Gravitram in action

Here is the gravitram working.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• gravitram
• art
• gadget

[takarayray]

Beautiful machine!!!!

[grandpoobah0913]

Thank you. It was a lot of fun to create, and someday I'll find the time to do another one.

[MrReality13]

Amazing.

[grandpoobah0913]

Thank you.

[ResisterOfEvil]

Wow, that was truely amazing, well done!

[twistoftime]

@94princesi

It took about 6 months, but I wasn't working on only it, so...I suspect the real time investment is around 1000 hours total. It's a slow project, primarily because it's not "designed" in advance, and each new part is made to fit what is already in place. I have about 2000 hours in the latest one which is much larger. See the post below for some details about that.

[94Princesi]

how long take it's finish?

[kristenf]

Just beautiful! I've never seen one out of wood. It's a work of art.

[twistoftime]

Thanks for the kind words, fenris. I'm working on another larger one off and on. It's not as "pure" in terms of design, since it is made largely of "found objects" and misc debris. It includes a lot of stuff I found at Goodwill....legos, misc construction toys, some erector set parts and the like. There is a lot of wood in it also, but it's entitled "Chaos Theory" because it is truly organized (sort of) chaos.

[fenrisilver]

I've been planning on making a never ending Rube Goldbeg-like machine for University sculpture course for a while now. However I want it to be quite simple and not require a complex mechanism to keep the system working. I didn't know what to do until I saw your video. That corkscrew mechanism seen at the beginning is ingenious! Thankyou, I'm definitely using this video to help design mine in the future.

[twistoftime]

The wood for the track is black walnut, with an oil finish applied...no stain. The riser screw was first turned to a dowel and then routed to a rough form of screw. I built a jig for my lathe that allowed me to create most of the shape. Then it was hand carved and finished...a long, and rather boring job.

I'm working on another one...larger, but a different concept - more like an "art from found objects" type of thing.

[684mrwright]

Very impressive! What kind of wood did you use and how did you machine the screw? Thanks!

[ozgday]

That is awesome!  Thanks for posting!

Such craftsmenship.

[Beemerboy324]

I like the switch gates. I've used the same thing to illustrate how computers work. This one is much quieter than the one at OMSI in Portland, Or.

Did you carve the lift screw or was it pre-made? Mine is 15 years in the making and someday may be finished. Way cool device, thanks.