Had to share... My middle son (5 yo) has a few medical problems and had
to go in for a "minor" operation... Allow me to say, that there is no
such thing as a "minor" sugery when it's your kid they're cutting on.
Surgery was on his heel, went great, he's fine... Mom's still a little
fried, but you'll have this... Anyway...

Short version of the background... We have a wheel chair for him that
a friend got at a sale. Very nice chair, like new condition. Because
of the surgery he'll have a cast on the lower portion of his left leg.
I call a place to inquire about a leg lift and anti tip bars (wheelie
bars) for the chair we have... Girl on the phone says "no problem, have
it in stock" and proceeds to give me costs of rental/purchase and
directions to the shop... I think GREAT it's on the way home, they have
the stuff... So.. leave work a bit early, find the place with no
problem, walk in, talk to the manager and he informs me they don't
carry this stuff, never did... who did I talk to etc... He was very
polite and even offered to rent/sell me a new chair... Gee thanks...
(he was polite and meant well)

Now I am faced with the oh so appealing proposition of going home to
SWMBO (a most reasonable and understanding woman - they're all this
way right?) and explaining that the pieces for the chair, that I was
responsible for getting, ain't gettin got...

What does any self respecting powertool owning husband do? Adaptively
engineer a replacement... (I come from a long line of adaptive
engineers)

Off to the BORG for parts.

The chair's leg rest comes off and leaves a nice standard (kinda
standard) sized hole with a nice cross bolt thru near the bottom for a
stop... I head into the pipe section and find pleasant surprise #1 a
BORG employee that was pleasant, helpful, and .... knowledgable. I had
the chair with me, explained what I wanted... The guy opened the pieces
and parts and we assembled it right there to make sure it fit. He then
got me unopened stuff to ease the checkout. 2 stainless nipples, 1
adapter, and a flange later I'm heading out the door... Where I find
pleasant surprise # 2... No lines and a plesant, fast cashier... Whoo
hoo...

Get home and start the process after dinner and a few required
errands... Ball practice for the oldest and such... Assemble the pipe
pieces... To prevent scratching the chairs paint I wrap the little
assembly consisting of a 3/8" od 6 inch nipple, a reducer, a 1/2" od 4"
nipple, and a flange in electrical tape. Test the fit on the chair leg
support hole, add one layer of duct tape, and I'm good to go. Now for
the support its self... I grab some scrap pieces (this is why you never
throw out/burn that extra stuff) of ply and lay out an assembly from my
scratched plans... One piece for the bottom of the support 7" X 8",
another for the left side upright 7" X 7.5", and a piece for the right
side upright and divider (middle section as you look at the chair, the
cast is on his left leg) that was 8" x 14" so I ended up with
something like this:

|__|
|

It's looked like an upside down small h. With this example the left
upright was screwd from the bottom and the right from the side.
Attached the pipe assembly and Voila'.... One handy leg lift... Now on
to the finish... Hmmm, it's 10 PM so paint is pretty much out... Ah,
here we have a nice new roll of duct tape... So away I go with strips
of the master mechanics favorite (I had serious thoughts of the
Red/Green show here)... Nice little over lap, even spacing... Now what
to do with the inside???? Ah here we go, a nice piece of blue wool
blanket that I was using as a cover for a tool... I won't miss a couple
inches... Snip, snip, staple, staple and it's done... The inside of
the brace now has a nice soft cover.

I was rather pleased with myself... So off for final
approval/inspection... SWMBO loved it... My life was good...

Found that the price for purchasing a leg lift starts around $250
minimum ... I spent a whopping $10 on mine... Now granted my insurance
would probably have covered some/most of the cost... But ya know I just
have a problem with that for some reason.

Took it along to the hospital and they didn't even realize it wasn't a
purchased piece of the chair... :-)

God I love woodworking...

"bremen68"

snip good adaptive engineering story

Good on ya.

I had to design some physical rehab equipment years ago. Nobody had it. Got
quoted prices from $40,000 to $120,000 to design and build what I wanted.

I did a little research, asked some questions and slapped some things
together from the hardware store and a couple industrial suppliers.

I came up with a crude solution for $40. And a much better, semi-elegant
solution for $120.

I can relate.

Good thinking. I would've gone on the internet and asked everyone for a
dollar! Tom
bremen68 wrote:
Had to share... My middle son (5 yo) has a few medical problems and had
to go in for a "minor" operation... Allow me to say, that there is no
such thing as a "minor" sugery when it's your kid they're cutting on.
Surgery was on his heel, went great, he's fine... Mom's still a little
fried, but you'll have this... Anyway...

Short version of the background... We have a wheel chair for him that
a friend got at a sale. Very nice chair, like new condition. Because
of the surgery he'll have a cast on the lower portion of his left leg.
I call a place to inquire about a leg lift and anti tip bars (wheelie
bars) for the chair we have... Girl on the phone says "no problem, have
it in stock" and proceeds to give me costs of rental/purchase and
directions to the shop... I think GREAT it's on the way home, they have
the stuff... So.. leave work a bit early, find the place with no
problem, walk in, talk to the manager and he informs me they don't
carry this stuff, never did... who did I talk to etc... He was very
polite and even offered to rent/sell me a new chair... Gee thanks...
(he was polite and meant well)

Now I am faced with the oh so appealing proposition of going home to
SWMBO (a most reasonable and understanding woman - they're all this
way right?) and explaining that the pieces for the chair, that I was
responsible for getting, ain't gettin got...

What does any self respecting powertool owning husband do? Adaptively
engineer a replacement... (I come from a long line of adaptive
engineers)

Off to the BORG for parts.

The chair's leg rest comes off and leaves a nice standard (kinda
standard) sized hole with a nice cross bolt thru near the bottom for a
stop... I head into the pipe section and find pleasant surprise #1 a
BORG employee that was pleasant, helpful, and .... knowledgable. I had
the chair with me, explained what I wanted... The guy opened the pieces
and parts and we assembled it right there to make sure it fit. He then
got me unopened stuff to ease the checkout. 2 stainless nipples, 1
adapter, and a flange later I'm heading out the door... Where I find
pleasant surprise # 2... No lines and a plesant, fast cashier... Whoo
hoo...

Get home and start the process after dinner and a few required
errands... Ball practice for the oldest and such... Assemble the pipe
pieces... To prevent scratching the chairs paint I wrap the little
assembly consisting of a 3/8" od 6 inch nipple, a reducer, a 1/2" od 4"
nipple, and a flange in electrical tape. Test the fit on the chair leg
support hole, add one layer of duct tape, and I'm good to go. Now for
the support its self... I grab some scrap pieces (this is why you never
throw out/burn that extra stuff) of ply and lay out an assembly from my
scratched plans... One piece for the bottom of the support 7" X 8",
another for the left side upright 7" X 7.5", and a piece for the right
side upright and divider (middle section as you look at the chair, the
cast is on his left leg) that was 8" x 14" so I ended up with
something like this:

|__|
|

It's looked like an upside down small h. With this example the left
upright was screwd from the bottom and the right from the side.
Attached the pipe assembly and Voila'.... One handy leg lift... Now on
to the finish... Hmmm, it's 10 PM so paint is pretty much out... Ah,
here we have a nice new roll of duct tape... So away I go with strips
of the master mechanics favorite (I had serious thoughts of the
Red/Green show here)... Nice little over lap, even spacing... Now what
to do with the inside???? Ah here we go, a nice piece of blue wool
blanket that I was using as a cover for a tool... I won't miss a couple
inches... Snip, snip, staple, staple and it's done... The inside of
the brace now has a nice soft cover.

I was rather pleased with myself... So off for final
approval/inspection... SWMBO loved it... My life was good...

Found that the price for purchasing a leg lift starts around $250
minimum ... I spent a whopping $10 on mine... Now granted my insurance
would probably have covered some/most of the cost... But ya know I just
have a problem with that for some reason.

Took it along to the hospital and they didn't even realize it wasn't a
purchased piece of the chair... :-)

God I love woodworking...

In article m,
bremen68 wrote:
...snipped...

stop... I head into the pipe section and find pleasant surprise #1 a
BORG employee that was pleasant, helpful, and .... knowledgable. I had
the chair with me, explained what I wanted... The guy opened the pieces
and parts and we assembled it right there to make sure it fit. He then
got me unopened stuff to ease the checkout. 2 stainless nipples, 1
adapter, and a flange later I'm heading out the door... Where I find
pleasant surprise # 2... No lines and a plesant, fast cashier... Whoo
hoo...
...snipped...

It's great when everything works out like that, though when I read the
part of your post that I've quoted here, for some reason the theme
from The Twilight Zone started running through my mind...


--
No dumb questions, just dumb answers.
Larry Wasserman - Baltimore, Maryland - lwasserm(@)charm(.)net

bremen68 wrote:
Had to share... My middle son (5 yo) has a few medical problems and had
to go in for a "minor" operation... Allow me to say, that there is no
such thing as a "minor" sugery when it's your kid they're cutting on.
Surgery was on his heel

WHAT? Why, when I was that boy's age, our parents just gave us
jackknives and told us to cut our own damn selves! We didn't get
through the Nixon gas crunch by throwing money at such niceties as
"surgery" and "medicine," I can tell you that! Kids today! Spoiled!

But seriously, I wonder if maybe the high price of adaptive aids has
something to do with the mind-numbing liability involved in selling
such products to the public, not only because such devices are
inherently safety-critical, but because that public contains persons
who will take a big wobbly cup of hot coffee and put it between their
legs while driving and then blame someone else when they parboil their
genitals. If a person can dramatically narrow his reproductive options
using only a cup of ordinary coffee, imagine what he can do with a pair
of crutches and a flight of stairs, or, God help us, an electric
wheelchair and a revolving door. I imagine that being in that business
is an unending legal nightmare.

In article om,
boorite wrote:

But seriously, I wonder if maybe the high price of adaptive aids has
something to do with the mind-numbing liability involved in selling
such products to the public, not only because such devices are
inherently safety-critical, but because that public contains persons
who will take a big wobbly cup of hot coffee and put it between their
legs while driving and then blame someone else when they parboil their
genitals. If a person can dramatically narrow his reproductive options
using only a cup of ordinary coffee, imagine what he can do with a pair
of crutches and a flight of stairs, or, God help us, an electric
wheelchair and a revolving door. I imagine that being in that business
is an unending legal nightmare.

Maybe it has something to do with the attitude "Oh, no problem.
Insurance will pay for it."

Dave Balderstone wrote:
In article om,
boorite wrote:

But seriously, I wonder if maybe the high price of adaptive aids has
something to do with the mind-numbing liability involved in selling
such products to the public, not only because such devices are
inherently safety-critical, but because that public contains persons
who will take a big wobbly cup of hot coffee and put it between their
legs while driving and then blame someone else when they parboil their
genitals. If a person can dramatically narrow his reproductive options
using only a cup of ordinary coffee, imagine what he can do with a pair
of crutches and a flight of stairs, or, God help us, an electric
wheelchair and a revolving door. I imagine that being in that business
is an unending legal nightmare.

Maybe it has something to do with the attitude "Oh, no problem.
Insurance will pay for it."

In my experience, the insurance companies do their best not to
reinforce that attitude by not actually paying for expensive things, if
they can help it.

Thu, Sep 28, 2006, 10:27am (EDT-3) (bremen68) doth
posteth:
snip Adaptively engineer a replacement... (I come from a long line of
adaptive engineers)
Off to the BORG for parts.
The chair's leg rest comes off and leaves a nice standard (kinda
standard) sized hole with a nice cross bolt thru near the bottom for a
stop... I head into the pipe section and find pleasant surprise #1 a
BORG employee that was pleasant, helpful, and .... knowledgable. snip

From the description of the employee it's obvious it wasn't Home
Depot.

I've now gotten to the point in life where I usually don't "have"
to adapt things, because of monetary restraints, and sometimes time.
However, I still do modify, adapt, or just make from scratch, because:
I can seldom buy things that are perfect for my needs. And, a LOT of
times I find that my hack job is actually the same, or even better, than
what someone's trying to sell me for healthy bucks. The whatever is
customized to my needs and wants. It often works better than the
store-bought stuff. Finally, it's good for the soul.



JOAT
It's not hard, if you get your mind right.
- Granny Weatherwax

J T wrote:
Thu, Sep 28, 2006, 10:27am (EDT-3) (bremen68) doth
posteth:
snip Adaptively engineer a replacement... (I come from a long line of
adaptive engineers)
Off to the BORG for parts.
The chair's leg rest comes off and leaves a nice standard (kinda
standard) sized hole with a nice cross bolt thru near the bottom for a
stop... I head into the pipe section and find pleasant surprise #1 a
BORG employee that was pleasant, helpful, and .... knowledgable. snip

From the description of the employee it's obvious it wasn't Home
Depot.


JOAT
It's not hard, if you get your mind right.
- Granny Weatherwax

Shocking though it might be... It was a Home Depot...