I really love the look of some of those clocks and the fact that one of those plans utilizes marbles and another is an orrery, really appeal to me too. Plus, you've gotta love a set of plans called "Weird Gears plans". Building one of those might be a lot of fun! I do wonder though, if humidity would affect their precision since they are wooden. I'll admit that I laughed a bit when I saw the Yarn Lover's Package. Given your engineering background, have you ever built a Rube Goldberg machine? I've always loved seeing those and I'd imagine that they're a great time, but a great time like sledding is a great time: it's great when it gets going, but at some point you have to trek back up the hill. I suppose that's figuratively true for a lot of things though. My other question to you is: if you can envision yourself using a laser cutter as part of your hobby or personal interest stuff and if you could afford one, why wouldn't you get one? I'd love to be able to have a workshop where I could just tinker with things and though my tinkering is limited, it always sucks to run up against that wall of lacking a particular tool and not being able to improvise a way around it.
Drastically. Temperature, too. We've got a mantel clock that runs fast or slow depending on the temperature. I'm talking "ten days of warm weather? You're four minutes fast" effects. Pretty sure if you dig deep into that site it'll tell you that if you do it perfectly, you'll be lucky to get them tracking a minute per day. Something to keep in mind: engineers are lazy. Rube Goldberg machines are the maximal effort necessary to accomplish something, usually in an inelegant fashion. They're also characterized by a lack of sturdiness. Neither characteristics are those coveted by engineers. Have I invoked rube goldbergian principles in my work? Mutherfucker, there are 150 Jack In The Box restaurants across Texas and Washington that, at one point, used a thermostat to switch channels on their radios according to schedule. That's only because the guy who sold the systems put in zero dollars for a $1500 dayparting DVD player, though. Am I glad it worked? Yeah. Do I wish I coulda done it right? Oh yeah. So I grew up with a carport full of shit and down at my grandparents' house, a 1500 square foot garage with an A-post lift, a drill press, a metalworking lathe, a cutoff saw, a grease pit and four kinds of welders. Right now, however, I live in a 1200 sqft condo with five flights of stairs between me and my two tandem parking spots. I have an f'ing gas can in my closet because I have nowhere else to put it. Wanna see what I accomplished with my "garden?" Fuck yeah. So. There will come a time when I have room to indulge my hobbies. Until then, I have to put a sheet over the client couch when I dismantle my A-80 because there isn't enough room on the coffee table.I do wonder though, if humidity would affect their precision since they are wooden.
Given your engineering background, have you ever built a Rube Goldberg machine?
if you can envision yourself using a laser cutter as part of your hobby or personal interest stuff and if you could afford one, why wouldn't you get one?
That's not so bad, all things considered. Yeah, I hear you on the space issues. I just wish I didn't have to trade off between access to things I want to do and space that I want to have to do things in. Who knows, maybe I'll win the Powerball . . .Wanna see what I accomplished with my "garden?"