Jun 29

Jun 29 Repair Shop – The Thin Edge

Have I shared this image before here? From Rome, 2022. The wedge. The wedge that keeps the window in place, that fix. One of the six simple machines.

When I think about how all the information is all already here, I think of the wedge. The wedge has been quietly doing its work for some time now. But also, how another meaning is that it divides us. The wedge, like many of us these last many years, is of two minds: it separates, but it also holds. The wedge is known as an “Oldowan” tool. From Wikibooks:

“The earliest known wedges made by people were made 2.6 million years ago. Simple stone tools like these are called "Oldowan" tools by archaeologists.”

I’ve talked about wedges before, usually evoking the Virginia Woolf quotation from To the Lighthouse:

“For now she need not think about anybody. She could be herself, by herself. And that was what now she often felt the need of — to think; well not even to think. To be silent; to be alone. All the being and the doing, expansive, glittering, vocal, evaporated; and one shrunk, with a sense of solemnity, to being oneself, a wedge-shaped core of darkness, something invisible to others.”

You’ve probably heard the expression, “the thin edge of the wedge” — the beginning of something that will become more unpleasant.

But I want to think more about the wedge as the tool that holds things in place. Props your door open, the window! Holds things up so they don’t give in.

If you want to hold something open, where do you place the wedge? Yes, there’s math, engineering, at play. There are conditions, though, too. Tim on Reddit says:

“As others said: if all else is equal then furthest from the hinge, perpendicular to the direction of travel, is best.

But like all good engineering questions the real answer is: it depends. For example:

Is the floor worn down more at that point from using the door stopper for years? If so, a rougher patch closer to the hinge might actually work better
Does it tend to get kicked if it is right near the edge? Might be better to move it out of the way
Is the height of the door to the floor uniform? If not, that'll subtly affect the wedge's performance

The question always is whether all things really are equal? Rarely, right? So placing the wedge is a science, but also an art.

I’m working to finish my book on repair by the end of the summer. And as Adam Zagajewski has said, “It is not time we lack, but concentration.” So I’m going to really try and buckle down for a bit. Please wish me luck.

In other news, it’s half way or thereabouts through the year. I wanted to take a second and look back at the words I shared in my NY Day post. Maybe you’d like to see if they’re (still) useful for you. Let me know what you think!