Tinker's dam

Posted by Smokey Stover on November 19, 2005

In Reply to: Tinker's dam posted by charles laws on November 17, 2005

: I believe a tinker's dam has been misidentified in "not worth a tinker's dam".
: The tinker's dam, I was shown, was a small donut of clay that pressed against the metal being repaired that served to keep the molten solder in place. Once used was worthless.

Misidentifed by whom? I've always heard the tinker's dam described as you describe it. Only recently have I read that revisionists are describing it differently. But a quick check of Google and this site shows only your description, the traditional one. SS