Antikythera mechanism

[Mechanism Man]

Yes, I think that there could be throat depth and drill height confuzzlement going on here - my issue was definately throat depth - but money has been spent (with my better half's approval I might add), so either way the problem is solved!
I went for an AH16RD model from Axminster Tools - not cheap but should do the job for many years to come I hope!

 

[Aggrajag]

Astounding, simply astounding.

 

[Claymore]

..........

 

[Bm101]

I watched the BBC documentary about the mechanism that was shown fairly recently and was amazed. Seeing this, I'm amazed again. Thanks for sharing. I think you might need to revise your signature though...

 

[AES]

Sorry if my "nomenclature" is up the chuff gents!

The sketch below shows what I mean - if the drilling head of the pillar drill swivels (and/or the table swivels) as shown, in one way it doesn't actually alter the throat dimension, but it does mean that by means of a big enough sub table/support, and careful arrangement of the work piece, it is often possible to "fiddle" the drilling of a job where at least in one dimension of the job is larger than the "throat" - which BTW, I've seen quoted as either the distance between the centre of the drill table and the centre of the chuck/drill, OR as the distance between the column and the centre of the drilling table (see the sketch).

Anyway, the comment was only made in jest, so sorry if I created any confusion, NOT my intention - I'm the last person who would try to stand in the way of a bloke getting a shiny new bit of kit, especially when he produces work like MM (Dave)!

AES

P.S. And again, it's probably just the names I've learnt, but on a DP, to me the word "depth" only means how deep a hole goes into a work piece - it's got nothing to do with the size of the work piece, or the position of the hole from one or more edges of the work piece. Sorry, I guess that there are just different ways of naming "the same" thing!

AES

 

[Mechanism Man]

I think I see what you mean...
Throat distance is basically (at least in my head) the distance between the front edge of the column and the centre of the chuck (and hence the drill bit I guess). Unfortunately it would take a welder or a really big saw to adjust my current machine to make this any bigger.
Doh...
Thanks for the tip though - thankfully it was far too late (even if had been successful) to avoid the purchase of shiny new things!
Cheers,
Dave.

 

[Alexam]

What's left to say. A truly remarkable work in wood and to have spent so0 much time getting to where you are is quite outstanding. =D> =D> =D> Well done and than you for showing this.

Now then when are you planningto send out copies of the plans? :lol: :lol: :lol:

Malcolm

 

[beganasatree]

Hi Dave,
I have this post pop up over the last year but the title meant nothing to me so I have never looked at it until tonight,but I have just read it from start to now,and all that I can say is WOW I AM ABSOLUTELY GOBSMACKED WITH YOUR WORK,PATIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE.

Peter.

 

[bugbear]

On the drilling, many people have used small drill stands clamped down onto the workpiece
(as opposed to the workpiece being on the drill table).

This is common when drilling dog holes for workbenches, for example, and gives unlimited reach.

The problem (in your case) is that the hole would then have the precision, or lack of
it, of a portable drill stand.

BugBear

 

[Mechanism Man]

Hi folks,
Thank you all for the positive comments - they are all (as always) very much appreciated. The thread on the forum that's discussing craft groups really hits the nail on the head as it mentions this being a very solitary pass time, so it's nice to know that somebody out there likes what I'm up to. A meeting group in Norfolk would be great, it would just be a case of finding the time!
You're right Bugbear, there are ways around the drilling problem, but accuracy is most definately the issue. I set my shiney new drill up this evening, and it's great, but it's also HUGE!!! I don't think that throat capacity will ever be a problem again. The new machine will cope with a piece of work 44cm deep - but I now need a bigger shed....

 

[Penny]

HOLY COW!!

That is some amazing work there Dave. Really impressed. And a little depressed as I couldn't hope to create anything as magnificent as that.

 

[Rhyolith]

.... a meeting group in Norfolk would be great, it would just be a case of finding the time

I live near Norwich (In the summer at the moment), I would be interested in something like this to learn more see more etc... though I am no where near this level :shock: Great work! Very impressive project!

 

[Mechanism Man]

Hello all,
I've not been bombarding the board with posts recently as I haven't wanted to bore you good people stupid. It's still not finished, but after several months of quietly beavering away whenever I could steal the odd 10 minutes I've finally cut the last tooth of the last gear wheel - ok, there are a few spokes still to cut, but no more teeth! Just in case any of you are wandering, there are 52 gears in total, with 3181 teeth - with two cuts pet tooth...
The next few days will hopefully see me finish the last few spoke cut outs, and then I can sand and varnish the last batch before the fun of assembly can start in earnest.
I have a self imposed deadline of mid November (I'm supposed to be talking about the machine in front of a group of students in Birmingham University), and do you know what? I might just make!
Below are some photos of progress and what amounts to a kit of parts for an Antikythera Mechanism. Groovy.
More soon I hope.
Dave.

Photo taken this evening of lots of parts:

Little gears:

New improved planet unit:

Gears all marked out, pre drilled, and ready for the scroll saw:

 

[Claymore]

........

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Brilliant! Absolutely amazing! =D> =D>

 

[Walney Col]

Wow. Some of those teeth are incredibly small, I'm both envious of your eyesight AND blown away by your patience!

Col.

 

[Tortion-Stephen]

Absolutely blown away! Looks incredible.

Stephen.

 

[bugbear]

Wow. Some of those teeth are incredibly small, I'm both envious of your eyesight AND blown away by your patience!

Col.

I was going to say that surely (to mesh) all the teeth must be the same size, but on reflection, that's only true of gear pairs.

Gears on the same shaft could readily have different size teeth, and (as you say) some of them are very small.

BugBear

 

[martinka]

I am fascinated just by few gears on my lathe when set up for screw cutting, so I'd probably go into a trance watching this in operation.

I'm always amazed at some of the quality stuff that gets shown on here. I wish more people would show what they make on their scroll saw.

 

[AES]

Mind blowing! And Martinka's right, I for one would sit there for hours watching the wheels go round once you post the video - just like I do on my little lathe too.

Superb work, thanks for posting, and good luck with your Uni lecture.

AES