Finished Tellurion!

So here's my finished Tellurion a little different from the plans, but I wanted a bit more of a vintage aesthetic than was set out on paper. As always in my corner plenty of shellac, helps make everything look super old, and gives a nice air of quality. I graphited all the gears both to hide nasty plywood edges but also to help the gizmo run as smooth as can be. Very pleased with the result and I think the original designer enjoyed seeing a slightly different take on his original design! Now banished from my desk as it was far too distracting! 

The Carpenter. 

Mass Production...

...Ancient Greek style...

Today I have been working on a model of a Hero's Aeolipile. I found half a dozen of these bronze hemispheres as garden ornaments in my grandparents garden...they were promptly requisitioned for use the basis of a model of Hero's Aeolipile.

For those who don't know, the Aeolipile was an invention of Hero of Alexandria in the 1st Century AD. and is supposed to be the first steam engine ever. It comprises of a copper cauldron on-top of a fire, the steam produced is fed into the ball and is ejected pipes in the side, causing it to rotate. See this Wikipedia page for more information.

The Engineer.

Show me the light!

So here was a good buy at a bootsale! 50p for this working General Electric light meter, it works in footcandles, a non SI unit, but at 50p who cares, I'm sure we'll have some fun with this! Here's a sneaky little peak inside, it's a remarkably simple design!

The Carpenter.

Wilesco Drill

So The Engineer gave me a present the other day, a broken Wilesco toy drill accessory. What a generous guy! Anyhow it saves me buying one and will complete the Wilesco workshop I've had on my desk since I was about 8 or 9!

I had 5 minutes free the other day so I turned a nice little mahogany pulley, with 2 grooves for the belts, and fitted it with a nice little brass bolt to where the original mounted. 

I also made a nice new chamfered mahogany base to replace the missing original. Once the base is varnished this will make a nice addition to my incomplete desktop workshop! 

The Carpenter.