Technabob » gears

Kinekt Gear Ring: the Only Ring a Geek Would Ever Want

Range — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:32:28 +0000

This unique creation looks to me like one cool ring, one of the rare rings that I’m actually interested in, other than the One ring to rule them all.

It’s called the Kinekt Gear Ring, and it’s a perfect gift for any tinkerer or mechanically-inclined geek. In fact, anyone that likes to fidget with things will probably get highly addicted to spinning the embedded gears of this ring.

The Gear Ring is made from high quality matte stainless steel. It has a total of six micro-precise gears that will turn in unison when the outer rims are spun. While that all sounds good, perhaps it’s best left to be shown in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

It’s currently available from KinektDesign.com for $165 (USD).

[via Swissmiss]

Catena Wall Clock Tells Time With Bike Chain

Technabob — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:03:49 +0000

Here’s an unusual concept for a wall clock. Instead of telling the time with hands or a digital display, the Catena clock tells time along the perimeter of a bicycle chain.

Designed by Andreas Dober for Germany’s Anthologie Quartett, the Catena (Latin for “chain”) has a certain retro-steampunk look about it. Time is told using copper digits mounted on the outside of a bike chain that rotates around a single motorized gear. Now don’t bother trying to tell the exact time with this. The only numbers on the chain are the hours, so any attempt to figure out minutes is a crap-shoot.

While I dig the grungy minimalism of the clock, I don’t dig the $2300+ (USD) price tag. But I suppose if you’ve got really deep pockets, you can order one over at Unica Home.

On the other hand, I won’t tell anyone if you decide to make your own out of $20 worth of junk you find at a flea market.

[via Incredible Things]

It’S a Nice Day for a Steampunk Wedding Cake

Alisha K. — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 11:57:51 +0000

Even with all the wacky steampunk-inspired projects we’ve seen, I never expected steampunk food. Anything else, sure, like dishes, utensils, or glassware. Brass-fitted mugs? Makes perfect sense. But a steampunk cake? Now I’ve seen it all.

That’s cake. It’s not a shiny outer layer. It’s not wrapping. It’s cake, with decorations made of fondant–every gear, every piece. No shortcuts here.

How could you ever cut it? This is art. You wouldn’t stroll up to the Mona Lisa and start hacking away with a machete. How could you put a knife into this? This cake goes too far. It’s too gorgeous.

…maybe I do sort of want to eat it.

[via Great White Snark]

Ora Concept Watch: Like a Tape Measure Went Crazy on Your Wrist

Technabob — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 03:03:45 +0000

This insane-looking contraption isn’t some sort of strange measuring device. Nope, what you’re looking at is a design for one of the most unusual looking watches to hit the pages of Technabob in a long while. At least you can actually tell the time on this one.

The Ora watch tells time on a series of three crisscrossed analog time strips. The top strip tells time in minutes, overlapping a smaller band with the hours, and a narrow third belt with the current day of the week.

The mechanism requires an intricate and complicated set of motorized gears pull each band into the correct postion as the time changes.

Designed by Alexandros Stasinopoulos, the Ora is merely in the conceptual stages at this point, so you won’t be able to stop by your local watch shop and buy one of these any time soon.

So it’s all really cool except for the fact that it doesn’t actually exist.

[via designboom via dustbowl]

Jaw-Dropping, Wallet-Emptying Steampunk Flash Drive

Alisha K. — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:31:23 +0000

Flash drives are becoming a popular item for the steampunk modding community, but projects like this are rare even so. This incredibly detailed piece of steampunk art sold out in a day at Etsy… even at the price of $165. A little steep for the average 16GB flash drive, but this one’s in no way average.

Just in case this piece wasn’t already flashy enough, it glows when plugged in. Unfortunately, it was the only item in seller Artype’s shop, but I can only hope we see more from this one.

Where do you think all those gears came from? Watches, cigarette lighters… who knows what items died so that this flash drive could live. I’d say that one’s worth a little mechanical genocide.

[Etsy via Boing Boing Gadgets]

Time Writing Machine: by the Time You Know What Time It is, Another Minute has Passed

Technabob — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 11:50:23 +0000

This amazing mechanical gizmo is actually a very complex timepiece that tells time not with hands, LEDs or LCDs, but by actually writing the time on a piece of paper.

Created by the horological artisans of Switzerland’s Jaquet Droz, this analog clock is a true thing of wonder. La Machine à Ecrire le Temps (The Machine that Writes the Time) took thousands of hours of hand and machine craftsmanship over nearly a decade to build.

The clock uses over 1200 mechanical components to work its magic including 84 ball bearings, 50 cames and 9 belts. Crafted primarily from metal, the unusual clock is hand-wound and then activated by a single touch.

And if you don’t believe how truly amazing this mechanical contraption is, check out this video of the clock in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

And now that they know how to make one, they’d be happy to create one (of a limited edition of 28) for the low, low price of 400,000 Swiss Francs (appx. $351,000 USD). So mortgage the house, pawn the Bentley, sell some internal organs on the black market, and place your order now.

[Jaquet Droz via BornRich via The Awesomer]

Steampunk iPod Skin Shows Off Player’s Innards

Technabob — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 05:57:51 +0000

Ever wanted to know what the insides of your iPod really looked like? Afraid to bash it open with a hammer? Artist Colin Thompson created this clever iPod skin which lets you visualize the guts of Apple’s media player as a retro-modern mechanical device.

Thompson’s $14.95 Gelaskins Steampunk vinyl skin features an alernative take on the high-tech inner-workings of your schmancy new iPod, and replaces them with gears, springs and levers.

The way my old 3G iPod used to act up all the time, I’m actually wondering if that’s what it really did look like on the inside. Actually, I think mine was powered by a tiny hamster in a wheel.

[via Boing Boing]