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Antikythera Episode 2 - The Main Solar Drive Wheel B1.

🕑 Added 2017-02-15 21:46:28 +0000 UTC

Comments

Duncan Luddite

I know it's been a very long time since you posted this, but here's my take: Where's the fun in that? :D Also, Experimental Archaeology. It's amazing what level of work can be achieved with very basic tools with practice. Cheers :)

Doug Sullivan

Hi Chris. Just wondering why you didn't use the filing machine on the dovetails to ensure that the filed edges were square to the face of the work. It's very difficult to file square by hand.

Clickspring

The 'modularity' idea to deal with error certainly does Jeff, I had a similar thought when I first noticed the dovetail joins. I've since moved towards the 'cost of materials' theory, but its still not sitting totally comfortably with me...

Jeff Jones

Chris, I had another thought on why the wheel might have been made the way it was: modularity. If I were working with scarce material and trying to do a difficult operation like cutting all those gears, I would want to set up the work so that a mistake didn't cost me quite so much. If you make a mistake cutting the teeth, you might have to start over on that, but you would be able to re-use the center cross as many times as necessary. You could even(possibly) hammer out the wheel thinner and try again on that same piece of metal without affecting the strength of the hub. Does that seem at all plausible to you?

Clickspring

Ha ha! High praise Jeff, thank you!

Clickspring

Cheers Gordon, very pleased you're enjoying it mate :)

Gordon Burns

Another stunning piece of work, Chris. Many would have made the main wheel from a solid piece, but no!... you chose to make it as it was, using best practice. The x-rays clearly show 'dovetail joints' at the spoke ends and the 'halving joint' in the spoke centre. I am eagerly awaiting the next instalment.

Beautiful as always. Clickspring videos are the ONLY youtube videos that I don't crank up to 2x speed.

Clickspring

Thank you for your wonderful encouragement mate, made my day :)

Emerson Maki

Man oh man. This is so glorious Chris. Thank you so much for devoting yourself and all your time to such an entertaining series. I can not wait for each episode. You dedication and direction within each segment is spot on. Its also been an absolute pleasure to witness your progression as a video creator. Every new video has been true to your style and yet still shows your willingness to try new angles and not just reuse the same old tried and true method that got you here. I love the diversity and the discussion about the project.

Clickspring

Thanks Kevin :)

Clickspring

Hey Stephen, in this case the sheet stock was 2.7mm - Cheers :)

Chris: Could you please think of adding additional information regarding materials that you will be using. For example; what is the thickness of the brass sheet that you are using in Part 2. You have to excuse me; I'm a newbie to this hobby of machining and therefore need simple explanations to your working on this device.

kevin todd

Awesome just awesome

Clickspring

Cheers Bruce :)

Clickspring

Ha ha! Will cover it in detail in a later vid :)

Bruce Edney

Another great video Chris - thanks for sharing

Hailey Mccurry

What is this mysterious 'too long' concept you talk about? ;P But I do have to say I enjoyed the in depth metal-working details you went into on the clock. I rather miss them...

Paul Grodt

Yes, in American-English, we call it a "shaving-horse" or "Shave-horse"

Clickspring

Ha ha! Thanks Jeff, no pressure!! - yes its a tough thing to decide what to leave in/out, but I figured it exactly as you suggest. The detail on many of the ops has already been covered, and there is so much that is unique to this build that I want to cover...

Jeff Jones

I notice you're not narrating each individual step of the fabrication process as much as you did in the clock series. While I miss the level of detail a little bit, I think you've made a good choice to keep the video from getting too long. Your observations about the original build are great, and I can always go back to the clock series if I need to review how you performed some specific operation. Only one thing about this series worries me - what can you possibly do to top this? :)

Clickspring

Cheers Mike!

Mike Michelizzi

Another great installment, thanks Chris! The speculation on the work holding problem along with the model was an especially nice addition!

Clickspring

So true!! Its a nervous moment Paul, that last tooth! Re speed of result - Yes possibly, although I would guess not so much of a time advantage to be a justification of the choice on its own. Its a terrific mystery tho isn't it?

Clickspring

Terrific to hear that Scott :)

Clickspring

Cheers Bryce :)

Clickspring

Ha ha! yes this project has well and truly unleashed my inner nerd...

Clickspring

Thank you Gregor!

Paul Busby

Great as always. Now the disappointment of having to wait again for a new video. I can see myself at the stage where after all that work the last tooth gets messed up somehow. Comparing this to you clock great wheel is there is a significant difference in the time they took to make? Other than the constant fear of messing up the dovetails it seems like this approach might be a little faster.

Scott Clausen

Made my day watching this video. I really like that you explain your thought process as you go through he procedure.

Mr Bryce Stoddart JP

Once again an amazing video, thanks for sharing your passion and knowledge.

Ruben vd Merwe

Chris, very well done and a real pleasure to watch as usual!! Keep it up! You sure go through a lot of detail and the history you supply is really cool! Lots of homework…

Gregor Shapiro

In Sweden (and I'm sure elsewhere wood is often crafted in a "täljhäst" (whittling horse) <a href="https://goo.gl/jEIrDz" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://goo.gl/jEIrDz</a>

Gregor Shapiro

Truly amazing work (yours and the original mechanism!) Your insights and perceptivity as to requirements for the ancient workmanship are wonderful!

Clickspring

Thank you Aaron! I wish there were 3 of me - I have so many avenues I want to explore in this thing, so little time...

Clickspring

Terrific to hear that Phil, thank you!

Clickspring

Awesome Braden, I'm so pleased to hear that!

Clickspring

Always terrific to hear your thoughts Charles, thank you. And I completely agree with you regarding the insights, if we could only see inside that workshop! In fact I'm convinced that building an authentic version of the device will give at least a partial glimpse inside, because the same problems will have to be solved. For example, I don't imagine that the wooden jig I made is *exactly* what the original maker used, but I'd be prepared to bet that it was fairly close - there aren't that many ways to achieve the result in a simple way, that fits in with the tech of the time. For that particular part, some sort of jig would have been essential - Yet thus far, this sort of thing has not been discussed in any depth in the research. There is so much sophisticated tool technology indicated by the machine itself, I think if I keep on with this authentic approach, some really interesting things are going to come out of this build.

I got the message that this has been posted and was so excited for my evening break at work so I could watch! Fantastic as always, Chris!

Charles Morrill

Another terrific video, Chris. I've always been interested in different kinds of work holding over the years and sometimes quietly think that I'm so wedded to screw technology that there's another way of doing things that I often can't see. It looks like the Romans had this sort of thing: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2Q6-5ssy44" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2Q6-5ssy44</a> Perhaps the Greeks had developed a smaller sort of hold down technology that lived on a vertical faces: smaller types of bench holdfast kinds of things particularly adapted for working on brass parts at eye-level. I can't help thinking that if we could see into the workshop that produced the antikythera mechanism we'd see another whole way of doing things - parts of which might make enormous sense.... Perhaps if you get to a point in the project where you need to hold an awkward assembly, you might experiment. It does, however, feel enormously pompous on my part to suggest that you do anything other than what you're doing though as it's so very, very good!

Phil DeJarnett

Watching your videos are the rare times I ever sit through something without getting distracted. Fantastic as always!

Great video as always, I wish I could jump to the future and binge watch this whole series!

Clickspring

Thanks Harold :)

Harold West

Beautiful fit up on those dovetails. I know , one wrong stroke and it's expanded vocabulary and a do over. Excellent work as always.

Clickspring

All will be mentioned in due course Joshua... :)

FYI: B1 has 223 teeth. I think you failed to mention that. (I'm actually building a 3D version of this in Blender along with you)

Clickspring

Thank you mate!

Wow Chris. Absolutely brilliant work as always!

Clickspring

Interesting to consider isn't it!

Al McKague

If you've got the technology to make a single piece, what would the advantage of putting the dovetail pieces in? Clearly the original builders had a reason that's not obvious. I suppose that if the center piece was damaged in some way, you wouldn't want to discard all the work of making the gear teeth. Interesting...

Clickspring

Yes that's how it looks to me too

Richard Betel

It really looks like the ring part was a single piece, which means that they had a sheet from which to cut the part out. They must have used the centre for another wheel or something like that.

Clickspring

Thanks for the link Johnno :)

Clickspring

Cheers Matt!

Johnno Dee

Hi Chris Wonderful work! Another possibility for an ancient vice could have been a "shave horse" as used in old English hedging and coppicing <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaving_horse" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaving_horse</a>#/media/File%3ASnittebaenk-ny.jpg You push with your feet to hold the work piece leaving both hands free! How common were the AM machines? It seems that not using a single sheet of bronze leads to a huge amount of work and possibility of inaccuracies creeping in - in an era when solid gold objects were not uncommon for the aristocracy... Just a thought! Looking forward to the next part!

As if the videos weren't fascinating enough, your commentary and thoughts on the technology of the time etc is proving to be of real interest! Great work as always Chris, thanks so much for this latest vid!

Clickspring

Thank you John!

Clickspring

Yes - the BSC prototype was an excellent study piece to get my head in the game for the AM. I learned a lot about why some of the AM design features are as they are - I figured it would be best to get both projects happening at the same time, to show the 2 side by side in production.

John Chadwell

Consistently impressive Chris!

Ralph McCoy

Chris, are you doing both projects at the same time ?

Clickspring

Thank you Tony!

A beautiful job as usual! The quality of both the work and the video is an inspiration. You have made me a better worker! And I've been practicing for over fifty five years!

Clickspring

Yes I imagine so Dean - The thing that really blows my mind about this machine is that it carries clear hints to a tool tech that is currently still largely disputed, or at the very least not settled. Cannot wait to show you what I mean by that statement...

Clickspring

Hey Ralph, Yes I intend to publish the drawings at the end of the build

Clickspring

Terrific to hear that mate, more on the way soon :)

Clickspring

Thanks Eric!

Clickspring

Ha ha! Cheers Chris :)

Dean Thompson

Isn't the process of building any intricate mechanism usually dictated by the tool technology available and the holding decisions made by the builder? They are the fundamentals that deliver (or fail to deliver) the necessary precision. Funny how it always comes back to the skill of the builder. Excellent work Chris, as always.

Ralph McCoy

Great video, I have often wondered myself as the tooling people used to make such things. Will there be drawings for the components for this project ? I have a book and have seen the videos