Sources for simple machines

Re: Sources for simple machines  *LINK*

Jack Ervin

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http://www.bostongear.com/

Re: Sources for simple machines  *LINK*

Jack Ervin

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http://www.mcmaster.com/

Re: Sources for simple machines  *LINK*

Jack Ervin

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http://www.industrialpress.com/en/item.asp?BookID=10

Here are four....

Sandor in Boyds, MD

>http://www.sdp-si.com

http://www.wmberg.com

http://www.pic-design.com

http://www.smallparts.com

All of these suppliers do small mechanical parts - gears, belts , fasteners, bearings, hubs, pulleys, etc.

Have fun.

springs... *LINK*

Sandor in Boyds, MD

>More springs than you can shake an army of sticks at...

$30 min order though....

http://www.centuryspring.com


http://www.centuryspring.com

Re: Sources for simple machines

Jim in Burlington Ontario

>Paying full rate from mechanical suppliers will bankrupt you quickly. There must be several scrap yards that deal with scrap machinery in NYC.

Re: Sources for simple machines

Tom MacGregor

>I've built many simple jigs, fixtures and machines, some of which survived tens of thousands of repetitions in a snowshoe factory. Many of the parts were salvaged. The metal bin at the local recycling center has provided a lot of stock. Small manufacturing companies can be a treasure trove if you make friends with a maintenance person and/or get permission to scrounge their scrap pile. I've scored everything from air compressors & lawn mowers that required about 5 minutes work to fix, to bar, angle and threaded rod stock and sheet steel and aluminum, to motors, belts and hardware. I don't know what I'll do with it yet but I just scored a free 1'x6'x1/16" sheet of titanium.

For the mechanical geek (we know who we are) *LINK*

Eric Hedberg

>This was one of the favorites of my Mechanical engineering profs (not so) long ago. Lee Valley has a reprint that is fun to look at for ideas in the time before stepper motors and digital controllers. There are also a few classic books out there about the "wheel" of mechanisms, the four bar linkage in all its forms. Eric (Wondering if there if Lee Valley would be interested in reprinting his collection of Tom Swift books)


http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=40971&cat=1,46096,46130&ap=1

Re: For the mechanical geek (we know who we are)

Todd Stock

>Here's a few more. Might combine with woodworking to build working models per Levy.

1. Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements: Embracing All Those Which Are Most Important in Dynamics, Hydraulics, Hydrostatics, Pseumatics, Steam Engines, Brown

2. Making Mechanical Marvels In Wood, Levy

3. Basic Machines and How They Work, USN

I was an Aero, so the emphasis was elsewhere; however, we still got a pretty good dose.

Go see the movie 'Robots' if you need some inspiration on designing and building truly large-scale Rube Goldberg-like devices.

Re: Sources for simple machines

Luke Herzberg

>As already mentioned, Mcmaster Carr is a great source for parts and reference. Their entire catalog is online, but get a paper copy if you can.

Another book for inspiration, "Mechanisms and Mechanical Devices Sourcebook".

that titanium sheet ...

Clay Craig

>How about ...

Cut it into 6 1' x 1' squares, pick and pierce a pattern you like, buff and set them into frames as panels - the world's only titanium pie safe would be a saleable item indeed ...

I'd be inclined to try wenge or some other dark wood with a greenish undertone, to go with the cool pearl-y color of polished sheet titanium.

Clay

I second the Hiscox ...

Clay Craig

>I have no engineering background, but I found it fascinating.

Clay

Re: Sources for simple machines

Jeff Schmidt, KY

>If you are interested in Ingenious Mechanisms, be sure to look in the used market. I got my set for less than $30.

AWEsome pattern stock *LINK*

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>Make patterns for, say, cabriole legs from this, and you'd NEVER have to replace them!

It's a bit thin for bending up into a plane (like the old Stanley 118, which I recall seeing years ago in the local hardware store as a series 100 or some such), but surely there's a tool use you can make of it. A titanium widget would earn such mojo at galoot gatherings...


Stanley 118 block plane, from Patrick Leach