Antikythera mechanism

[Aggrajag]

I've a feeling that this will hit the news when it's completed, given the amount of work and that it's also a historical reproduction.

I hope it does.

 

[Stanleymonkey]

Also Wow

 

[Mechanism Man]

All gears cut and varnished - let assembly begin!

 

[Claymore]

.......

 

[bugbear]

I've a feeling that this will hit the news when it's completed, given the amount of work and that it's also a historical reproduction.

I hope it does.

It's a (marvellous) re-implementation, not a reproduction - IIRC someone has already done a museum grade reproduction.

BugBear

 

[Mechanism Man]

Sorry all - been away for a little while and have had way too much to do to look at the forum.
Hi Bugbear - hmm, yes, 'Marvellous re-implimentation' - I'll take that - thank you! There are several working replicas in museums around the world, but none yet that have the full planet pointer display - and there's only about three of those that I'm aware of that have been built by anybody else. They're still quite rare and certainly not in the public eye...
And as for Corian Brian, will I've heard of it but never had anything to do with it, and I have no idea even where to get it from! Mr Google seemed to think it was mainly used for work tops - a bit more research needed me thinks. Thanks for the thought though - I'll definately look into it.
Anyhow, I've started fitting the gears now, and so far it has gone (..almost..) faultlessly which makes me think that the extra time spent scrolling the gears and getting them accurate has paid off with an easy assembly. Just hope it continues 'cause there's lots that can go wrong with this next bit.
More soon.

 

[powertools]

What to say this project is just incredible.

 

[Aggrajag]

I can't wait, it looks phenomenal.

 

[Mechanism Man]

Finding spare time is always a problem, but most of the main gear box gearing is now finally fitted and working. Next job is to fix the gearing to the shafts to prevent slippage, and then it's on to fitting the second frame (which is also the front of the machine) to properly locate the other ends of the shafts. After that I can fit the big planet drive unit to the back of the machine (which I've already built) and then the rear frame to hold it all in place. It'll probably need some feet pretty soon as well...
However, I think that I'm getting there at last - just got to keep the momentum going!

More soon.

 

[Mechanism Man]

Not finished by a long shot - but it's now in more or less one piece and it works! Happiness is 57 spinning wooden gears. Almost ready to start predicting an eclipse or two!

 

[Claymore]

....

 

[Mechanism Man]

Oh yes - as soon as it's done I'll post a video of it doing it's thing.
Can't wait!

 

[bugbear]

Some well deserved fame, back in April;

http://hackaday.com/2016/04/27/wooden-a ... greatness/

BugBear

 

[Claymore]

........

 

[Bm101]

I meet enough 'properly' thick people in life to feel I'm alright. Mensa is probably writing my invite compared to them. In reality I'm pushing the average, possibly at my best. Then you see some things and you think, God, I'm a bit of Div after all. Thanks MM. I will always look forward to these updates. As fascinating as always.
The time and effort, the planning and discipline, the knowledge and the skills to put it into practice. I think, what you're making is as close to the definition of Art in it's true sense as is possible.

 

[Claymore]

.......

 

[Bm101]

It's all Greek to me too Claymore. :|

 

[AES]

+1 to all the above congratulatory posts MM. Personally I'm not sure if your fantastic work inspires me to try and do better myself, or if it just depresses me enough to give up and start something like stamp collecting

=D> =D> =D>

Thanks for posting, and sincere congratulations for a piece of "work" that stands head and shoulders above what ordinary people would expect to see coming from a scroll saw.

AES

 

[Mechanism Man]

Wow - thanks everybody - I think that I'm possibly blushing...
As I've probably said before, my only real attribute is patience, and the ability to cut out a reasonably accurate shape - and a lot of you out there appear to be much better scrollers than me. So I guess that all I've done that nobody else tends to do is take lots of separate shapes and put them together into a much bigger whole.
I have no formal training in anything remotely academic. I spent 12 years in the RAF as an armourer - traditionally thought of as the knuckle dragging low brain power aircraft trade - and for the past 15 years I've worked in a very busy photography shop, strapped to a computer, editing photos of dogs, cats, babies and family holidays each and every day. Yay.
So everything I build I build because the subjects are a little on the unusual side and nobody told me that they weren't possible with hand cut scroll saw gears, and when they did tell me that what I was trying wasn't really possible I was just too stubborn (and possibly obsessed in the case of the Antikythera Mechanism!) to listen, so did it anyway.
Go on folks - buy a clock plan - cut some gears. You may find that it's easier than you think! Go on AES, I dare you - it certainly beats stamp collecting!
Happy scrolling folks. Another update soon.

 

[Scrollerman]

Awesome work Mechanism Man and if I remember correctly, you previously stated your, 'weapon of choice is a Rexon VS4003A'.
That makes it even more awesome as it shows what can be achieved on a relatively cheap scrollsaw.
Knowing that you are building such a complex mechanism with a budget saw will help newcomers to scrolling decide on what to buy.
But....It's your amazing skill using a scrollsaw that is creating this work of art !
The point I'm making here is that any scrollsaw can make a work of art if the person using it is skilled.
Buying a high-end saw does not automatically give you skill....you have to work at it, progress and learn from your mistakes.
The work displayed here by Mechanism Man is possibly the finest I have seen anywhere on this forum and rightly so ! =D>