Incredible automata singing birds. It’s humbling to realize that the technical heights of a craft may have been achieved over 100 years ago. In this case imitating bird songs with clockwork bellows and an understanding of nature. via The Automata Blog (see also Singing Bird )
Babbage Engine in Operation from xRez Studio on Vimeo. More hi-res images here.
Ever wonder if artists/machinists can make a biz out of their love? I do. Mechanicards are an amazing hybrid of art, passion, humour and above all gearing! Mandala MechaniCard Now time to appreciate the skill and watch one being made: Birth of a MechaniCard And so much more on his site. You’ll spend hours just […]
In my lead up to building a clock I need to start building the tools that I need. One of the most important ones is a dividing head for my Sherline Lathe/Mill. I’ve been looking at a variety of options each with it’s own degrees of complexity. Then this one came to my attention. Very […]
Coming from a formal art background I have developed a respect for people who create for the sake of creation. Their constructions primarily test thoughts and illustrate ideas. Where as machinists take thoughts and make real, some can lead the mechanical into a world of creative play. …My sculptures are invented only to sustain themselves, […]
One of my goals is to build my own clock in the next few years. This is such a lofty goal as I have no practical experience in machining, clockmaking, gearing, metalwork, or woodwork. Ok I can nail a few 2x4s together and even saw them so they obtain a basic pleasing shape but fine […]
It’s getting hard to find time to work in the studio these days. It seems fall and spring are days to work on the house. And having two finished house projects side by each, I feel entitled to coast on past glory for a week or two. (except if you look on the bottom right […]
I’ve been obsessed with detent couplers over the past few months. All kinds of them, any kind really. The motivation originally came out of my jewellery/rope making obsession where I’m always looking for great clasp. A machined coupler has such a beautiful look and feel to it. They often involve ball bearings and springs: The […]
Recently came across this great site http://www.mechanicalphilosopher.com while looking for a cheap/practical way to build an indexing plate for my Sherline lathe. He uses a Taig lath but the idea is transferable. I love the great simplicity of the idea and the ingeniousness of it’s execution. http://www.mechanicalphilosopher.com/kbindex.html