[STATUS] - May 2018 (Update May 16th, 6:30pm AEST)

(Update May 16th, 9:00pm AEST) 

(short movie) - using a test bar between centers to test the WM250V tailstock alignment - the tailstock aligns well and has good repeatability. The  overall machine is also quite good, with just a few negative issues - more detail in the next TGT

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(Update May 13th, 6:30am AEST) 

Edit and post prod is finally complete - Episode 7 is on its way to you now folks, it will be up in a few hours :)

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(Update May 3rd, 8:00pm AEST) 

Into the post prod for this episode, very pleased with how the mechanism is performing.

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(Update April 30th, 8:30pm AEST) 

The "bit" component of the pump drill is also proving effective when used freehand (without the flywheel and driving mechanism) to form the fastening pin cross holes for the assemblies. Its much slower of course, but it gives complete sensitivity when making very small precisely located holes in these tricky little parts.

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(Update April 29th, 9:30am AEST) 

Once depthed, the process of setting the extraordinarily close clearances begins. Small spacer components like this are the key. In this case the spacer is the flange seating of the G bearing, and the overall "height" of this bearing controls the height of the G assembly. I made the spacer slightly oversize, and then carefully abraded it to reduce its thickness. This reduced the overall height of the bearing assembly and so set the required clearance of the G and F assemblies. Simply rubbing on a flat abrasive surface is all that is required, until only the barest daylight clearance is observed (for scale, the wheels/pinions in this pic are 1.5mm thick, and I estimate the vertical clearance to be about 0.05mm).

These spacers appear in many critical assemblies throughout the mechanism, and I am now thoroughly convinced that their primary purpose was to permit this simple fitting technique to be employed, and so make absolute measurement unnecessary.

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(Update April 26th, 9:30pm AEST) 

A very simple tool for depthing the F assembly - I suspect the F assembly was specifically made to permit this sort of depthing, due to the risk of accuracy problems when fitting the G pivot block - Its difficult to be certain that the filed square will be exactly where it needs to be, but designing the assembly to run on a post permits a simple tool like this to solve the issue.

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(Update April 24th, 7:15pm AEST) 

I'm getting a bit more confident with the pump drill, its getting plenty of use in this next video - It is so weird having to learn how to use a tool from scratch, a bit like learning to ride a bike for the first time. I've figured out that easing off on the pressure of the down stroke reduces the rate of cut, and so improves the internal surface finish of the hole. Plenty of room for improvement though!

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(Update April 23rd, 6:00pm AEST) 

Fastening in progress of E4 to the E3 platform. Even in the relatively straight forward compound train function that it is presently limited to here, this is a beautiful piece of engineering design. Yet incredibly, this is just the start. More components will be added to the assembly in a later video to complete its dual role of being both an epicyclic platform (that simultaneously models the lunar phase and orbital precession), and the driver of the Saros/Exeligmos train. Truly astounding.

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(Update April 21st, 8:00pm AEST) 

One of the more delicate fitting jobs of the build - E4 to E3 

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(Update April 19th, 6:30pm AEST) 

From a couple of days ago, the tiny lugs for the E assembly. I can't help but see Sidney Nolan's Ned... http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20130926-ned-kelly-man-in-the-iron-mask 

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(Update April 15th, 6:30pm AEST) 

These little fasteners secure the E4 ring gear to the E3 platform, and somehow have a much greater impact on the overall aesthetic of the machine than their tiny size suggests they should.

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(Update April 12th, 7:00pm AEST)

Filing up the 188 teeth for E4, the ring gear that sits on E3 and drives the Saros train.

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(Update April 9th, 9:30pm AEST)

The first hole drilled in the mechanism using the pump drill - a pilot hole that was then followed by the correct size for a temporary bearing - Very happy with the way the tool is cutting, its making clean bright chips.

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(Update April 7th, 6:30pm AEST)

B1 has the iconic shape that everyone remembers, but E3 is the beating heart of the calendrical/lunar phase aspect of the mechanism - It acts as an epicyclic platform for the lunar phase display gearing (travelling at the rate of the precession of the lunar orbit), and at the same time is central to the eclipse prediction gearing - 223 teeth, approx 1mm high, all marked out and ready for filing. 

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(Update April 3rd, 7:30pm AEST)

The Exeligmos, or "Triple Saros" pointer in progress - this pointer indicates the 0, +8 or +16 hour additive that is added to a given eclipse possibility prediction, thus shifting its location 0, 120°, or 240° around the globe. One full Exeligmos cycle (ie 3 x Saros), and the eclipse again occurs at almost the same location and time as the eclipse of 3 iterations previous (there is a very slight latitude shift Northward or Southward dependent on other factors). A typical Saros cycle repeats in this manner for well over a thousand years. 

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This is the small block of metal (16mm x 8mm x 28mm) that acts as a pivot support for both the H and I (Exeligmos) assemblies of the Saros train (seen in the background). There will be a small bite taken out of the top left curved section later to accommodate the D assembly, as the 127 tooth wheel of that assembly slightly intrudes on the support blocks footprint within the mechanism. The Maker was not at all averse to solving clearance issues this way, and there are several such clearance notches throughout the mechanism.

- Edit - Some pics of an old friend :)