Elevator

[Oldmechthings]

Most people as they grow older go through a period called a second childhood, But not me, I do not have to worry about anything like that. I have not grown out of my first childhood yet. When my body was little I had a toy elevator that was lots of fun, but it was cheaply built out of tin can type material and did not last. I was longing for that toy, so recently I constructed a replacement as near as I could recall. It is not exactly the same, as 70 years is a long time to remember something. The original used large glass marbles. I think they were called a taw. The reproduction uses 3/4" steel ball bearings. A release mechanism releases one at a time into the elevator car which travels to the bottom and is dumped out. Then it returns to the top for another one. There is a propeller on the pulley shaft powered by a one way clutch out of a computer printer that adds a little commotion.

It will keep running as long as there are balls on the feed chute, so it is a lot of fun for kids to keep putting them back up there.
The problem I have with it is that whenever our great-grand kids come to visit, they always want to play with the elevator, and they do not want to let me have "my" turn!

Oh, and by the way I got a corrugated roof formed and shaped for the steam shovel yesterday, although it is not fastened down yet.

I do not know if roofs were to provide protection from sun or storm, but either way I'm almost ready.
Birk ;D

 

[Kactiguy]

This elevator is one of my kids (and mine) favorite things to see at Birk's house. It is fun to watch it action. I took some photos and video of it so I could build on for myself one of these days. Here are a few detail photos and the video.

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[shred]

That's neat.. One more thing I'll have to make for the nieces & nephews someday.

 

[SandyC]

;D ;D ;D

Hi All,

Birk, I had a big grin on my face when I saw your elevator....it brought back some old memories.

My best friend (when I was a young sprat) had one of these things which used large glass marbles, just like your original.... we used to play with it for hours.

A couple of years later, my Dad came home with a very large box...it contained a similar type of toy, however, this one was a SAND LOADER....it had a large sand filled hopper at the top of a long sloping ramp (with 2 rails) on which ran a moving sand carrying car.
When the car went to the top it triped a lever which let a measured amount of sand come from the hopper...the car then ran down to the bottom and tipped the sand into a waiting dump truck. The car then ran back to the top and the whole thing repeated.

Like yours, it would keep going as long as there was sand in the top hopper and the fun was to drive the dump truck around the machine and up a slope where the load could be returned to the hopper.. naturaly my friend had a second dump truck which could take it's turn at the bottom so catching the sand whilst mine was returning to the top...and vice versa.

We played for hours with these toys...... none of yer computer games or telly.

I have often thought about trying to build a similar one.

Great job you have made of yours...and as for the steam shovel!!! wow!!!

Best regards.


SandyC

 

[hitandmissman]

That elevator looks great and that steam shovel is just out of this world. You should make up a set of plans for the shovel for us lesser machinists so we can give it a go. Just love seeing things like this.

 

[BobWarfield]

Progress is very steady at Birk Manor I see!

Wish I had your productivity!

You should give kinetic sculpture a try. Endless opportunity to express one's self. I always liked the idea of seeing how many "mechanisms" could be strung together in a single "contraption" to make a kinetic sculpture. Perhaps "movement" is a better term than "mechanism". I'm sure you've seen the books that show lots of mechanisms, e.g. a Geneva movement, etc., etc.

Besides, you need a companion for your elevator that gets the marbles back upstairs.

Best,

BW

 

[Bernd]

Hi Birk,

Nice work, both elevator and that wonderful looking steam shovel.

All that talk in this message about kinetic toys reminds me of when a game called "Mouse Trap" was on the market. IIRC, you built up a kinetic mouse trap that would trap a mouse and the game was over.

And then came computer simulations, pong, and everything went down the tubes.

And they wonder why we don't have a manufacturing base.

BTW, I echo "hitandmissman's" words, plans would be nice but that seems like a monumental task given all the "jewelry" that's on that machine. Can't wait for a video of it doing it's job in a sand pile. :

Regards,
Bernd