Passing of a master watchmaker, George Daniels

I had heard of watchmaker George Daniels, mostly because I have been eyeing a certain book on Amazon for several months. The description and artwork in his book Watchmaking caught my attention right away. I did not know until recently how accomplished the author was as a watchmaker. Sadly, this genius passed away on October 21st at the age of 85. The facts within an obituary published by The Economist have left me stunned.

Daniels not only taught himself horology, but also every skill needed to produce a watch entirely on his own. He made the screws, springs, gears, hands and dials. He also made many of the tools used to make these things! In his 42 years of work, he created 37 unique watches and invented his own escapements. Here is video of his revolutionary co-axial escapement.

His obsession with precision led to the development of incredibly -- and entirely mechanical -- new watch mechanisms. This was no ordinary man, but rather the greatest watchmaker of our time.

Here is a link to the obituary for George Daniels published by The Economist.

[ Thanks Pete! ]

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Byrnes Model Machines 4 inch miniature table saw

I dearly love my little Proxxon table saw. I have assumed that I found the ultimate miniature table saw. As good as it is, it seems my saw may have some competition. Serious competition.

Shown here is the Byrnes Model Machines 4" Table Saw, precision-engineered with an accuracy measured in thousandths of an inch. I haven't used one, but it is loaded with carefully designed features. The web site says this little marvel is powerful enough to cut 15/16" hardwood -- and do it quietly!

Here is an review of the Byrnes Model Machines 4 inch miniature table saw from Ships in Scale Magazine. Here is another review of the Byrnes Model Machines 4 inch miniature table saw from Fly RC Magazine.

Here is where you can check out the Byrnes Model Machines 4" miniature table saw.

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