Last night I couldn't sleep. Rather than counting sheep (which doesn't work anyways) I started casting about for interesting things I could drive with some of my model engines. So far I have designed and posted the Slinky Machine, and it was a big hit. People also liked the Pumpjack oil pumping model which I designed, built, and posted.(although I haven't seen anyone else build one). Recently I built and posted the Bubble Machine, which is cute. I didn't post plans, because it was so simple that anyone could replicate it after seeing the pictures and video. Two lots down from my house they are digging the basement for a new house with a large excavator, and for half an hour I persued thoughts of building a working model of that, but gave up---Just too many motions to replicate. Then I thought ---"Hey---What about a pile driver." That one would be fairly simple. I'm thinking an aluminum column/tower with a small chain sprocket at the base and a nylon top shoe for the chain to slide around. The "sliding hammer" would be a section of mild steel rod with a nylon guide attached which slid up and down rails in one face of the column. The roller chain could have a rare earth magnet attached to it so that as the bottom sprocket rotated and the chain moved up the tower, the rare earth magnet would pull the sliding hammer to the top of the tower. Then when the chain passed over the top shoe, the magnet would be pulled away from the slide hammer and it would fall to the base of the tower on the guides, thus "driving" the piling. This motion would keep repeating itself. A small gear reduction unit would probably be needed at the bottom drive sprocket. I think this would make an interesting display and could be driven by an air, steam, or I.C. engine.---Anybody interested?----Brian
