Reconstructing 'Hero's Automaton' by hand

In this video, I try my best to reconstruct Hero's Automaton. An ancient programmable device that belongs to a long tradition of curious Greek Machines.
Sources in order of reference:
Hero's Automata Critical Edition By Dr.Grillo (translation begins page 135 but his context and notes are the main source of this video, which begin page 83) theses.gla.ac.uk/76774/7/2019...
-hephaestus tripods: Homer's Illiad as translated by Lattimore
this page has the specific paragraph: www.theoi.com/Olympios/Hephai...
-Daedalus moving statues: Plato's Meno
(PDF link here of a translation by J. Holbo & B. Waring 123philosophy.files.wordpress... )
-Archytas's Dove: Bill Thayer translation of Gellius' Noctes Atticae book 10 section 12 paragraph 8 (old webpage, the link is directly to book ten, just scroll down to section 12)
penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/...
-ancient metal chemistry: leiden papyrus X
-Aristotle's De Motu Animalium Critical Edition by Martha Nussbaum page 42 section 701b (some pdf's have it on page 36 of the document) (note Nussbaum translates the greek word automata to mean "automatic puppet" which is fair tbh. )
jstor link: www.jstor.org/stable/311236 (its payed here :( tho ive found it circulated elsewhere free)
-Demetrios's snail is referenced in Grillo's crit edition of Hero's Automata, but Dr. Ruffel from the same research team has a very helpful blog post about it here: classics.academicblogs.co.uk/r...
-Vitruvius on Ctesbius: Vetruvius' Ten Books on Architecture, book X chapter 7 on works by Ctesbius: www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/t...
if you're curious about the greek inscription on the pot its the 1st, 11th, and 13th line of the orphic hymn to Hephaestos and reads something like "Strong Spirited Hephaestos, mighty inexhaustible fire; Come to us Always Gentle one, and make work joyful; for it is your fire which burns in nature within our bodies;" a translation of the full hymn can be found here: www.theoi.com/Text/OrphicHymn...
Background music is "The Hills of Attica" by The Flight (from the Assassins Creed Odyssey Original Soundtrack)

[@fraserbuilds]

a correction: I misquoted heros dedcription of the castor wheel, what he actually described was a wheel in a small frame with a small axle, the axle he mentions might be for the wheel itself, and not actually for the frame to move on.

[@hamasmillitant1]

if u replaced the sand with greek fire it would make a pretty nasty weapon just program it to role at phalanx then light the greek fire trail once it was close and boom land based fire ship :P ps a tripod should be wider at bottom than top. if he called it a tripod im pretty sure he meant for it to have a ~20* or higher angle on the tripods legs. it would be a lot more stable if the base was wider than top/tripod shape

[@1islam1]

​@@hamasmillitant1⚠️ God has said in the Quran: 🔵 { O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous - ( 2:21 ) 🔴 [He] who made for you the earth a bed [spread out] and the sky a ceiling and sent down from the sky, rain and brought forth thereby fruits as provision for you. So do not attribute to Allah equals while you know [that there is nothing similar to Him]. ( 2:22 ) 🔵 And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant [Muhammad], then produce a surah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than Allah, if you should be truthful. ( 2:23 ) 🔴 But if you do not - and you will never be able to - then fear the Fire, whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers.( 2:24 ) 🔵 And give good tidings to those who believe and do righteous deeds that they will have gardens [in Paradise] beneath which rivers flow. Whenever they are provided with a provision of fruit therefrom, they will say, "This is what we were provided with before." And it is given to them in likeness. And they will have therein purified spouses, and they will abide therein eternally. ( 2:25 ) ⚠️ Quran

[@CardPicker-xo2hg]

How dare you get that wrong! SHAME! ;) no problemo hombre.

[@TheCorruptionKing]

bro they had gears. Power turns the small one connected to the big one with rope tied to the wheel. All this automaton technology and you missed gear ratios?

[@MisterTalkingMachine]

@@TheCorruptionKing Hero didn't use gears in his builds, that's probably why

[@JoseMartinez-sb9by]

These videos need to be archived. The information presented here is far more valuable than merely watching the process.

[@danquaylesitsspeltpotatoe8307]

So it can move forward 60% of its height!

[@KingofCrusher]

@@danquaylesitsspeltpotatoe8307 Well yeah, I'm pretty sure that's how physics works.

[@Victor-056]

@@danquaylesitsspeltpotatoe8307 It is techincally still a prototype as the designs Hero made were not specific.

[@danquaylesitsspeltpotatoe8307]

@@Victor-056 Oh you would make it 10 miles high so you can travel 6 miles forward! your very smart!

[@Algorithms_Child]

@@danquaylesitsspeltpotatoe8307You may recall that these were made for entertainment purposes, both for the engineer, and an audience. Functionality is not the focus.

[@jeanladoire4141]

Bro that is INSANE! Well done. A small robot from wood and copper, using principles of ancient Greece. That's nuts. I'm a blacksmith and i'm using a lot of ancient and sometimes forgotten techniques, such as making your own polishing compound at home, stuff like that. Ancient techniques are so simple, yet so effective. Congrats!

[@hamasmillitant1]

yeah it also shows we are just repeating the same actions for the last 3000yrs/casts further doubt on our free will :P i also like to play around with smithing, i suspect thats the tag the alg used to send me here, although it could have also been my interest in finding evidence that we have done all this before ad nausium with just small variations/updates on materials through the millenia

[@LucasRipetta]

I am so glad the algorithm made me stumble upon this channel. It a beautiful mix between craftmanship and history made possible through the classic approach of manual labour. Great videos

[@haroomba]

true, i just wish his inclination to the mechanical was a little more adequate

[@mossyabyss]

I've always been fascinated by automatons and other ancient attempts at "thinking engines". A machine acting under it's own power without the electrical components that are ubiquitous for our modern world is always an amazing feat of engineering. I would love to see more of Hero's automatons and other such inventions brought to life.

[@fraserbuilds]

It really never ceases to amaze me how creative and curious these ancient mechanicians were. Always eagerly pushing the boundaries of their technology. Im working on more of Hero's devices at the moment! hopefully I'll have more videos on them soon :)

[@alkimadsiz4867]

Well this channel is to those people with refined interests. There are not much subscribers for now. But I am eager to see your numbers grow. It will make me happy to see people not watching other unimportant things (reality shows alike) and instead see these interesting stuff. Keep up the good work ❤

[@mossyabyss]

@fraserbuilds I'll be sure to catch them when they post. Your other videos are also great and definitely deserving of more subscribers.

[@shedactivist]

Great storytelling alongside great ingenuity and craftmanship . A great channel in the making.

[@fraserbuilds]

thank you! I really appreciate that

[@pufthemajicdragon]

My favorite thing about these videos is the historical anecdotes spread throughout the video. The mythological and historical background perfectly complements the construction process and makes the video far more interesting and entertaining to watch. Absolutely wonderful :) (And yes, you're seeing me a lot the last couple days. I *am* binging your whole channel. Great stuff! Let me know when you get a Patreon!)

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you so much! :) I greatly enjoy making these projects and it means alot to me to see them embraced by the community! I hope youll like the projects I have to come!

[@pufthemajicdragon]

@@fraserbuilds Already subscribed!

[@straingedays]

Gotta say, this is therapeutic from beginning to end. Your narration of history while building & troubleshooting with resources at hand was a joy to observe. Our Grandpa b.1910, was a carpenter, I've fond memories of him patiently teaching a young me. Seeing the details you put into this made me gasp when it toppled, but be in ore when it worked !!

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you! Im glad it conjured pleasant memories :)

[@jeremybamber5729]

This video made me realise I should recontextualise the era this is from in my mind as one where people where people did a lot of experimenting with weird physics toys. Thanks!!

[@Educationey]

It may have been implied in that time, but the various axles might benefit from a little grease, which the greeks had. It will tighten up the tolerances and reduce the friction. I would also experiment with adding extra weight to the body generally to see if that fixes the wheel lift issue at all. Also, see if a perfectly flat surface makes a difference. Great work!

[@fraserbuilds]

Thanks! Interestingly Hero says to oil the axles with olive oil.

[@Educationey]

@@fraserbuilds olive oil builds up gunk pretty fast though. Hmm. Maybe it was a thicker sort of olive oil?

[@StraightShot2977]

Fraser reminds me a little of Max Miller's Tasting History, except it's technology. You learn about the process, the history, and usually the chemistry of these devices from the guy. Really outstanding work.

[@To-mos]

This is so neat, like watching a retro-futuristic time traveler trying to get back to their time while documenting it with modern technology.

[@xXTomokoKurokiXx]

This is absolutely one of the most interesting things I've ever seen on KZbin. The fact that the Greeks had access to simple gravity-powered technology like this, to the point that it was sufficiently advanced enough to appear as magic, is genuinely incredible. Thank you for taking the time to show this project, as well as educating people about a side of Greek history most people seem to gloss over.

[@loonawolf43]

@fraserbuilds, the reason why there are ancient manuscripts of knights fighting snails has to do with how horrible snail infestations were in gardens. Monks who took care of gardens and who also wrote the manuscripts could do literally nothing as snails ate their crops and they sought to employ knights to take care of it as a joke. the same goes with illustrations of knights fighting rabbits. After a while it sort of became a meme to draw knights fighting snails and rabbits in manuscripts because of how often they destroyed gardens.

[@fraserbuilds]

I think this is the answer, and is by far the most plausible Ive seen suggested. Though I think its very funny that everyone who has responded to this video about the snail thing has come up with a different answer

[@loonawolf43]

@@fraserbuilds fur sure! haha I seen someone suggest what I suggested in another video here on youtube a few years ago. Medieval history is my favorite. I seen your video BTW and instantly subscribed. Ancient greek stuff is awesome.

[@MediumWolf227]

So the killer rabbit in Monty pythons holy grail wasn’t random?

[@walkstheman98]

I could easily see how the entire upper portion could become an hourglass as well, then the lower portion could catch the seeds, while all the strings run along the outer body, at least for a longer running version. So many ways this could have been used, I love it

[@wizardwillbonner]

I normally skip over videos of this type because mainly the use of modern techniques and parts, which I find boring You on the other hand caught and held my attention, not only at your skills building from raw materials. But also your knowledge and narrative on the subject. It reminded me of watching my Grandpa working in his shop. He was a woodsmith from the old country(what he called home in Germany). He owned a sawmill (cut the wood for the Wright Brothers plane) he also made furniture and clocks. If he needed something, he made it! It's really impressive to see your valuable skill level at such a young age, gives me hope for the next generation! Bravo on your achievement! Thank you for sharing!

[@RensStoryteller]

Man is guiding the craft with his arms out like his baby taking his first steps!

[@jpkatz1435]

Wonderful observation.

[@cgarzs]

That's amazing! Never imagined ancient people could have legit robots. 🤯 I'm so glad I found this channel, its fantastic!

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you :)

[@themothjam]

this is so amazing, though thousands of years separate people, we share the same hands, the same earth, from which to make our tools. trying to imagine these creations in how they would have been presented to their historical audience, and their delight and amusement, and the craftsman’s artistry, i mean, this is humanity! this is what history is about! thank you‼️‼️ i will be excited to see what’s next!

[@thestudentofficial5483]

Previously i read into Charles Babbage's analytical engine and Ada Lovelace's algorithm to use the engine to calculate Bernoulli numbers. I was surprised how much computer science goes way back in time and appreciate modern tech even more. But this Hero fella is clearly on another level. My reaction of seeing the automaton turning direction is as much as you did. You did an absolutely amazing job recreating that from minimal sources and period accurate processes. I think one particular reason why automaton field was not pursued is because there was no need for it. today our industrial society necessitates carefully timed and repetitive actions; a niche quickly filled by modern automatons, robots (from germanic word 'arbeit' meaning work/worker). It is likely similar as to why gunpowder is rarely used in Avatar Last Airbender, because it's not needed.

[@ahveganpizzabella]

Robot is a SLAVIC word not German at all, it's from Robota/Rabota meaning drudgery slave work (another word from the same root is robotnik, a manual worker at a factory). The word robot was invented by a Czech author Karel Capek who wrote a sci Fi novel about bots in the start of the 20th century

[@AdolfPickleBottom_42196]

I like how in every shot we see of the automaton before it starts moving, we don't see the whole thing, and it's presented and being big, then when it finally moves, we see that their actually just a lil guy. Then they fall flat on their face. Poor guy

[@LouisXavierBRUSSET]

I wasn't aware of this ancient Greek technology! Many thanks for your video!

[@TiesBesselJonker]

So you're just casually a woodworker, blacksmith, historian ans philosopher? Your work is amazing, your angles are even better. Love the hypothesis on the snails... one of the more fascinating takes on those appearances. Hope you find more about them. I'm in awe, but more so, much inspired.

[@averyanderson8402]

Lol so scary to watch move lol. Great work. Love your build so much fun and very informitive. The first roomba build lol

[@TrinityCodex]

excelent video! i couldnt look away!

[@josephwright9420]

Back in 2012 I was at MS&T in an intro to engineering course. We had to make something move across a table and knock over a foam castle without electric or chemical power. My group let me design basically a six foot siege tower based entirely on this concept except for the programmability and with absolutely nothing to slow the weight. Man, I wish I'd have known about Hero's automaton back then! That thing could have been WAY cooler!

[@arboristBlairGlenn]

Your perseverance for this project is inspiring. Sub and shared

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you!

[@chiaraoneill2050]

Truly amazing content. The time and effort gone into not only making it, but learning traditional methods of making is impressive. I’m looking forward to seeing more of your builds!

[@snubig1698]

Great video, the automaton looked extremely cool, I also really liked the small stories of greek mythos you had in the video. So all in all as statet earlier this was a great video.

[@fraserbuilds]

thanks! im glad you liked it :)

[@Dangineering]

This is an absolute gem of a channel. I would absolutely love to see how far you can go with this particular power source or others.

[@mayamachine]

I was interested in Automaton as a kid, eventually after learning mechanics, pneumatics, hydraulics, electronics, machining and 4 years of art school, I became Chief of animatronics and special effects at a large art studio and it was my dream job, did lots there.

[@niuthon]

Amazing! Maybe using a non-stretch string would help? It is possible that now the weight pulls the string until the force breaks the rolling resistance of the wheels, after which the energy stored in the string is converted into a jerking motion of the machine (BTW, I became 500th subscriber of your amazing channel, lets celebrate!)

[@fraserbuilds]

thats a really good observation! hero actually wrote about that problem specifically in his book! and he recorded a special method of making strings as inelastic as possible for his automatons by repeatedly stretching and waxing them. lately as ive been working on testing the automaton ive been using kevlar string, which i thought would work well because it is very inelastic. i might try to make a more authentic chord with heros description, but the kevlar seems to work pretty well for now. Also thanks for bringing the channel to 500!!

[@zekodun]

Love the video. A suggestion I can make; use some olive oil, lard, or ghee on the wheels for a period accurate lubrication to help with motion. (or a modern silicon based alternative). This will reduce the stuttering.

[@fraserbuilds]

very sound advice! though i did oil the axles before trsting it, Hero says in his book to use olive oil for lubrication just like you say, and it certainly helped!

[@Shamanscircle1]

Amazing. Utterly amazing! I'm properly floored on the simple ingenuity of these machines! I do want to say one thing about Hero's thoughts on (maybe) why he believed that showing the inner workings would draw less interest. Simply put, I think it could have been that the average ancient person would (because of the way that they thought about nature being part supernatural) were more amazed by the idea that something magical and thought to even to have been utilized by a God they believe had power over the nature of making things by hand. Or it could just be all about proprietary knowledge. Even though its simplicity is, from our own perspective, the most amazing thing, I'm not sure the ancient average joe is gonna look at this the same as us.

[@Moocow2003]

I see what you mean.. it's like telling someone today 'this wheel spins because it's attached to a battery-powered motor'. Not very impressive to us, but very impressive to an ancient Greek person:p meanwhile this is very impressive to me because Hero invented this without the modern tools we take for granted.

[@Shamanscircle1]

@@Moocow2003 Indeed. And adding to your last bit, that is the coolest thing about machines. At one point, humans were making mechanical inventions with the modern equivalent of every dude and dudette's garage tools lol.

[@ghostboy4115]

As a Hellenist, your inscriptions of the hymn to Hephaestus warmed my heart. Hephaestus is often overlooked by many, especially in the modern day, i’m sure he appreciates the gesture! May he bless all your future creations with success ♥️ (( There is no requirement of total belief in the gods to receive their blessing, even acknowledging that they may exist is more than enough. )) You are a very talented and driven craftsperson even without the hymn inscription I’m sure Hephaestus would smile upon you ♥️ :,)

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you :)

[@EmberwolfXR]

It takes a special kind of person to not only be a good craftsman, but document it in an exceptional way, clearly effectively…

[@user-ve5ei2xe8h]

I really love your low tech and educational approach. Hits the sweet spot between primitive technologies and clickspring for me, if I may say so.

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you! :)

[@Phisherphish]

I would suggest making your base wider than your top, with the legs angled outwards. That should increase the stability of the overall design, though your expansion arm is definitely a good add on! All in all, this is very cool to see, and I'd love to see more work on ancient Automata!

[@Epic501]

Fantastic. How satisfying to see it successfully turn and move

[@chemically_literate]

Excellent video. You have truly poured your soul into this project.

[@fraserbuilds]

thank you! i really appreciate that sentiment. it was important to me to try to reflect positively on Hero, as i had a feeling people might judge the performance of his work off the performance of my imitation

[@Karma8Kami]

This was an absolutely amazing watch! I imagine you could construct an entire person looking robot with moving arms and blinking eyes and moving mouth if you hid the interior with cloth and had one common trigger for several mechanisms, might have to have something like a smooth marble floor in that case for it to look somewhat smooth with such weight but amazing to think that it was possible so far back.

[@fpassow1]

I love the use of an hourglass as an escapement. Kinda mixing two time-keeping concepts.

[@someguardsman]

That was beautiful! I cannot even begin to describe my elation as your little automaton starting moving. What a magical moment... Amazing work, a truly captivating video!

[@PlayNowWorkLater]

That was so much fun to watch, as it came to life. The surprise you mention when I successfully followed a program you put into the wheels to turn left and then proceed straight was pretty cool to witness. Bit clunky and awkward, but fascinating, and I hope you do more experiments with these. I wonder if pulleys ability to transfer weight ratio could potentially work like gears in energy transfer. Anyway fun project. Love your storytelling and deep dive into the research.

[@fraserbuilds]

i definitely intend to keep experimenting with automata! I think I learned more lessons about making from this project than any of my others. Im very confident hero's own automaton would glide much more smoothly and travel much further than mine, i really think this prototype just scratches the surface of whats possible, and of what they may have actually built so long ago.

[@Beware_Of_Dogg]

I’m so invested and blown away by your efforts and achievements

[@TheWoodgineer]

You've opened a giant rabbit hole with Greek Automata thanks! :D

[@alliemaharry4368]

A lot of knight's medieval illuminated manuscripts featured images that weren't direct portraits, but rather icons. A famous example would be the two ladies and the well. Because traditional art theory had been all but destroyed with the iconoclast contemporary artists at the time had to find new ways to communicate things. One of the most common ways a scribe would try to communicate the dangers a knight would encounter (and I do mean knight because these books were very VERY expensive) in whatever given area they were traveling to, would have been to show them literally fighting that thing. That's why so many illuminated manuscripts feature battle with cobras, toads, and other seemingly insignificant animals that aren't local to the region.

[@ahveganpizzabella]

Or, hear me out, Medieval scribes didn't have TV but a lot of magic shrooms in the forests, where a lot of snails also live and eat the shrooms (forever the competition to shroom gatherers)

[@thekaratekid02]

Really amazing work both technically and historically.

[@ohhimark5723]

Brings history to life 👍

[@fraserbuilds]

thank you!

[@IdiotWithEducation]

Paulowania Tomentosa is an amazing timber plant, honestly should be used more

[@ianlariviere8956]

Way cool. I admire your dedication to your craft.

[@fraserbuilds]

thank you! :)

[@sliceofbread2611]

really amazing to see it drive around on its own! very impressive build!

[@HeierShane]

Love's watching this! Just stumbled upon one of your blow torch vids and watched this one. Looking forward to exploring your channel. Have you thought about making an ancient lathe for turning round objects for you projects?

[@protorandom9097]

this like the engineering equivilant of those primitive construction channels, but so much more ethereal; i think ive fallen in love

[@adog3129]

that's really really cool, i can't believe robots were a thing back then. i'd love to see as much of this as possible

[@Racald]

This is honestly so cool and impressive, and the little celebration after the first successful run sent me! Can't wait to watch more of your stuff and hope you'll thrive for a long time

[@apboarder1]

Awesome video, loved the thoroughly researched narrative that accompanied the process!

[@niallmullen8436]

Incredible. Well done and thank you for sharing this.

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you!

[@CharCharArray]

Thank you for including sources

[@joanrue5169]

Absolutes wonderful .... entirely made by hand ... I can say that your glasswork is correct ... I want more!!!

[@drewrambacher7360]

I can not express how amazed I am by this. The only words I can think of are: Good job!

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you!

[@temmie9430]

I love machines like this and might try to make something like this myself! And a lot of people are saying things about your pronunciation of some words and i honestly think your saying fine. Dont let the haters get to you. Good work!

[@benoitmolherat6659]

It's crazilly surprising ! I knew greeks was that close to invent steam power devices but i would never have imagined this. Thanks a lot and please continue ! (maybe with more consideration for torque, wheels diameters and the diferents heavy parts inertia ? )

[@Eagle246]

This is very cool! I saw your post on r/maker, you do such cool stuff and explain it well, I watched this and your spirit lamp video from last year and now I can't wait to watch the rest of your videos and to see what you do next!

[@fraserbuilds]

thanks! I really appreciate that!

[@OriginalMusic1983]

Awesome video, creation, and history lesson! Thank you.

[@tedwoods2051]

Principles of good engineering and craftsmanship have not changed

[@testariveritatis8564]

Incredible stuff. Very exciting!

[@maverick9300]

Fascinating. I love how you use historical techniques. It add a whole dimension to the process.

[@Cerv3ra]

The caster wheel has to had a caster angle. Funny mistake. I really enjoy the content. It really makes you appreciate how far we have come.

[@erickhyde9562]

Love your content. Fyi, if you quench your copper in water it will be much more malleable. Annealing ferrous metals require slow cooling and heating with a greasy flame. However other metals want a red heat and a fast cold quench. Then they are easily workable! Keep up the great content.

[@incitatus953]

I am amazed. Beautiful build. Incredible channel.

[@goktuggokcen1564]

This chanel is a hidden gem!!!

[@Cjoudan]

This is amazing, a history lesson and entertaining videos. You're work is inspiring.

[@tatertime]

I have somehow never heard of these before, but this is blowing my mind!

[@hamhawk4027]

Great work!

[@fraserbuilds]

Thanks!

[@jeanniepuentes5727]

Fantastic video!

[@rodrigoff7456]

Absolutely fascinating! Very nice video production too!

[@coco805]

Wow this is just fantastic. I just discoverd your channel, this is super amazing stuff!

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you!

[@greenr369]

Fantastic video. Thank you for sharing your work with the world.

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you! :)

[@drcaiius]

This is honestly among the coolest things I have seen on youtube! Keep it up!

[@kabalder]

This is really cool. One small note on Daedalus' statues. There is a text-interpretation school that has taken to imagine Socrates' mention of Daedelic or Daedalus' creations as being a reference to particularly life-like marble statues. So that the metaphor isn't suggesting the uncertainty of the construct (of knowledge and memory in this case), but that it suggests the fleeting nature of perfect ideals (depicted by the marble statues we are misled to believe might walk away in the night). But that school is simply not supported by the text(Socrates is talking about something that does actually move about if it's not fastened), by the fact that daedelic statues were very abstract, or by the overall message in Meno.. of for example how virtue is not an ideal, or a seemingly random fleeting thought - but something you have to work carefully at. Like you do here :D Really great stuff.

[@rajidahae4220]

Fascinating subject, going to have to read more on this, thanks for the video!

[@mickd6942]

I do believe your a budding genius , the video was the best I’ve ever watched on KZbin , absolutely fascinating .

[@Roensmusic]

Dude i nearly got a heart attack just from watching you do all that effort with the glass and the see it fall 24:08 👀🙈

[@melissarainchild]

your video kept me glued to the screen, thanks for posting. And, your glass crafting is correct, it's akeen to the art of Tiffany glass work...

[@h2o270]

You’re videos are awesome! You are one interesting guy!

[@fraserbuilds]

thanks! I really enjoy making them :)

[@doctorlungs9170]

I adore this channel. Thank you for your incredible craftsmanship and thank you for sharing it with us. I feel the need to thank you for the inspiration you've given me, as it is very helpful to see someone creating things with their own hands in the age of machines. I also just like the way you pronounce certain words, language sure is a funny thing.

[@interruptingPreempt]

This is so awesome!

[@henkgertlenten]

Great job, very interesting. Maybe less height for the hour glass but wider. So the center of gravity is lower.

[@randomnameifyful]

Impressive! Informative! Well done sir!

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you!

[@SkyHighGame]

The snails in the parchments and books have been studied. It's more or less memes or mockery, from the ppl about the nobles or something. Do not quote me on any of this but the reaserach is here on YT. Awesdome build bro. Truely a genuine craftsman. And what a giant project!

[@devinsayswecanflyingram6321]

love seeing the ancient world come to life

[@stonethecrowshomestead]

i am awestruck sharing this, your an amazing young man.

[@gertjevanpoppel7270]

What a great project and a lot of technical stuff is coming together for making one of these amazing automatons 😀. I have been a machinist and engineer for most of my career and even though I cringe when i see how you make parts ( and i realize that's my problem 🤣) , i can see how a project like this is a valuable way to teach youngsters on how things move mechanically and the skills that they learn when making one 👍😀.

[@fraserbuilds]

Thank you! And its not your problem, its totally mine! Im a complete novice when it comes to all of these skills. I think Ive improved significantly since making this video, and I hope to keep improving, but I think it's important to recognize that the genuine thing would have been built by someone much more skilled than me and would have been more functional and better for it! advice is always appreciated😅

[@Zane-It]

I remember reading about hero and his work. I wasn't able to comprehend his work when i was in middle school.

[@Menuki]

Daedalus started FNAF…..

[@user-xm7ch2os8l]

Everything about this video is amazing but your hand tool skills really takes the prize. God like

[@DarkMeta_Minecraft]

it's awesome that you're using the blow torch along side modern tools 😂 i just saw your torch video after watching some automata vids. all this stuff, this era of innovation, is the start of everything we have today and my favorite thing to think about. i mean everything came from this era! it's so fascinating the millions of tiny things that came together, with science, chemistry, and glass! (glass being the absolute most important thing in physics amd chemistry, even science as a whole) and that this all was the start of robotics and programmable machines, astonishing to think of. all from the minds of men and some women who just sat around obsessively thinking and tinkering, with the only knowledge base to refer to being word of mouth and hand written books and notes. imagine creating these things, thinking, man. i need to write this down for future generations, not having even the slightest clue of how grand the implications would be in the future. and that is us now to an extent, still out here innovating tinkering learning and inventing! 😂❤ amazing stuff

[@RCake]

Wow - this was spectacular, thank you so much for sharing with us! Looking forward to your future automatic successes 😊

[@fraserbuilds]

thank you! :)

[@benlap1977]

I felt thrilled when i finally saw the automaton move!