The Contraption 2010

[LeChatNoir]

Attached forever is good! I’m a fan of locktite too. Ok time to research the LED stuff through gyre’s amazing list of links.

[karine]

[singing] "Gyre's a light & optics freak! Gyre's an light & optics freak!"(/singing]

I'm not crazy about LED's. Mostly just because they're too bright.

* L O V E * idea about orange el-wire in an oversized bulb! If only I knew a glassblower... ;)

[gyre]

You guys are so lovely.

[Captain Goddammit]

The simulated Edison bulb with orange ELwire inside a clear plastic "bulb" is a great idea, and durable!
I'm thinking there has to be some plastic glassware at a thrift store, or maybe some kind of soda bottle or liquid-soap or shampoo bottles that would work as almost unbreakable bulbs. Most are even threaded on the top/now-bottom.
I think you could get away with a bit of "artistic license", they wouldn't have to be 100% accurate reproductions to achieve the effect.

[pinemom]

weeee!

http://victorystore00.stores.yahoo.net/clpllibu.html

[oscillator]

[unjonharley]

Was digging around in the shed this morning.. All of a sudden I found an old tail light.. It's one that stands out from the fender.. Must be from a old motor bike.. The socket has two+ so they most be for tail and stop with lic plate frame at the bottom.. The reflector is in good shape.. The bad part is....... I was very careful to protect the lenes.. Put it some where safe.. Forgot where the safe place is.. I''ll dig some more in the morning.. We'll see if it could find a home on the contraption.. Also I had set aside a LED stop tail bulb.. Wounder if it still works???? The light is a Stanley 040 4981 made in Japan.. The two little red refllector are Stanley 6 1920..

[LeChatNoir]

I ran across a couple of pretty cool items this evening. They could be handy for the small bits of exposed wiring that will be necessary. Since the deck is wood with large panels of expanded metal, I’m going to make some kind of shroud for the alternator so it‘s not visible from directly overhead, but this should help make the wires you do see more aesthetically pleasing:

Cloth Wire Loom

And this could be very nice look for wiring in switches in visible areas:

Cotton Wrapped Two Strand Wire

I’m planning on oil and temp gauges for the engine, maybe even on a small console of sorts. If this winds up being the thing to do, then I could go ahead and place the light switch(es) there too. But that’s still a bit off, yet.

[LeChatNoir]

The simulated Edison bulb with orange ELwire inside a clear plastic "bulb" is a great idea, and durable!
I'm thinking there has to be some plastic glassware at a thrift store, or maybe some kind of soda bottle or liquid-soap or shampoo bottles that would work as almost unbreakable bulbs. Most are even threaded on the top/now-bottom.
I think you could get away with a bit of "artistic license", they wouldn't have to be 100% accurate reproductions to achieve the effect.

This could be a fun idea for lighting around camp, even!!

[LeChatNoir]

Ok, so far the lighting the ideas that are really jumping out to me are the cabinet pulls as running board-type lights (I think these could be mounted at strategic locations to increase the illumination without compromising the aesthetic theme), and the Cree headlamps. That seems like a fun learning project that would not take too much extra time to do.

I’ve still got some purple CFL's that I’m going to play around with and see how they interplay with the blue LED. Some may remember that these were the original approach to lighting in 2007, but with only human power the first year, it was totally reliant on battery power and I couldn't get them to run for long enough on the small battery it had then.

This time that will not be a problem. Yaaaahhh!!!

Either way, more LED or CFL and LED, ground and spot illumination shouldn’t be a big problem. What areas to spotlight are the next thing to work on I think. I definitely want to draw attention to the flywheel and all the gears and pulleys. And I like unjon’s idea of sporadic flashes to seem like sparks. This could be a lot of fun if controlled with a hidden switch, where I could turn them on for unsuspecting passengers and act it up… make them think the whole thing was about to shake apart. Maybe kick it a bit then secretly switch it back off. Tell them that “It just does that from time to time. No worriesâ€

[Elliot]

How about some real sparks? Flint, magnesium, or some such -- applied with a discrete lever or pedal.

Low rider car guys have been known to bolt a block of magnesium (I believe) under the car and scrape it on the ground.

[Captain Goddammit]

[quote="LeChatNoir"]

This could be a lot of fun if controlled with a hidden switch, where I could turn them on for unsuspecting passengers and act it up… make them think the whole thing was about to shake apart. Maybe kick it a bit then secretly switch it back off. Tell them that “It just does that from time to time. No worriesâ€

[Elliot]

That's a fantastic idea! Rig up a gaudy "starter" hand crank, that actually trips the switch for the noise-and-spark-maker. Ideally, you would discretely start the diesel at the same time. Then drive serenely away.

You could have a similar shut-down procedure, to "announce your arrival". Pretend to stick a crow bar or something into the works to stop it.

[unjonharley]

:D
That's a fantastic idea! Rig up a gaudy "starter" hand crank, that actually trips the switch for the noise-and-spark-maker. Ideally, you would discretely start the diesel at the same time. Then drive serenely away.

You could have a similar shut-down procedure, to "announce your arrival". Pretend to stick a crow bar or something into the works to stop it.

This is requiring an art preformance with the art peace as a stage.. Is the scrufty black cat up to it?????

[Elliot]

"All the World is a stage" -- and Black Rock City even more so, yes!


(-Shakespeare)

[LeChatNoir]

Oh my freakin’ god…

Pulling a lever that rubs a brake pad that slows the flywheel down, while simultaneously tripping a switch that activates the noise box. Maybe even instead of a brake pad it rubs a magnesium pad on a friction disc. What’s the Moop factor of burning magnesium?

Perhaps this is not an idea, but I really like the mental image.

And since the diesel engine has an electric starter as well, it should be very easy to trip both switches with some kind of big handle or similar.

Ahmmm... Oddly enough, I have a small 12 volt lawnmower starter motor sitting on a top shelf in the shop. What a very strange coincidence.

[unjonharley]

Harbor Fright is selling some striker blocks for cheap.. Stike into a little 000 steel wool starts a nice fire.. Also I have pine tree in the yard that drools pich... Stuff is just like gas..

BUT back to the magnesium blocks..HF

[fciron]

I have a heavy-duty, ceramic knife switch that used to be the cut-off for my house.

[LeChatNoir]

I’ve been thinking about knife switches as well. I saw some small ones from a surplus place online somewhere. I’m still thinking about how they’d fit in the space I’ve got work with and if they could be any form of possible hazard. I’m glad to know you’ve got one. I’ll have to check it out next time I’m in town.

Hey!! That’ll be at the fundraiser this weekend!

Maybe we should change the name to, [i]“Art, Beer, and Antique Electrical Stuff.â€

[Captain Goddammit]

I’ve been thinking about knife switches as well. I’m still thinking about how they’d fit in the space I’ve got work with and if they could be any form of possible hazard.

Yes! I'm glad that you're making sure there are adequate hazards!
I agree with you, lack of hazard is a good reason to rule out any other kind of switch.

[karine]

I tell ya, driving this thing is getting more & more complicated and full-up with levers and switches WITH EVERY POST!

[unjonharley]

I tell ya, driving this thing is getting more & more complicated and full-up with levers and switches WITH EVERY POST!

I see Frizt Lang's metal man driving the contraption.. With sparks and lighting effects..

[LeChatNoir]

Yea, Yea…

Everybody in Black Rock City wants a robotgirl to drive their Mutant Vehicle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So the weekend’s successful activities kept me too busy to blab on a great length about the latest happenings on the Contraption front. The first of which is rough design of clockwork reverse gear mechanism.

Here’s a photo of the layout, more or less (For reference, the large gear is right at 14" in diameter):



The large rusty gear and it’s small counterpart were discovered at an antique/junk place for the outrageous sum of $3.00. They appear to have come from some sort of hand cranked machinery. The other gears are part of the treasure I found on a long ago trip to the junkyard in Asheville, NC. They came from some enormous textile machine. The small non-rusty gear is the input from the jackshaft that attaches to the flywheel. It will be going approximately 250 RPM. By the time it gets through the gearing, the big rusty gear will be going about 10 RPM. This translates, after going through the final chain drive to the rear wheel, to just under 1 MPH. No need to go any faster in reverse, I’d say.

Oh… and the cool thing is that, when the vehicle is in forward motion (or even sitting and idling), the big rusty gear will spin in the opposite direction of the shaft it is on. Only when a sliding coupler is engaged will the gear and shaft act as one unit and that will be when the forward drive train is disengaged and the vehicle is placed into reverse.

So as you cruise along, there will be lots of spinny gears and pulleys to be of great visual interest and these are the details that I want to spot illuminate.

[karine]

well, then can we add sparks ?!

[oscillator]

I am sure they'd be delighted...

[LeChatNoir]

I guess that means I'll have run several alternators to give enough juice for their amps.

Should be fun, though.

[LeChatNoir]

well, then can we add sparks ?!

I did, in fact, run across inexpensive rectangular magnesium “Fire Starterâ€

[motskyroonmatick]

That looks really fantastic! What a great find!

[Captain Goddammit]

I think a nice copper cover should dress that starter up a bit as well

True... but at least it's John Deere Green!

[LeChatNoir]

True, yes... if copper is used, it'd have to be aged to a dark brown for the most part. I'm not thinking anything shiny here. I’m still sort of going back and forth about that actually. I’ve seen these things painted entirely John Deere green and the thought of such a paint job, properly antiqued of course, did cross my mind.

I’m thinking now to make it look rusty, maybe with splotches of red similar to the old engine.