Spring Has Sprung

[beetleman]

I wish it was the seasonal spring. The temperature was 3F (-15C) this morning when I went to work Just a small wind-up toy and a hand made colorful craftwire bead (stack of 6 pictures with Helicon focus for some greater DOF). Toy gearbox is 3" x 1" and field of view on the bead is 1.5" wide. The beads in the second picture are called "Miracle Beads". They have a finish on them like a deep metalflake paint job on a custom Hotrod car.

ISO200
1/2S
F13
AE mode
Canon 400D, Canon 100mm Macro


ISO200
1/40S
F/5
AE mode
Canon 400D, Canon 100mm Macro

[Ken Ramos]

I have not played with one of those spring gearing mechanisms in a long time. Back when I was a kid, I used to make stuff out of them until eventually the thing came apart and gears flew and the spring sprung. Then battery powered DC motors came along and things really began to get interesting.

[rjlittlefield]

Then battery powered DC motors came along and things really began to get interesting.

And sometime after that, semiconductors.

It turns out that by replacing a brush-type computator with a photocell and a power transistor, you can make an ordinary tin can motor spin like a router!

Nice pictures, Doug. They do bring back memories!

--Rik