is great stuff, folks - it almost makes up for some of the mindless drivel one sometimes has to endure. ;)

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Back to Leica. How many of us find the new viewfinder of the Fuji X100 more interesting than that of the M9 Titanium? There has been almost no real improvement in the M finder / rangefinder since 1954; three generations of Leica apprentices couldn't think of anything better?

 

Will the big advance on the M10 be in the viewfinder? I am the most unlikely to buy an M10 if the viewfinder changes appreciably. But Leica needs new buyers. How many more Ms will use 3 generation guys buy?

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Germany is the leader in Europe for exporting, the market for machineries is hold by them since 150 years.

 

Not that long, Jean-Claude ! In 1860, Germany as such didn't exist, and - following a recent quiz at the French television - number one country for mechanical production and exports in 1850-1900 was... the tiny Belgium. It even, lasted longer for arms (FN rifles and Browning guns), as you certainly know.

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Not that long, Jean-Claude ! In 1860, Germany as such didn't exist, and - following a recent quiz at the French television - number one country for mechanical production and exports in 1850-1900 was... the tiny Belgium. It even, lasted longer for arms (FN rifles and Browning guns), as you certainly know.

 

.....hmmmm. So Belgium appears where in this graph? I suspect that the answer on this quiz was just plain wrong. If you consider UK exports in built ships alone, I would guess that it exceeded the total of Belgium exports. The UK built around 55% of world commercial shipping in 1900. If the question was limited to small arms, the answer might be correct.

 

Wilson

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.....hmmmm. So Belgium appears where in this graph? I suspect that the answer on this quiz was just plain wrong. If you consider UK exports in built ships alone, I would guess that it exceeded the total of Belgium exports. The UK built around 55% of world commercial shipping in 1900. If the question was limited to small arms, the answer might be correct.

 

Wilson

 

Indeed, Belgium doesn't appear in the chart, but I suspect that the question was so tightly framed as to be almost a trick - not unusual in quizzes! As the saying goes, 'The devil lies in the detail', or maybe the small print ;)

 

As for small arms, Belgium was indeed a massive exporter, not least to the UK. Numerically, the greater part of Belgiam ouput was cheap breech loading shotguns and muzzle loading guns, even around the turn of the 20th century. We all think of Mauser pattern rifles and Browning pistols from FN, but Belgian exports of semi-finished shotgun barrels ('tubes') and actions were a huge trade and probably did a lot to put Belgium near, or indeed at the very top of the small arms export league - though not for 'finished products' if we enter into the spirit of setting quiz questions!.

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As happens so often, we have drifted 'off topic', but the conversations are still interesting :)

 

I do stick to my promise (#22), but up to now there is nothing new concerning the opening question. And in the meantime it is ok to get side-tracked ... .

 

krauklis

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What is the % based on?

 

I am surprised that Switzerland was not in the Chart but Japan was there... considering the number of mechanical watches they manufactured during these periods.

 

 

.....hmmmm. So Belgium appears where in this graph? I suspect that the answer on this quiz was just plain wrong. If you consider UK exports in built ships alone, I would guess that it exceeded the total of Belgium exports. The UK built around 55% of world commercial shipping in 1900. If the question was limited to small arms, the answer might be correct.

 

Wilson

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What is the % based on?

 

I am surprised that Switzerland was not in the Chart but Japan was there... considering the number of mechanical watches they manufactured during these periods.

 

Until the first world war, Switzerland was a relatively poor, mainly agricultural country recovering from a rather nasty civil war in the mid 19th century. The development of tourism and skiing just before the turn of the century started to bring some much needed money in. Most developed countries had their own watch manufacturing industries until this time. It was an industry that suffered very badly in the first world war, whereas in Switzerland, which stayed neutral, it flourished. Prior to that, much of the Swiss watch making was a cottage industry in the Val Joux region. The workers worked on their own smallholdings in the summer and only made watches in the winter. The Swiss banking industry also benefitted strongly from the neutrality in both world wars. Their main industrial companies, Sulzer, Brown Boverei and Oerlikon only became major players after the first world war, so I am not surprised that they do not feature on this chart, which stops at 1900.

 

Wilson

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thank God for the Belgians and their Fabrique nationale - the FN 7.62 - we called it the SLR. Don't care whether they are at the top of the table or not.

 

My recollection was that by the end of the day carrying one around, it's 10+ pounds plus the weight of 4 filled mags felt like they weighed half a ton. It used to be a real privilege to be designated squad leader in our university OTC, when you got to carry the lightweight Sterling SMG instead.

 

Wilson

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poseidon, thank you!

For those with poor or no knowledge of the German language:

The instructor is the late Mr Willi Kuhl from a place near Wetzlar.

The apprentice is Mr Otto Richter from Braunfels, who after his training stayed with Leitz for a number of years.

At the moment it is not possible to make more information available to the public without consent of the person concerned.

 

krauklis

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