Oh no, a sewing machine had an accident with a steam engine

[SteamR]

The next model that I present here is not of the kind of an outstanding model building, but quite simply a model that makes fun. The model makes many visitors of exhibitions smile.

I gave an old sewing machine a second life by attaching a steam cylinder. By the way, such an old sewing engine is a masterpiece of precision engineering and indestructible. So that the thread control has something to do, I connected it to the steam inlet valve, which is opened and closed cyclically and thus changes the speed. Of course you can't sew like that anymore.

The whole arrangement sewing engine with driven model:


The cylinder and steam inlet valve:


So that the sewing machine has something to do, I built a kaleidoscope. The light beam is deflected from horizontally to vertically by means of a mirror and the color patterns can be viewed through the lens at the top. In front of the beam of light, a colored disc rotates build in the tiffany style and this is how the color patterns are created.

The kaleidoscope:


The parts the kaleidoscope made of:


The colored disc:


The color patterns:

[A7er]

What is a world without whimsy?!

[wagnmkr]

Wonderful imagination!   

[crueby]

That wins the prize for fanciest crankshaft ever!   

[Kim]

That is a very cool machine you made there!   
Kim

[Djangodog]

I admire your creativity, ingenuity and craftsmanship.  You made an engine that can appeal to a wide audience and be enjoyed on multiple levels. 

Over the years I made things that went into space, under the sea and everywhere in between, but it wasn’t until I was restoring a Stewart banjo that I impressed my wife.  The Ivory rose was missing from the tailpiece.  I took one of our dog’s bones, cut it on the band saw and machined a rose from it. 
There was some hand work too, but the entire project took less that an hour including final polish.  My wife thought that it was unbelievable that I could make something like that from the dog’s bone.  She loves what you did here.

[SteamR]

Hello A7er, wagnmkr, crueby, Kim and Djangodog,
thank you for your nice comments to this very sofisticated project  .

Indeed the sewing engine is a real womanizer during exhibitions. And surprisingly the kaleidoscope has shown a significant difference in behaviour between men and women. Typically men looking only at the colored disc from horizontal for what use the disc is. Women are looking directly from top through the lens enjoying the colored patterns.

Richard