#vintage parts
Well I’m sitting in hospital unexpectedly - nothing too serious. I was going to post this last night but I was in too much pain.
So this is a proof of concept. The word “magical” is used far too much but that was my ambition. Something of unknown use and unknown provenance.
Proof of concept is the build I make all the mistakes on - motor too fast, planets too large and high, LEDs wiring wrong and ugly battery packs. Internally this might not be saleable quality.
The video isn’t great, sorry. When I get home I will take some still photos of all the decorations and detail. It was inspired by those magnetic ballerina jewellery boxes from the 1960s. She would dance around a mirror when the box was opened.
I initially covered the neodymium magnets and attached the planet on a post. Wrong. They fell down, stuck to each other with such force they ended up broken. So I’ve gone for simple using the magnetic force to hold the metal spheres. I will include several spare magnets and planets.
I hope you like it!
Steampunk
Automata X
Another steampunk goddess made with a range of watch parts, brass bits and pieces, electrical probes and two part resin. She can look very intimidating from one angle yet strangely zen from another. She’s in my Etsy shop.
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Like all my orrery sculptures - this is NOT mechanical - the planets do not move via clockwork mechanism. They can be turned gently by hand.
I’ve made a lot of orreries - I love making them. The gears are used to imply clockwork movement - so it’s a bit of a folley. This is the third orrery I’ve made using an “arm” for each planet. Please remember - this is not a toy. Moving the planets should only be done sparingly and carefully. To achieve the “look” of a real mechanical orrery I’ve used different sized pocket watch and regular watch gears, collected over many years, to correspond to each planet. All eight planets are represented - Saturn has her rings too.
It is on a stained wood base with four little brass legs and uses a number of different brass beads/components so it looks like a real antique scientific model but without the thousand dollar price tag. On the center stem I’ve used graduated brass tubing to “telescope” to the sun.
It is the perfect gift for a milestone celebration and an intriguing desk ornament for an executive or academic. To make it really personalised you can arrange the planets to the positions they were on a particular day - a wedding, a birthday, the birth of a child when it’s presented. I will send you a link to the free website that will calculate a celestial map for you.
It’s available in the Etsy shop.
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This small orrery inspired piece is designed to be an ornament but could also be worn carefully as a pendant or as a fob. When I bought the case it didn’t have a crown or bow so I used other vintage parts in my collection. I think they suit the piece. The whole swedge with the planets can be gently rotated.
All the small planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth are on the inner ring followed by Mars, Jupiter and Saturn on the middle ring and finally, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto on the outer ring.
It’s available in my here in my Etsy shop
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Tritium Powered Assassin Bug
No, not really “powered” by tritium but that would be fantastic. It’s just a fantasy mechanical winged insect with a tritium rod in the abdomen.It’s hanging from a stick pin so it can attached to clothing. The legs are vintage watch stems attached to brass rods. Nearly every connection is nuts and bolts - tiny nuts and bolts. The centre piece is brass with a square top screw securing the glass vial to the body and head.It’s estimated the green tritium will glow continuously for 10 to 12 years. It doesn’t need “charging” from a light source like regular glow in the dark.
It’s 1 ½ inches long, just over 1 inch wide and stands ½ an inch high. It’s US$185 shipping included. If you are interested in buying it - drop me a line with your paypal email address and I’ll invoice you.
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