We possible have different terms over here. What is offsided? Is the round back a flatter tool flat on one side, curved on the other?

Now the English and the Australians can't understand each other either?

I thought it was the Atlantic that was supposed to be the linguistic divide. Although Aussies are often incomprehensible I always blamed it on weird vowel sounds and rhyming slang.

I'm also making guesses as to what that meant, perhaps a picture of the tool would help.

I used to make one for the KA that was a die with a half round "saddle" cutout with circular dovetail. Piece that looked like a fuller/flatter mated in and a keeper on the end held it in the dovetail loose enough so it could swivel - ultimate taper "combo die"! allowed use of the flat die area or the "auto-flatter" on the fly.

Soapstone and the floor are still my preferred media!

A simpler design. Ya just need to keep it from jumping out yet free to rock. Should be a little less than 1/2 full circle, but not much.

A simpler design. Ya just need to keep it from jumping out yet free to rock. Should be a little less than 1/2 full circle, but not much.

Offsider= helper, mate, striker, trained monkey. We've always called a round back a round back, only now its become a redback to our apprentice, (a redback is a very nasty venomous little black Aussie spider that has a red stripe down its abdomen that is commonly found on the underside of outside watercloset (dunny) seats, normally bites on the nether regions that are dangling ) He likens the roundback to a redback I guess. We normally just have a round bar handle welded to our roundback and we get someone to hold it, though I have seen some that blokes have made one with a pivot arrangement to sit on the bottom block.
Chalk on the floor works good for me too Grant. I can't explain things if I don't have a piece of chalk to sketch with.

Phil

phew! looks like the above posts cleared that up without me being long winded again. I'll just sneak off into a corner and mutter gibberish to myself...
A ;)

Chalk on the floor works good for me too Grant. I can't explain things if I don't have a piece of chalk to sketch with.

Phil

Seeing as how a lot of the work up here takes place over wood docks we favor soapstone on plate.This has come to be known as "soapstone engineering" and a friend even has that as the name of his business/shop. :)

Seeing as how a lot of the work up here takes place over wood docks we favor soapstone on plate.This has come to be known as "soapstone engineering" and a friend even has that as the name of his business/shop.

Interesting...

I had a friend who built movie props and sets.. What he did he referred to as "vise-grip" engineering... Most of the time they would build complex parts several steps ahead held in place with vise grips but not welded to see if it would work before making it permanent... I want to combine the two and call it the soap/grip method? maybe chalk-vise process? :D

Interesting...

I had a friend who built movie props and sets.. What he did he referred to as "vise-grip" engineering... Most of the time they would build complex parts several steps ahead held in place with vise grips but not welded to see if it would work before making it permanent... I want to combine the two and call it the soap/grip method? maybe chalk-vise process?

close cousin of the "suck it and see" school of engineering

Interesting...

I had a friend who built movie props and sets.. What he did he referred to as "vise-grip" engineering... Most of the time they would build complex parts several steps ahead held in place with vise grips but not welded to see if it would work before making it permanent... I want to combine the two and call it the soap/grip method? maybe chalk-vise process?

Sounds like theater folk,always afraid of commitment.

Being a little more computer oriented, I've always called it "visegrip-CAD"!