On many a post here on the Zone, I have read where someone had made an "Impulse Buy" on eBay or other stores.
Well, while surfing through eBay I noticed a seller that had large chrome steel precision balls. 2.5000 +-.0002" to be exact! Now most people would just keep surfing, but I bought FIVE of them (chair) So for the next few evenings I stepped away from my current projects and started designing a HUGH "Newton's Cradle" using these large balls! It took me a little while to make everything proportionate, and I have to say that I must be totally NUTZ
The base plate is 1" thick aluminum, 11.375 wide, 15.125 long! The over all height of this widgit is 13.938" Not sure what the total weight is, but each ball weighs 2.7 Lbs! The material has been ordered, and the balls arrived today! The swing arms are aluminum, and have steel double sealed bearings pressed in. The pivot point at the center of the ball is to be a 1/4" hardened dowel pin, so each ball will need to have a hole drilled & reamed through the center. The balls will spin freely on the dowel pins, and the ends of the pins will be pressed into the swing arm fork!
The last FUN project I've done was the large Turner's Cubes, I hope this project is as rewarding!
Here is a picture of the 5-balls, and a full scale sketch on graph paper!