If you make some of the gears from aluminum, you could get them anodized (or do it yourself) with different colors. Anodizing also might take care of aluminum-on-aluminum galling. That would add some bling to your project.
That has the potential to be cool, actually. What I use for gears doesn't really matter much in the scheme of things anyway. Let's be real. If I ever get it into adjustment once, it will be a miracle, and it won't stay in adjustment. They just never do. I'm not even really trying to make a clock that will run 24/7 for years on end. It just needs to run while I'm showing it off.If you make some of the gears from aluminum, you could get them anodized (or do it yourself) with different colors.
Why buy a well-made part for $25 when you can spend $25,000 on equipment and 50 hours in the shop to make a barely serviceable approximation of the part in question?
I spent way too long pondering that one. My phone's processor has 2.7 billion transistors. It's hard to translate that into a mechanical equivalent, but if it's just one cubic inch per transistor that's still 19.683 billion cubic inches, or 1,640,250,000 cubic feet.How about a mechanical smartphone?!
I had forgotten all about that. If you can settle for something angular and basic, it's a cheap and easy way to cross out a wheel too. You could also do fancy curves, but simple crosses would use the minimum amount of material. He was also limiting himself to historical methods of joining things, while I have no such constraints. Very good suggestion!I'd strongly suggest you watch the Clickspring Antikythera Mechanism series on YouTube.
How is it even possible that I'm still single after my wife left me? Women should be lining up around the block with pitch forks and sledge hammers to beat each other to death fighting to win my love.