# A Machine That Does Nothing



## darkzero (Oct 15, 2014)

Sorry if this a repost.....

A machine that does nothing, well maybe just one thing.....


[video=youtube;Bp4tGTNNi1I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp4tGTNNi1I[/video]


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## GK1918 (Oct 15, 2014)

I tend to have the same problem, thats  exactly how my brain works!  Never the less its quite brilliant...


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## Fabrickator (Oct 15, 2014)

I recently visited the Joe Martin Miniature Museum and it's really quite incredible the amount of detail and scaling that these craftsman produce.  This "do-nothing" machine was just one of hundreds of pieces (I like the square gear) and I would suggest that every machinist/hobbyist make a point to visit the museum while visiting So Cal.  It's better than Disneyland and it's free! They'll also give you a CD of quality pics of the museum pieces for a nominal donation of $10 or $20. I feel very fortunate to live only 30 minutes away.


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## Rbeckett (Oct 15, 2014)

I absolutely love do nothings and steam punk machines.  They are just a demonstration of the ideas the oft float around in our heads until we make something to justify the idea and to get it out of your head.  I have had several of those fleeting ideas and fortunately I never got one stuck yet and had to build a nothing machine just because.

Bob


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## Fabrickator (Oct 15, 2014)

Funny, I was thinking about my next project the other day and I've always wanted to build the "do nothing" open gear thingy-ma-bob in the opening intro of Lionshead Films.


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## 12bolts (Oct 15, 2014)

Pretty sure ive got a couple of those machines in my shed.
.
.
Does a broken machine that is doing nothing count?..............It is full of gears'n'stuff.........

Cheers Phil


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## george wilson (Oct 16, 2014)

SEVEN years to make??? A total waste of time. And,putting together a bunch of assorted,scrounged up gears and parts is not CRAFTSMANSHIP. It is more like junk assembling. Not that I don't like junk!!

I have seen a few very questionable items in that museum's inventory,which show BAD workmanship. This one just is not craftsmanship. Where is the skill in making the parts? Plenty of imagination,but not craftsmanship there.

This post might sound high handed,but it is intended to be truthful. The word craftsman has the word CRAFT in it. Show me anything the maker actually made in this device. Show me the GOOD workmanship that was done. There is none. It is an assemblage of parts. A curiosity. A piece of kinetic sculpture,perhaps. But,it is not craftsmanship .

Sorry,but as a life long professional craftsman,that is my opinion.


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## Bill Gruby (Oct 16, 2014)

To you George, yes, probably a total waste of time. As far as show you one part he made himself, I'll start with that vertically mounted drive shaft. I doubt if that is from his junk box. The square gear is another not easily found in off the shelf form. I could go on but why. Is it Craftsmanship. IMHO it's iffy but I won't count it out. He built this just to say he did. To me that means a whole lot of dedication. George, you are extremely good at what you do. Probably one of the best I have ever seen, but every Craftsperson will not be you. Please read the new addition to my signature, it's quite enlightening.

 "Billy G"


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## george wilson (Oct 18, 2014)

Bill,I don't expect everyone to reach high levels of craftsmanship,but if a place is going to call itself the "Museum of Craftsmanship" they need to raise their standards. Have you seen that model of a Japanese rifle(I think that is the one). Really quite crude.

Dedication,yes. But not craftsmanship. That is something different from dedication. Dedication is just one component of craftsmanship.


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## Ulma Doctor (Oct 18, 2014)

if i may humbly interject,
A real Craftsman, IMHO is any one who with their hands and minds creates value and devotes his life's work to the craft.
I believe that there is art or craft everywhere you look, even if it is just creating a machine from junk.
Even if you are not an "art" lover or can't get for example Picasso,Monet, or some other existentialist,
that doesn't mean a craftsman's hand and mind did not create it. 

In the video, He made a piece of living,working art.
even the best craftsman can't make his own trees, he just changes the trees into different art forms
The Best machinist doesn't make all his tooling, but he can be a craftsman.
Have you heard the beautiful sound of a 16 cylinder Catterpillar Genset after fresh rod bearings, that is a symphony.
think of the complexity of that powerplant
to some there may be no craft or art in reassembling other's creations
beauty it seems, is in the eye of the beholder


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## george wilson (Oct 19, 2014)

God makes the tree,not the craftsman.


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## Bill Gruby (Oct 19, 2014)

Again you are correct George, "God" did make the tree. So the "Craftsman is recycling something into something else. Just an the man or woman did with the used parts to make that machine. Again, not your definition of a "Craftsman" but one in their own right anyway. 

 "Billy G"


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## george wilson (Oct 19, 2014)

Best not to belabor the point further. I was a professional craftsman most of my life. I have seen you do some very nice work too,Bill. And your tool and cutter grinder was craftsmanship. GOOD craftsmanship!! 

Since matter can neither be created nor destroyed,I'd say that anything ever made was "recycled" in one way or the other. From ore,trees,etc..


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## Bill Gruby (Oct 19, 2014)

We're just funning with ya a little George. Try not to take it so seriously. It is meant to be harmless. just a play on words. Thank you for the compliment.

 "Billy G"


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## george wilson (Oct 19, 2014)

Thank you Bill.

Craftsmanship was (and still is) my life,and I suppose I do take it  seriously.


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## uncle harry (Oct 19, 2014)

george wilson said:


> Thank you Bill.
> 
> Craftsmanship was (and still is) my life,and I suppose I do take it  seriously.


 Well at least you keep smiling in your avatar.


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## Ulma Doctor (Oct 19, 2014)

Quote"Craftsmanship was (and still is) my life,and I suppose I do take it seriously." Quote


As well you should. 
You are the consummate craftsman George.
you produce value, art, and beauty. 
anybody would be proud to posses any one of those traits.


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## dave2176 (Oct 19, 2014)

I looked at this thread when it first posted but it just wasn't my cup of tea so I didn't play the video. I am interested in how it has caused discussion so I read the comments. I makes me think, is it craftsmanship? I don't know if I'm qualified to answer that so I asked my wife. Her response was "That's like throwing balloons full of paint at a canvas and calling it art." I guess it's to each his own. 

I look at the things George or Billy or Will or Hawkeye or???? do and think the incredible work is beyond craftsmanship, these guys are truly artisans. They have managed to meld quality workmanship, functionality and beauty in a way that I try to emulate. 

That is my goal, to become an artisan in what I do. 




Little by little,
Dave


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## george wilson (Oct 19, 2014)

Very smooth work on that bowl,and a very nice piece of wood.


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## dave2176 (Oct 19, 2014)

george wilson said:


> Very smooth work on that bowl,and a very nice piece of wood.


Thank you for the compliment.  There's a wood turner named Mike Mahoney that always called this species Mormon Poplar. Has beautiful figure and iridescent markings. Folks from other states call it cottonwood. Came out of a horse pasture down the road a few blocks and was being cut up for firewood when I stopped and asked them if I could have one of the trunks.

Dave


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## george wilson (Oct 21, 2014)

Dave,for what it's worth,that iridescence is called chatoyance in the wood worker's parlance.


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