Knex Trammel of Archimedes

Hey guys!

I'm on winter break from college and got bored so I decided to pick back up an old hobby- knex. I built what I think is the first ever knex trammel of Archimedes. It's a truly fascinating machine with practical uses as it converts circular motion into oscillating linear motion. Unfortunately my break is almost over so I can't implement it into anything other than a mesmerizing kinetic sculpture. I made this in a few hours to prove the concept out of knex. It is a lot larger than I originally planned; however, it could be reduced in size rather easily. This mechanism has been made out of Lego by JK Brickworks, which is where I got my inspiration. My hope is that someone will take my proof of concept and make something innovative out of it. If you just want to see it in action, I've embedded a video; however I also made step by step instructions, so without further ado... happy building.

Note: This uses four cut white rods (step six shows modification to avoid the use of cut pieces) and the instructions also show the use of orange brace clips which are entirely optional.

-knextremist

Video URL (in case embedded video is not working for you): Knex Trammel of Archimedes

All additional instructions will be in image notes.

Image notes.

This piece caps off the base and motor assembly. Image notes.

The sled rides over top of this. Image notes.

This is the magic behind the trammel. The step after this shows instructions for using no cut pieces. Image notes.

This is the version with no cut rods, it is slightly less stable; however, it can be reinforced with a small layer of tape. Sorry these photos are so dark. Image notes.

This keeps the sled in place. Image notes.

These are optional because...

Pro: they lock the upper track down

Con: they occasionally cause jams in the sled if the sled gets caught on them

Because the machine works both with and without these braces, it is up to you as to whether or not you want to put them on. Image notes.

Thanks for viewing. The hope here is that people can take the concept and do something innovative with it.

-knextremist