I think that maybe @#12, @strantor, @joeyd999, @WBahn and @MaxHeadRoom, among others, will enjoy this video. That little engine is a masterpiece.

 

Again, Senor Pragmatic is puzzled.
What does this engine do besides waste time and money?
How many horsepower?
How many cubic inches?
What is the high limit for R.P.M.?
Does it have a published torque graph?
Does it meet any standards for pollution limits?
Does it have any purpose in the real world?

 

Again, Senor Pragmatic is puzzled.
What does this engine do besides waste time and money?
How many horsepower?
How many cubic inches?
What is the high limit for R.P.M.?
Does it have a published torque graph?
Does it meet any standards for pollution limits?
Does it have any purpose in the real world?

It's a work of art, dude! ... the engine does nothing other than being an object of beauty... and it works on compressed air, it uses no fuel...
You like to repair cars, don't you? I'm sure you do it for the fun of it, and that it must bring you great satisfaction... among other reasons... do you have any paintings in your house? This engine is like a mechanical painting... something to be admired...

 

OK. It's a work of art.

And I don't like to fix cars anywhere near as much as I like to not pay $300 for a job I can do for $40 worth of parts: My van, 4 wheel brake job, February 2015.

My partners' work van, July 2014: $235 worth of parts instead of the $1200 estimate received from a "real" car repair shop.

 

OK. It's a work of art.

And I don't like to fix cars anywhere near as much as I like to not pay $300 for a job I can do for $40 worth of parts: My van, 4 wheel brake job, February 2015.

My partners' work van, July 2014: $235 worth of parts instead of the $1200 estimate received from a "real" car repair shop.

Perfect portrait of a pragmatic person... But you have to admit that it also keeps you busy, right?

 

Yes, earning the equivalent of several hundred dollars a day in repair costs I didn't pay beats boredom by miles.

 

Yes, earning the equivalent of several hundred dollars a day in repair costs I didn't pay beats boredom by miles.

Well... there you go... I bet that the guy who built this toy didn't get bored, at all..

 

I don't view a duplication/miniaturization of an existing engine as art or as engineering. It is just fabrication.
Something like this is is art, engineering, ingenuity, craftsmanship, persistence and just plain genius.

http://www.chonday.com/Videos/the-writer-automaton

 

I'm assuming the guy fabricated nearly all of the parts (other than things like screws and perhaps standard gears) himself.

I've always wanted to make a simple engine, along the lines of the Wright Bros first engine for the Flyer. But what I would love to do, perhaps in retirement, is make a functioning radial engine on about this size scale. Not for anything practical, but because it would be a great way to learn a bunch of stuff and a wonderful "certificate" showing that I actually learned it!

I thought the video was very well done -- much better than most of the stuff you see. I'd love to see additional videos that detail the actual fabrication of the parts.

 

I don't view a duplication/miniaturization of an existing engine as art or as engineering. It is just fabrication.
Something like this is is art, engineering, ingenuity, craftsmanship, persistence and just plain genius.

http://www.chonday.com/Videos/the-writer-automaton

In other words, you feel it should be more original for it to be considered art?

 

I don't view a duplication/miniaturization of an existing engine as art or as engineering. It is just fabrication.
Something like this is is art, engineering, ingenuity, craftsmanship, persistence and just plain genius.

http://www.chonday.com/Videos/the-writer-automaton

BTW, thanks for sharing the video... it's a real beauty...

 

Well... there you go... I bet that the guy who built this toy didn't get bored, at all..

I have to admit that there are a lot of people that would rather be bored than fix a car. Even if they have the time to sit there and be bored, and they don't have the money to pay someone, they will sit there until the car is not drivable instead of trying to help themselves. I think this is called, "self inflicted helplessness".

Relative to that, do I enjoy fixing cars? Yes. I enjoy fixing cars better than I enjoy feeling helpless, or watching my possessions crumble around me, or becoming a victim of my own sloth. Some other people like those results more than they like fixing cars...and those are the people that paid my bills for the last 45 years.

 

... or becoming a victim of my own sloth.

My wife's father passed away last week at the age of 80... he died of... old age... really. There was nothing wrong with him at first. Except that when he retired about 10 years ago, he spent every single day at home watching tv, then visiting the restroom, then the dinner table, and then back to his bed to take a nap and watch more tv... day after day after day after day.... until his body couldn't take it anymore. His legs became shaky, and then he practically stopped talking to people, until he finally died of cardioid-respiratory failure...
It's extremely important to keep oneself active and busy and interested in some activity or hobby... especially in old age...

 

My wife's father passed away last week at the age of 80... he died of... old age... really. There was nothing wrong with him at first. Except that when he retired about 10 years ago, he spent every single day at home watching tv, then visiting the restroom, then the dinner table, and then back to his bed to take a nap and watch more tv... day after day after day after day.... until his body couldn't take it anymore. His legs became shaky, and then he practically stopped talking to people, until he finally died of cardioid-respiratory failure...
It's extremely important to keep oneself active and busy and interested in some activity or hobby... especially in old age...

Absolutely agree. So many people retire... and die.

I was concerned that my dad would do exactly that because when he came home from work all he ever wanted to do was sit and watch TV (he did a bunch of other stuff, too, but only because he HAD to). But after he retired he got so interested and active in so many things that he often wondered how he ever had time to work. I think it kept him alive a lot longer than he would have lived otherwise.

 

all i saw was craftsmanship and a masterpiece

/me tips me hat for sharing

 

I have to admit that there are a lot of people that would rather be bored than fix a car. Even if they have the time to sit there and be bored, and they don't have the money to pay someone, they will sit there until the car is not drivable instead of trying to help themselves. I think this is called, "self inflicted helplessness".

Relative to that, do I enjoy fixing cars? Yes. I enjoy fixing cars better than I enjoy feeling helpless, or watching my possessions crumble around me, or becoming a victim of my own sloth. Some other people like those results more than they like fixing cars...and those are the people that paid my bills for the last 45 years.

Hola Número 12,

The way you put it is not fair. There are other options than boredom or repairing a car. There is a vast world out there, you know? I hardly repair things at home and when I made 68 few days ago had already 55 years working non stop.

Honestly I do not expect others to do the same as me. Wish I was able to build such an engine but I still prefer electronics.

Finally, if you do not own a car there is one thing less demanding repair. (Another way to see that).

 

There are always people that have a much higher paying job, or don't own a car, or work out of town. I was talking about the people I see around me every day. Most people have a home and stay there most of the time when they are not at their day job. I remember being 20 years old and getting a valve job done on my car over the weekend. I pulled the head off on Friday night, delivered it, got it fixed, and picked it up on Saturday, then installed it on Sunday. Ready for work Monday morning.

Then again, 45 years ago, all you had to do was take off the air cleaner and remove the spark plugs to get at the head. Now, you have to get through a jungle of tubing and 3 microprocessors!

 

There are always people that have a much higher paying job, or don't own a car, or work out of town. I was talking about the people I see around me every day. Most people have a home and stay there most of the time when they are not at their day job. I remember being 20 years old and getting a valve job done on my car over the weekend. I pulled the head off on Friday night, delivered it, got it fixed, and picked it up on Saturday, then installed it on Sunday. Ready for work Monday morning.

Then again, 45 years ago, all you had to do was take off the air cleaner and remove the spark plugs to get at the head. Now, you have to get through a jungle of tubing and 3 microprocessors!

Gone are the days in which the quick repair kit in my car consisted of a condenser and a contact breaker...

 

As a die maker/machinist, this engine is a work of art. A piece of kinetic jewelry. Those that don't do small part machining can't even fathom the work and time involved to make it. Small and precise is much more than large and precise in difficulty.

 

As a die maker/machinist, this engine is a work of art. A piece of kinetic jewelry. Those that don't do small part machining can't even fathom the work and time involved to make it. Small and precise is much more than large and precise in difficulty.

I agree that it is great work and the individual(s) who made it were master craftsmen and fabricators. I can definitely appreciate the beauty of it when thinking about the dedication and skill that went into it, I just don't see the artistic design part of the whole thing. Yes, I would want to have one on my desk because it is cool, technical and an excellent demonstration of fabrication technologies and engine technology and quality. I just don't see it as art. There is also a lot of "Art" that I do not view as art. Then again, my dad was an artist, and worked in may areas of non-art and art (from advertising to fine arts to professor of art at a local university so I admittedly look at things a bit differently. Just my opinion and you don't have to agree. I completely understand that everyone has a different definition of what they view as art.