Hey, there is a lot of talent on this site. So I want to challenge (and promote future challenges) to the brain power out there. You guys proly' have 'nough to do already, but like some who've posted recently, sometimes a diversion is a good thing. (Wow, can't believe I jess used a convicted felon's own werds'... oh noooo!) Anywey, here is something that was posed to me a hundred years ago (well, 'm'by not that long ago). My brother-in-law told me about a machinist they had in their Montana shop that had a 2 headed bolt with a nut in between. The nut turned freely on the bolt's threads and the threads faded out at each end. Thats all he knew. 'cept He said the guy mentioned there was a seam. But, that was all. It took me quite a while to figure out a method to figure out a way to produce such an animal (I was a fledgling machinist at the time and still on my way to knowing-it-all; hmmm, might still be trying to get there, seeing what I see on this site.) Without a doubt it may "not" be the same way his machinist did it. But I figured out a way to do it and a lot of guys sat and scratched their heads, trying to figure out how it was done after I finished mine.
This is a great exercise for any machinist who doesn't already know the trick. It requires a lot of forethought, a specific methodology and good lathe practices.
For those who already know this one I ask: please don't respond to this post. Not just yet.
And for those that don't, give it a shot, post an idea! Think about how you might solve this one. I'll give you 2 weeks to post your solutions and then I'll post the one I found. I hope you have fun with this, and, I hope it will promote others to post some of their own devious puzzles. C'mon! You folks love puzzles! Otherwise you wouldn't be doing this problem-solving-stuff you're doin' now, eh??Hey, isn't life a puzzle? Hey Benny, this one's for you, man.
Oh, the original is Vietnam. Had some pics of it but I don't know what happened to them. So this is a rendering of the original idea. I'll post a blow-by-blow when the 2 weeks is up. Good luck y' guys and gals!