Related: I finally remembered enough of this to look it up successfully! While it's quite old - as I recall, I first saw it posted, in classic photocopier-samiz

Related: I finally remembered enough of this to look it up successfully! While it's quite old - as I recall, I first saw it posted, in classic photocopier-samizdat style, on a wall of my grandfather's machine shop, when I was a tiny child and he nearing retirement age - I feel it may have new relevance, in these exciting days of computer-aided design and machining, and so post it here for the benefit of all and sundry. "The Designer" - Author unknown. The designer sat at his drafting board A wealth of knowledge in his head was stored Of what can be done on a radial drill Or a turret lathe or a vertical mill. But above all things a knack he had Of driving gentle machinists mad. So he mused as he thoughtfully scratched his bean "Just how can I make this thing hard to machine?" If I make this body perfectly straight The job had ought to come out first rate But it'd be so easy to turn and to bore That it never would make a machinist sore. So I'll put a compound taper there And a couple of angles to make them swear And brass would serve for this little gear But its too damned easy to work, I fear. So just to make the machinist squeal I'll make him mill it from tungsten steel And I'll put these holes that hold the cap Down underneath where they can't be tapped. Now if they can make this it'll just be by luck Cause it can't be held by dog or by chuck And it can't be planed and it can't be ground So I feel my design is unusually sound. And he shouted in glee, "Success at last! This goddam thing can't even be cast."