Hi John, No Spitfires were harmed in the making of the clock. I have a fondness for old Vintage Aircraft and over the years I have amassed quite a few bits and pieces. The part used on Gemini was a MK IB Directional Gyro as fitted to the Spitfire / Lancaster / Mosquito and most of the other planes of the era. They are abundant and you can get them on eBay for a couple of pounds, I used a scrapped one so there was no chance it would ever go up in the air again anyway!
Cheers, Paul On Friday, 20 February 2015 04:28:38 UTC, johnk wrote: > > Hey Paul, love that thing ! > > It is sooo nice I won't ask you what you "killed" to get the gyro :-(( > > [I have an interest in servo-systems, guidance, nav-aids etc ] > John K > Australia > > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Paul Parry <javascript:> > *To:* [email protected] <javascript:> > *Sent:* Thursday, February 19, 2015 1:54 AM > *Subject:* [neonixie-l] Re: For Steampunk Nixie Clock Fans.. > > Hi Nick, > > Many thanks, I'm hoping to get a bit of good press from it :) > > The Beam engine is actually driven by a small electric motor ( out of an > old turntable as it has all the speed controller electronics built in to > the rear of the motor ) it is hidden away inside a brass mainspring > housing, the drive wheel engages with the flywheel of the Beam engine. It > is made to look like the engine is turning a small dynamo that powers the > clock. > > The clock is located in a public area, so for Health and safety reasons I > could not have any sources of ignition, or risk it setting off any fire > alarms. The Steam is just mist, you can get these piezo based water mister > things that produce a fog out of water, I just re engineered one to suit > the clock, the brass cylinder underneath contains a water reservoir. > > In answer to Terry's question, the Humidity in Singapore where the clock > is located is usually 80% plus so I don't think it will add much. It is > more a novelty feature and doesn't run all the time, just on a 30 second > timer when you press a button on the side. > > Paul > > > On Wednesday, 18 February 2015 11:56:08 UTC, Nick wrote: > >> That's lovely Paul - very well done ! >> >> Is the beam engine driven by compressed air or a meths >> burner/similar/whatever... >> >> Nick >> >>> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "neonixie-l" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected] <javascript:>. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > <javascript:>. > To view this discussion on the web, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/6ad4fb67-a415-4e46-9b0d-b0fd7ffc9ee0%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/6ad4fb67-a415-4e46-9b0d-b0fd7ffc9ee0%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/c6adafc0-b074-4aae-8470-f2e4a9cb2e11%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
