"Serpina" -- an electromechanical wooden rolling ball clock by Christopher Blasius

Christopher Blasius wrote to let us know about his latest creation: an electromechanical wooden rolling ball clock. Check it out!

From the creator:

I have designed a new clock. Her name is "Serpina" and it's a electromechanical rolling ball clock. Instead of a pendulum, a ball rolls down an inclined plane, which takes 20 seconds. Then the seesaw then tips in the opposite direction and the process begins again.

For more information please visit his website at http://www.holzmechanik.de.

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Homemade mechanical rolling ball pendulum clock

Check this thing out! It's a mechanical rolling ball clock made from scratch.

From the video description:

The clock runs for 12 hours, driven by a weight of 2.5 kg sinking approx. 1 meter during that time. Every minute a marble is lifted up and goes down a marble run with three flipping traps that count marbles for minutes, five-minute-steps and hours. The timekeeping element is a second-pendulum with a pinwheel escapement. The clock achieves a drift of less than 1 second per day.

The clock is made of wood, some plastic gears, brass and steel wire, and an old flat iron. Here is where you can see stereoscopic photographs of the clock.

The clock is not unlike the Can You Imagine Time Machine Tabletop Clock. This clock has a battery-operated motor which lifts a steel ball bearing onto a concentric track at regular intervals. The ball then moves with others on a slow downward course, both halted and propelled by see-saws that tip when correctly weighted. The time can be read by observing the numerals that the balls are aligned with - hours and minutes are both indicated.

[ Thanks Christoph! ]

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With One You Get Birthday Cake - kinetic sculpture by Gina Kamentsky

Here is another delightful hand-cranked contraption in the mechanical series that artist Gina calls Mechanical Confections.

As ususal, there is a satisfying assortment of mechanical components: a periodically engaging set of bevel gears; a ball bearing on a shifting incline plane; a Geneva wheel; a pair of offset cams causing two followers to toggle up and down; a chiming bell; and, of course, a spinning wooden block with various items printed on its faces -- one of which shows a birthday cake.

See more kinetic sculptures by Gina Kamentsky on her web site.

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