Trammel of Archimedes - Do Nothing Machine part 2 // Homemade Science with Bruce Yeany

Do nothing machine, B.S. grinder, Trammel of Archimedes, they've gone by all sorts of names, when used for drawing it's an ellipsograph. I show it as a lever that switches back and forth from a first class lever to a 2nd class lever. In doing so it is able to trace out ellipses on the handle. It is an interesting piece that shows how circular motion consists of two sinusoidal oscillations. On the practical side it has commonly been used for drawing out ovals for picture frames.

[@Malidictus]

This is odd. Why use a slowmo version of moving the trammel quickly as opposed to just moving it slowly? Is there some some function of it which doesn't scale down like the "balls on various shaped tracks" experiment?

[@YeanyScience]

I didn't think of it when I was videotaping

[@Malidictus]

Hah! Fair point, then :) Thank you for the response. I was just wondering if there's something else going on that I'd missed. Your science of toys videos tend to cover deceptively complex ideas sometimes. This clears it up.

[@dyar1978]

Amanda LaBrock Bruce does.

[@alexanderwestphal9777]

Malidictus what

[@dyar1978]

Alexander Westphal Bruce uses video tape.

[@U014B]

5:00 It's the CBS logo!

[@sQWERTYFALIEN2011]

You beat me to it ! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBS . . . . or you could just start the video at 4:20 for added implications ;)

[@AndreLuiz-ip3fh]

boflator lol. kmkkkkkkk

[@jasmijnraaij2987]

No! no! no! it's Exo

[@compressorhead02]

That is the most satisfying thing I've ever seen

[@xl000]

glowing knives ??

[@tm5605]

Ashtonmo_2002 yep

[@craigroaring]

Oh, the irony

[@ramseydieter]

i am right with you brother couldnt have said it better

[@dantyler1558]

Ashtonmo_2002 Good lord, that's sad...

[@tomashorst9544]

I'm seeing a perfect gift for a 4 year old.

[@Chowder12345able]

Tomas Horst I'm seeing a brilliant gift for me

[@idkhonestly7163]

Im seeing a brilliant gift

[@strumblers3701]

No the girl in your basement is your gift

[@RYB0RB15]

@@strumblers3701 what does that mean

[@strumblers3701]

@@RYB0RB15 idk this it my brothers old account

[@greenjelly01]

Here's what I realized at the end of this video... The real do nothing machine is I, sitting and watching youtube videos when I should be working.

[@kennethflorek8532]

Interesting that you could not find a reference that explained a connection of this to Archimedes. It does look like a "locus of points" problem, which the Ancient Greeks were fond of. An ellipse being the "the locus of points the sum of whose distance from two given points is a constant" is such a problem. As one person pointed out in your other video on this, there is a 1/4 cut-down version of this. In that, you would have a stick with two nails that rub along the edges of a right-angled wood block, but one end of the stick would extend far beyond the nails. A question Archimedes might have set for himself is "What is the locus of points of the end of the stick." Since analytic geometry did not then exist (and therefore you could not find the equation of the curve), it would have been very difficult to prove the curve was a segment of an ellipse, just the kind of thing Archimedes relished. There is another layout trick (based on geometry) I have heard about, for marking out an arched doorway. You put a nail on each side of the doorway where the arc is to begin and end. You nail two sticks together so that the notch where the sticks join is at the high point of the arch, while the sticks rest on the nails at the side of the doorway. When you slide the sticks resting on the nails from one side to the other, a pencil in the notch will trace out an arc of a circle. In other words, you can layout a circular arc without ever finding the center of a circle. (In fact the angular part of the circle is twice the angle of the notch, by a theorem in geometry. A 90 degree notch produces 180 degrees of a circle.)

[@aniruddhdeshpande7319]

Kenneth Florek I just liked your comment without reading cuz you wrote a lot

[@YeanyScience]

Hi Kenneth, more information I didn't know, I'm always appreciate seeing additional explanations or suggestions about any of the ideas that I've posted, this is a learning process for me also. Thanks for your post

[@kennethflorek8532]

Aniruddh Deshpande OK. Then I will write another long comment. In the 1800's, when the mechanical age was just beginning to produce wonders like steam engines powering locomotives and the central water system of cities, mathematicians took up a study of what were called "linkages." The idea, I suppose, was that mathematics was going to help inventors understand what mechanical contrivances could do and what was impossible. People are right that this "trammel of Archimedes" looks something like the linkage that hooks up wheels on a locomotive, and the way pistons crank a crankshaft in a gasoline engine. Linkages also form some of the basis of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine and Analytical Engine (now considered the first ancestor of computers as we know them.) Mathematicians made rapid progress on the subject of linkages. So rapid, in fact, that they determined something which make come as much as surprise to you as it did to me, that you could produce any motion as output from any motion as input. That's right. A linkage can do anything. Sound incredible? Consequently, it is not really a strange, isolated fluke that Charles Babbage, a mathematician, conceived and planned, in complete detail, the first computer. I have never seen a book on the subject of linkages, and only seen a few curiosities, without any depth, in any book that mentions the subject. It is a dead subject. A problem that has been completely solved! That's boring? One of the linkages which I have seen mentioned, will generate the integral of a curve when one part of the linkage is moved along a the given curve. There is a pretty well known linkage, which Presidents going back to Thomas Jefferson used, that enables you to write an exact copy of your document as write the document. Of course if you trace something, it will make an exact copy, and a version of it (a pantograph) will scale the size up or down.

[@jasondoe2596]

Kenneth Florek, very very interesting; thank you!

[@aniruddhdeshpande7319]

Kenneth Florek Yup like it

[@slowlylosingmysanity9726]

Why do i find this insanely satisfying. I swear if i get my hands on one of those ill be the do nothing machine spending hours spinning that

[@bmitchellmusic]

Zero need to know this stuff. It’s unexplainably soothing to watch.

[@jonesscotta7946]

Bruce, you inspired me to build one of these! Add some magnets and stick it on either a dry erase or refrigerator. Thank you for what you do.

[@georgeadavis321]

Hey can I pick your brain on this?

[@georgeadavis321]

Hey can I pick your brain on this?

[@TheDisarminghinkle]

This design could be used in some way (literally or more figuratively) to come up with a way to get automated traffic to cross each other while guaranteeing that they will never collide.

[@AndreLuiz-ip3fh]

TheDisarminghinkle yeaaahh. great idea!!!

[@Rainboworafish]

TheDisarminghinkle Or to make sure nerds never collide with any women

[@chrisl4762]

I worked in an art gallery when I was younger. I knew of the push pin technique. The fact that it creates an ellipse is interesting. If the handle was telescopic and the end modified to hold a cutter to score glass or blade to cut mattes this would be a simple but useful tool.

[@mateuszsoszynski7880]

It isnt doing nothing. Its a better way to trasfer circles (from motor) to direct pushes.

[@thefataltortus9043]

Mateusz Soszyński it's an ellipse lol

[@mateuszsoszynski7880]

TheFatalTortus 42 just add elipse gear

[@adamreel5480]

Mateusz Soszyński no it's is an ellipse. the rotation follows an elliptical orbit not a circular one.

[@ifluro]

Mateusz Soszyński Just add wire coiled around the pvc and use magnets as the sliders

[@ifluro]

Mateusz Soszyński And the hand crank moving elliptical would be more ergonomic on the arm.

[@AKATEATime]

Oh wow, I've never seen one with 3 channels. I've never known a name for one either. I saw a 2 channel one when I was pretty young and went home and made one in my Dad's wood shop. He couldn't believe I remembered it that well. Heh Thanks for this video! :-)

[@markljesse]

well.....that's enough internet for tonight!!!

[@maxsainz2279]

Would this be good to use in an engine, or am I an idiot?

[@AlexDiersing]

Max Sainz I think there might already be a function like this in engines, but I'm not entirely sure. It seems to me that it's also similar to how trains move their wheels

[@maxsainz2279]

Alex Diersing that's interesting. I mean, it seems like it could work.

[@doctorbobstone]

Do you have any thoughts on a place where an engine needs elliptical motion? Another question might be: if there is a need, would this way be the easiest and/or best? It seems to me like it's a bit tricky to mount and drive the trammel. Also, the way the shuttles engage and disengage with the tracks strikes me as a potential wear/jam issue which would take some engineering. But if you had an engine which needed elliptical motion, these issues only matter in how they compare to other potential solutions. They're probably all solvable if it's worth the effort.

[@vbertrand]

Yeah, it's not unlike a radial engine. The difference is that in a radial engine, all the conencting rods are articulated so the crankshaft can turn in a circle (not an ellipse, it wouldn't work).

[@doctorbobstone]

Alex Diersing​, KZbin didn't show your comment before, but that's a interesting idea. Applying reciprocating motion to an effectively elliptical crank instead of a circular crank would change the application of forces at different parts of the cycle. I'm not sure if it would be helpful, particularly helpful enough to be worth the additional mechanical complexity, but it's definitely an interesting idea.

[@haugstule]

sir, the way you are showing these gid'ding-dongs - DMT souls are showing satisfying things in a scary similar way. saying stuff like: "oh you think that's crazy - have a look at this! and this! and this!" and you are crying your eyes out from visual satisfaction, grace and amazement.

[@YeanyScience]

thanks, I still find all the visuals as satisfying as the first day I started

[@1anya7d]

Where can I buy something like this?

[@jamesmott421]

try amazon.com or other online ordering sites, im going to check out amazon to see if i can buy this too. pretty sweet mechanics to me

[@alphaadhito]

+James Mott I really like the sounds :-)

Alpha Adhito then u probably like horses ;)

[@larjkok1184]

LanYarD At the shop.

[@nicholashalley9837]

Just make one

[@elfoxini]

why am i watching this at 3am

[@poppie3421]

elfox it's 6 am for me... god I need a life

[@poppie3421]

Wait... I'm god...

[@jasmijnraaij2987]

Wow it's exactly 2:51 right now :0

[@macey75]

Haha....3:16am for me.

[@jabezbalaguer3219]

2:43 am here

[@ghosthand8119]

I remember seeing at one time a actual formula for making a string ellipse. If you added the height and width of the desired ellipse you could figure out how long to made the string and how far apart to put the push pins. I haven't been able to find it recently.

[@TheCatAteMyShoe]

Making one of these was one of our assignments in shop class.

[@ivankalinic7094]

we use them in woodworking for drawing ellipses and yeah, this is the best way to do it :D (So, so much about a "do nothing" part.

[@sshayka3139]

ivan kalinic You stole my comment! I actually go 1 step further and attach the arm directly to my router to cut the blank for a pattern for glass and to cut the frame. It works great!

[@ridiculicious]

3:00

[@juanvelez6483]

if we had a teacher like this in every classroom in the US we would be #1 in the world in education.

[@jannikhertel6148]

but you haven't

[@THEfamouspolka]

Mine was a chemistry teacher in high school. He let us throw sodium metal I the school pool, when the wind was right(blowing towards the admin building) light sulfer stink bombs in the quad, and generally open the lab to any experiment. He would teach us amazing things and have us the freedom to apply that knowledge however we wanted. Graduated in the early 90's, and sadly I'm sure that today Mr Wittwer and the rest of the class would be arrested for the "experiments" we were allowed to do.

[@mikakorhonen5715]

Finland

[@THEfamouspolka]

Mika Korhonen Finland, Finland, Finland... country where is most like to be!

[@mikakorhonen5715]

www.compareyourcountry.org/pisa/country/fin?lg=en Compare to United States. I know, we are small country, but education was our escape route from agrarian society.

[@ewauvwas]

memorizing!! these kind of mechanisms are way more handy then you'd think! It's these kind of marvels that are used in old-time automation processes!!

[@calebconcept8614]

LOL!! "2 is better than 1". Great job, my kids love your videos and I learn something from time to time too!

[@JohnHolmesIII]

...could this be applied to a type of engine?

[@jamesmott421]

pistons are the main component of an engine, and the moving blocks shown here would make for such an inefficient engine. it could be an engine, but its not practical considering the efficiency would be terrible

[@MrLikeke]

Yes! Circular motion converted into alternating rectilinear motion. Examples are horizontal hack saw or sewing machine. When circular motion is ellipsoidal an eccentric movement is created such as found in punching holes or a stamp mill where an interval is required to exchange stock as in production runs. There are many such examples as used in industry.

[@lueefour]

Out of curiosity, why do you say it would be inefficient?

[@Nefhith1337]

You can put knives on it and stab properly aligned people with it.

[@bobubilly]

lueefour Not sure how to word it, but a normal engine has the piston actuate on a tangent reducing any (friction?). This wouldn't operate so efficient because that is not the case here.

[@scotthopgood8317]

What if this "do nothing" device were one of Archimedes early designs for the eliptical mechanism within his Antikythera device ? It must have taken a few attempts to design a simple , yet effective , mechanism that could predict the eliptical path the moon traverses in order for the Antikythera device to be accurate. For anyone interested , look up 2000yr old computer , very interesting device ...

[@rikospostmodernlife]

Scott Hopgood but the antikytera mechanism was ptolemaic...

[@scotthopgood8317]

Tadeo Tintel Bernal are you making reference to the Ptolemaic System ( Geocentric model ) or inferring the AM was / is from the Ptolemaic Dynasty ? Either way , I'm no expert on this subject but the researchers in the following link seem to imply that Archimedes was perhaps the architect of the mechanism ... (sorry I cant pull up the link) but if you search : 2000yr old computer ; decoding the Antikythera Mechanism .. Fascinating stuff ! Re the " do nothing machine " , perhaps it served a purpose in the design and construction of the moons eliptical transition within the AM device - just an observation I made based on the fact the researchers are missing certain parts from the AM , which has forced a degree of educated guessing in how the AM operated ..

[@rikospostmodernlife]

Scott Hopgood I was referring to the geocentric model.

[@edwinsantoast7914]

horses footsteps sound effects in the movies

[@stoneseabolt]

I am 100% going to go buy some wood and some lexan to make one of these. I love stuff like this. It may "do nothing" but it's incredibly interesting and the fact that something like this even works at all with how perfectly it has to be designed and coordinated has always amazed me. One that operates on 3 axis' would be the best conversation piece to have on my coffee table for people to play with and be amazed, then they'd be more amazed that I managed to build it.

[@waynegilchrist1596]

The last demonstration where you were rotating two apparatuses simultaneously, would make a great "sound effects" machine for foley artists to represent horses' hooves clopping.

[@portblock]

very satisfying to just watch and look at.

[@tm5605]

Michael Bradley true

[@ph11p3540]

I purchase a machine very similar for this for attaching a wood router to to. I can make very fancy wood frames and oval window cutouts in door panels.

[@RiotDuel_Wisdom_and_Eternity]

These are not tools for eliptic drawings. These are anti-stress devices. Really relaxing.

[@YeanyScience]

that's my first choice also

[@janokano666]

The cross version of the machine struck me as a very nice demonstration of the relationship between cosine and sine!

[@sandblastit]

Oddly satisfying

[@renovski8992]

this isn't doing nothing, this is a low power heater and an oval compass

[@kantoros]

It's also a horse sounds simulator

[@IgniteSlickGamer]

Jindrich Petr Kantor yes!!! especially the 3 axis one

[@larjkok1184]

Renovski It's a piece of equipment that allows you to perform a light exercise that relieves wankers cramp.

[@fatyowls]

Oggy Oggy That's great where can I by at least two...

[@rottenobject2022]

I could see this being attached to the top of a conical shaped grinding stone with a bowl shaped stone underneath to get a mechanical morter and pestle.

[@MrRyanroberson1]

I've noticed: This mechanism can be said to emulate a gear within a concave gear (the hind whose teeth point in), and the input lever is bound to (and rotates about) the gear's axis.

[@spamaccount8979]

ASMR Surge anyone?

[@honeybampton1445]

That saiyan guy same

[@spamaccount8979]

@Derian Setoguchi Is that a channel? I couldn't quite see a chanel with that name ASMR Surge is a channel where he recreated this machine

[@matthewcecil8552]

I see a partially closed six tubed exchange system where only three adjacent paths can exchange fluid at any given time -- not a do nothing machine, hah.

[@kylerichardson514]

The two trammel version was used in my Dynamics Class to explain the principle of instantaneous centers. I would be interested in seeing that principle applied to the three trammel version.

[@jakelyon914]

When i was younger, my grandfather gave me one and told me it was a game, and that i had to try to get the two moving pieces to hit each other in the middle. I was young and gullible, so I was entertained for quite a while!

[@Kyle-jb3hr]

im thinking a new combustion motor ?

[@AndreLuiz-ip3fh]

Kyle Gardner compressed air motor

[@Anne_Frank00]

Kyle Gardner I was actually thinking the same thing

[@brendanrice6795]

Wouldn't have many benefits (if any) but it would look really cool

[@professordoctor9569]

I can see where you're coming from but it wouldn't really have any benefits, generally you want to have the most simple practical design when engineering. It would also be hard to pull off because of how the pistons would move. The way the chambers open up is the problem

[@_ABDUL-RAHIM.]

Ah meaning it need to be built with two sides ?

[@aniruddhdeshpande7319]

that is a toy to play when you're bored with life

[@butcherbakercandlestickmak2062]

this guy's just a plucking genius in his delivery, great entertainment, thoroughly happy to be a part of this quality thread much jokes a ha ha, might have a good dream tonight wondering what funk good this ching is, maybe save world in dream like megahero !

[@ChrisMotorONE]

I would love to back in school again. As an adult in late 30’s, I really miss education.

[@traviswilliams5145]

Illuminati??

[@richiesaidthat2198]

travis 16 Yes.

[@capitanhowdy2008]

Basically

[@aghaanantyab]

If you move the handle with constant speed, you can see that the small wood pieces move in one direction but the speed changes dinamically (acceleration). It is how gravity works. Gravity affects speed of matters so it will produce acceleration. It is why planets dont only move circle, but also oval

[@bonob0123]

beautiful! Nice work. Maybe you can do a followup working through all the beautiful mathematics at play here. sinusoids, trigonometry, linear and rotary motion. Very nice!

[@YeanyScience]

Thank you, I am trying to convince a friend of mine that is very knowledgable that would be much better at it than me to collaborate on doing a video together on this

[@AlienRelics]

I was looking to see if an Archimedes trammel could be done with 3 sliding bars, thank you! I want to use it to illustrate how three sine waves, 120 degrees out of phase with each other, can cause circular motion in a 3 phase electric motor. This will do nicely. If you look at equidistant from the three slides, it goes around in a perfect circle.

[@promontorium]

Can this be set in a way to make a circle?

[@larjkok1184]

promontorium Yes.

[@pghcosta]

what is This for?

[@theblackdeath8933]

Paulo Costa make a horse clappin noise

[@Alexander-oh8ry]

Paulo Costa nothing

[@2lazyt378]

Drawing ellipses. Did you watch the whole video?

[@carmelpule6954]

Ingenious machines which draw curves with an ever changing radius through vector addition. It is interesting that the centre of the pivoted points seem to describe a perfect circle. It is not exactly a do nothing machine as it is a system where vector addition and subtraction and components of a rotating vector are seen before one's eyes. There is a relation between two phase and three phase motors in those two systems where one uses 90 degrees phase shift while the other 120 degrees phase shifting. Congratulations on your workmanship and the concept itself which says a lot about multi phase systems. Well done.

[@user-es6oy7sv7c]

Carmel Pule'ρω την τω)πο) θα

[@callum.t.n9348]

5:14 made me cry laughing, his enthusiasm for these are hilarious, they're beautiful though.

[@jazztom86]

The sound it makes is reason enough to build a thing like that.

[@DadHav]

Hello Bruce. I was thinking about hot air engines as I watched the video. I think the movement could be adapted to power and displacer pistons coupled to a flywheel like a Walking Beam Stirling. Nice job.

[@LisaAnn777]

I was just thinking the same, why has nobody tried this?

[@benmasta5814]

seems like a pretty good way to make a handheld chopper. If the shuttles were blades and the center you fed through something that needed to be cut lol

[@GusOfTheDorks]

Actually, looking at this you could use it as a kind of simplified transmission. If you offset a handle on the other side of the device you should transfer that cranking motion into either another cranking motion or into into a piston motion with the right joints. Not entirely sure if it would have any true advantages but it is doable.

[@noerods]

I found a commercial use for this trammel, I will be rich thanks to Archimedes and to Yeany !

[@YeanyScience]

Congratulations, glad I could help

[@Lumencraft-]

Even thought the title said "do Nothing" machine. Somehow I was still expecting there to be some point to this LOL!

[@YeanyScience]

Well, there is the amusement factor.

[@Lumencraft-]

:)

[@daniellittleton6224]

would you be able to share the plans or measurements of the more complex one? (3 sliders). Also when I made a 2 slide one i didn't do such a great job on the hardware used to connect the stick to the sliders for good movement. What did you use? Thank you. I love these machines

[@YeanyScience]

Daniel, I have several pictures that I can put to gather that would be helpful, I attached the shuttles with machine screws and can show that also

[@daniellittleton6224]

Bruce Yeany I would greatly appreciate that. Thank you.

[@glennmr2007]

dear Bruce! - i am indebted to you for showing this so clearly! I can see that this is truly more than just a 'do-nothing' device - it has for eg. 2 phases of accelleration per cycle, and 2 of the opposite! and so i can now see how it can be adapted into a magnetic device! ... .. .

[@nickrider815]

After reading the comments here, I can see why this is called a no purpose machine! And it's a really good example of one. It looks like it could have great potential, but no one is able to quite put their finger on what it could be used for. I'm excluding the drawing application from this. All the examples I thought of already had more efficient methods. I still rack my brain once a week trying to find a practical application for a tesla valve! This is going to add to my frustration ;)

[@YeanyScience]

Ihad quite a few suggestions that it might be used for an engine, the closet that comes to it is one called a Paut engine

[@edwinsantoast7914]

that thing is used for making horse foot steps sound effects in the movies. agree?

[@YeanyScience]

certainly sounds like it

[@edwinsantoast7914]

i like your videos sir. 😊👍👍

[@RickYorgason]

André Roubo, a professional woodworker in 18th century France, described using the two-axis version of this for cutting ellipses in marquetry work.

[@planchetflaw]

That sounds is amazing. I'm not into this ASMR stuff, but that sound is absolutely incredible. Did you build that triple one yourself?

[@YeanyScience]

yes, it took a few tries to get it right

[@dianarun99]

I'm curious, would you be able to make an automatic braiding machine with this, a hole in the bottom and string attached to the shuttles that gets drawn by something at a relative speed to the rotation of the lever? I don't know if it would work but I'm curious to see the result. Thanks in advance!

[@pumpkintime362]

I love your videos. I just discovered you last week with a sand video but you remind me of one of my favorite teachers I used to have.

[@YeanyScience]

Thanks Michael, glad you enjoy them

[@jffqnn]

I Always enjoy watching Your Videos. Now I have another idea to show My Nephew this Thanksgiving!! Hope You and Yours are doing Great!! Thanks for sharing!!! 🙂

[@AwwwPishhh]

Hah never seen one of those before,a strangely fascinating movement. Hope ypu cleaned the marker off the Terrazzo Bruce before Groundskeeper Willie found out.

[@2012truth1776]

The X and Y axis one, reminds of a water pump. Pretty cool Video 🤙🏻

[@diegosocal3676]

it's nice to see that when men get old they still have fun playing with their wood.

[@TheDeathstriker123]

This is an interesting video. I have a question though, are the individual pieces of wood carrying out Simple Harmonic Motion in their own grooves? And if so, then isn't this machine one that super imposes SHM's?

[@RedShirtGuy96]

I feel like ive seen machines like this in how it's made videos. It seems like it would be useful on mechanical assembly lines.

[@janholland2224]

Very enjoyable stuf, thx! Reminds me a bit of the Geneva drive / Maltese cross gear mechanism.

[@JavierRodriguez-jw4xv]

this concept has been applied to the design of early rotary engines used in aircraft but in this case there is a ellipse being formed outside the piston cylinder assembly rather than a perfect circle being formed by a larger cocentric array of piston cylinder assemblues

[@Barnaclebeard]

Wow, I've never seen the three shuttle version. Very cool! Do you know anything about the history of this toy (and the two variants)?

[@jenniferwhitewolf3784]

Everyone misses that the far end of the lever defines an ellipse, FINALLY somebody else shows that.

[@RimWulf]

More shuttles, please. I would live to see this on a octagonal platform, after seeing it on a hexagonal platform.

[@simpletn]

Okay so I come up with a way to make this mechanism practical. I do wonder. Would a do nothing machine work with more than 3 of those things. It works with 2 and 3. But would it work for 4, 5, 6 or even any number up to infinity?

[@YeanyScience]

Hi SIr Iodine, I have seen computer generated videos of 4, and 6 shuttles, I haven't tackled them yet but plan to try a larger number eventually, I don't know how many would be able to work

[@seanhammer6296]

Sir Iodine "up to infinity?" ROTFLMAO. Thanks. That was funny.

[@Rainboworafish]

Sir Iodine Or how about 2 other planes with an offset variable to make it switch planes? Now make the switch a random quantum energy generator. Maybe that would be a realistic model of an atom. Next, make software that can adjust the switch to quantifiable certainties. Now measure the switches of current existence and make duplicates which, when adjusted, bring the conscious observer and all attendant realities to an adjusted reality. Thus time, the fourth plane (not really a plane, but a constant switch) would be traveled to the observer rather than the observer to a different time. I feel like I just licked Jerry Garcia's hand or something

[@AlienRelics]

Yes, there are several on Thingiverse.com that go up to 5 shuttles. It gets harder to get things to work smoothly with more, I think.

[@TomHaneyArtwork]

Nice video Bruce. I like your explanations, and I applaud your craftsmanship. Question - you went from 2 trammels to 3. Could there be more? 4? 5? ??? Just curious.

[@YeanyScience]

Hi Tom, I am working on on that has 6 shuttles, in theory it should work

[@TomHaneyArtwork]

Wow, can't wait to see that one.

[@kleinjahr]

I think I've seen this movement in Hiscox, Mechanical Movements. Have to dig it up and see what it was used for.

[@YeanyScience]

I heard it's used in wood working, and several have suggested some type of engine but I can't find it, if you find other uses, I be interested to hear them

[@kleinjahr]

Here we go, from"1800 Mechanical Movements and Devices" by Gardner Hiscox. item 1040 Trammel Gear and item 1074 Six Radial Grooved Trammel. both work on the same principles as yours, The book's ISBN is 1-894572-18-1. It is available at Lee Valley.

[@_Loz_]

You can tell this guy does this for hours a day. Fun stuff bro.

[@davidcorrea5127]

Using this contraption, how can the distance between the two vertices and the distance between the two covertices (distances 2a and 2b in geometry I believe) be affected? Are they fixed to an arbitrary proportion meaning that no matter how far from the center you place the marker you'll always get similar ellipses? Also, could you post an outline of the pieces for both mechanisms (or at least the fancy one with the three pieces moving in its base) to build our own?

[@YeanyScience]

HI David, I am in the middle of writing up some build instructions and should have them soon

[@davidcorrea5127]

Bruce Yeany did you ever post the build instructions?

[@YeanyScience]

Hi David, sorry I didn't make those yet, I think if you check there may be some online. I

[@chrisdesign3914]

respect for this teacher who is giving the right knowledge to the next generation

[@ramseydieter]

im pretty sure this is one of the most beautiful things ive ever seen damn i want slow mo

[@whitecloudgroovin2005]

I need 3 of these for my do nothing employees.

[@user-xi4if7xm8z]

Если добиться того, чтрб челноки двигались без люфта, то овалы выходят очень ровными. У меня такая штука с плавной регулировкий внутреннего и наружнего размера. Можно начертить вообще любой овал с заданными параметрами))

[@c.e.schlink9933]

I like your video....the trammels sound like horse hooves on cobblestones. Neat. Satisfying.

[@Twisted_Code]

I happened across a picture of one of these on a web-based image search and was curious about it. One additional search later and I found an article that link your video. From what I understood after reading that article, it uses a little bit of geometric mathematics (mind you, I don't remember my geometry and trigonometry well enough to explain it) to ensure a perfectly elliptical path, making it useful for marking ellipses in things like sheet-metal. What I still don't get though, is how you can adjust the eccentricity of the resulting ellipse? Best I can figure you would have to extend the arms further to make it more circle-like (both fixed points would be closer together, at least in proportion, resulting in a larger but less eccentric ellipse), but what if you wanted a really "flat" ellipse? And how does the elliptical math work?

[@dicksargent3582]

It's not just used to draw ovals for picture frames but is also used to move lathe chucks to cut picture frame ovals.

[@WesleyZeon]

Hey guys, I had an idea, let's just say there is a constant flow of products being pour at the central of this machine, I think this machine will be able to distribute a roughly equal amount of product to all edges and it just needs a motor to move the central stick, maybe something like this is already being used on many factories... so what you guys think about it? Btw English is not my first language so sry for any mistake lol

[@FordMustangFoxbody]

I need to get one of these.

[@Kavukamari]

is there a way to make one where you can precisely adjust the ellipse? maybe by shifting the contact point and having longer tracks?

[@kkhalifa]

The one with two axes can be used to dispens the same number of marbles or drugs to four outputs. The input would be a tube coming from above into the center of the axes.

[@CHEESYhairyGASH]

Could this be used as an aid in visualizing circularly polarized light? (Yes, I do realize it traces an elliptical path)

[@PrayerefireDS]

Fascinating. I hadn't seen a 3 way one before.

[@Johnmiccael1]

hey bruce, i was looking at this and pictures of the schist disk of sacara, and i think they are the different versions of the same tool. Like a honda civic is a different version of a car as a bmw 1series is a car. i think the woden aperatures and hinges just deteriorated on the schist disk of sacara. I know you are busy but would you mind taking a look and letting me know what you think?

[@YeanyScience]

Wow, interesting, I've never seen that before, no clue what it is, I wonder if it can be spun like a top

[@JustaYeomanBowman]

Me: Oh look, my name! Video: Do nothing machine! Me: Yeah, pretty much.

[@AntsanParcher]

How does the middle of the shuttle attachment points move? I guess it's a circle, but I'm not sure. I didn't even think about the end of the lever and was wondering why everyone talked about elliptical arcs, until I saw it in the video.

[@daworse72]

I can see little toddlers playing with these machine all day

[@Cadwaladr]

I remember this principle from an old episode of Mr Wizard. I remember he said that an ellipse has two foci (the two pins), but the hexagonal machine with the three sliders also produces an ellipse, so does it still have only two foci or three? I'm thinking the third slider on the machine doesn't add another focus and it still has only two foci.