Gear Heart arrived!

Discussion in 'My Shapeways Order Arrived' started by thehumanhive, May 23, 2009.

  1. thehumanhive
    thehumanhive Member
    Hi Everyone,

    Gear Heart has arrived and I wanted to share some pictures and video with you all.
    Here is a link to the product page: Gear Heart

    I got a little too excited and I forgot to take pictures of the pieces before I sent them swimming. :(

    I used Jacquard Vermillion Acid Dye following the instructions on their website and got some strange results. If anybody would like details on how to achieve the same strange results, just let me know. I'd be happy to share. :p

    Here is the assembled heart!
    [​IMG]

    The dyed heart looks, feels, and sounds like it is made from wood. (Perhaps, Purpleheart?)

    Anyhow, let's get to what we've all been waiting for... ::drum roll:: ... the video!

    Gear Heart - The Movie! (and, in .mp4 format, here)

    I have one more video to show that, although some of the gears have "play" in them, the model as a whole is still fairly rigid and certainly quite durable. (Perhaps I'll be able to tighten it up a bit with a revision.)

    Gear Heart - Durable? (and, in .mp4 format, here)

    Thank you to everyone for all the kind words and encouragement I've received so far. I really appreciate it.

    Best regards,
    ~David
     
    Last edited: May 25, 2009
  2. thehumanhive
    thehumanhive Member
    Just a couple more pictures...

    Gear Heart - Front
    [​IMG]

    Gear Heart - Back
    [​IMG]

    Enjoy!
    ~David
     
  3. 10296_deleted
    10296_deleted Member
    That is amazing!

    It took me a second to wrap my mind around the fact that the pieces can still rotate, but I get it now.

    Congrats!
     
  4. daddymack
    daddymack Member
    Brilliant! well done pushing the envelope David
     
  5. Whystler
    Whystler Member
  6. thehumanhive
    thehumanhive Member
    Thank you, guys! :D

    @Whystler: My bad. I've updated the links in the first post to include .mp4 formats. Let me know if you're unable to view those and I'll figure something else out.
     
  7. Whystler
    Whystler Member
    Hmm,

    I'm pretty sure it's not the movie format that's the problem. I think it might be the killbit link. Did you mean to have "%20" in the link?

    -Whystler
     
  8. thehumanhive
    thehumanhive Member
    %20's are supposed to be the "safe" equivalent of a spaces. It was sloppy of me to leave them in there. :p

    Anyhow, I removed them and updated the links above. Please let me know if you're still unable to watch them.

    Thanks!
    David
     
  9. 7980_deleted
    7980_deleted Member
    Up until seeing the videos I had no idea how the thing could still rotate correctly. I understood the concept, but couldn't quite picture the rotating in my head. After seeing it in action, all I have to say is WOW!!!
    Also, the dyed red really makes the heart form stand out even better. You're right when you said it looks like wood. I'd challenge anyone to make an working wooden version though.
     
  10. joris
    joris Member
    OK, so I've gotten a Gear Heart, how do I assemble it?

    Joris
     
  11. Gijs
    Gijs Member
    Wow, David, this turned out very well. I like the sound of it!

    Congrats as well for winning the contest!

    cheers,
    Gijs
     
  12. Whystler
    Whystler Member
    It's great to see the video! I was able to view it by downloading it instead of opening in a web page.

    -Whystler
     
  13. virtox
    virtox Active Member Moderator
    Wow, that is so cool ! :)
    The movement is so unexpected and funky !
    Great job man !
     
  14. thehumanhive
    thehumanhive Member
    Thank you, guys! :) I really love how it turned out. It definitely feels and sounds like a wooden toy/puzzle.

    I'd like to see if I can't reinforce the connectors with a little cyanoacrylate as they seem to get looser the more they're played with.

    Anybody have results from experimenting with WS&F parts rubbing together? I'm curious.

    @Joris: I've sent you an email with instructions on how to assemble it. I apologize now if they get confusing. ;)
     
  15. MaxSMoke777
    MaxSMoke777 Member
    This is another time I would like to bring up Electroplating. It would not only tighten up those gears, but look BAD-AZZ in Copper or Nickel.

    My father's agreed to help me setup a plating operation. As soon as I get the components, and test it out with a few of my little $10 Dirty Rats, I'll have to try it out on one of these.
     
  16. MaxSMoke777
    MaxSMoke777 Member
    Btw, can you reduce the size by %50 and add a loop to the top. Not only would this cut the cost down by %75 (cubic reduction!), but it would make a KILLER pendant!

    I know, you'd have to rework the model, but it would be completely worth your time.
     
  17. pete
    pete Shapeways Employee CEO
    Hi,

    great idea, to make it a pendant!
    After the resize we need to make it in metal! No?

    regards,
    Peter
     
  18. MaxSMoke777
    MaxSMoke777 Member
    Once reduced by %50, the cost should be around $35, a great price for impulse purchases. The cost of metal is x6 WSF, pushing the cost of the item back up around $210, which isn't too bad for something so unique.

    Of course, your joints that hold it together are designed for WSF, right? Metal's level of flexibility is different. You might not be able to click the parts together without re-working the joints.

    But the first thing you should do is contact Haruki Nakamura and make sure he's ok with you reverse engineering and selling copies of his creation here. You've copied his design so precisely and accurately that there might some legal issues involved.

    I hasten to bring this up, as I'm about to order a copy myself. But if you plan on working a less expensive version with broader sales potential, you might want to make sure you have all of your bases covered.
     
  19. 26133_deleted
    26133_deleted Member
    Great idea. Thanks to thehumanhive for making it available,
    and thanks for making the videos, etc. I dyed mine with RIT
    scarlet powder and it came out great. See attached pictures
    and detailed notes on dyeing.
    IMG_5057small.jpg IMG_5059small.jpg IMG_5058small.jpg

    I used RIT dye scarlet powder.
    1/2 level teaspoon RIT powder in 1/2 gallon water (approx).
    (RIT instructions say 1 Tablespoon for 3 gallons)
    Heat plain tap water to boil on stove in small steel pot.
    Take off heat.
    Let pot cool a few minutes (might be ~160 degrees F).
    Add 1/2 teaspoon RIT scarlet powder dye.
    Stir.
    (RIT instructions say to pre-disolve powder in small
    amount of water, then dump dyed water into heated pan
    of water. I didn't bother. It turned out just fine.)
    Drop in clean dry parts.
    (RIT instructions say to wet fabric before dyeing, but
    it worked well for me to just drop in the WSF parts dry)
    Stir occasionally.
    Every couple minutes lift out of water to see what color it is.
    (of course wet items appear darker than when they are dry)
    After approximately 12 minutes of dyeing the color was nice.
    Rinse in warm water.
    Rinse in warm soapy water.
    Rinse in cold water.
    Set on rack or paper to dry.

    Detailed notes:
    I spread out some newspaper to avoid getting dye on the counter.
    I used some nitrile gloves so my fingers wouldn't get dyed.

    Parts with only one narrow opening (eg all external gear heart
    pieces) didn't seem to get dye inside. This wasn't a problem.
    The dye penetrated plenty by soaking through the WSF from the
    outside. The resulting color looks pretty even and deep.

    I had already assembled the new white heart, and thought
    about disassembling it for the dyeing process, but
    I intuited that the dye job would be fine leaving it
    assembled. So that's what I did. Just dropped the
    whole assembled dry white gear heart in the dye bath.
    It floated (because the external gear heart parts
    are hollow, and dye didn't find its way inside).
    I used a slotted spoon to hold it under the surface,
    and used the same spoon to occasionally lift it out
    to see what color it was.

    The end result looks great.

    Thanks, thehumanhive, great idea, and thanks, Shapeways,
    for providing a great service.
     
  20. 37366_deleted
    37366_deleted Member
    This is the most incredible "gearbox" I have ever seen!