Awesome Mechanical

Mechanical object designer and inventor Neil Mendoza created this machine, which uses a variety of mechanisms which make music using rocks. Some are fired at aluminum keys, others smack into marble, and yet others are slapped with leather to produce notes and rhythms.

Let’s observe Halifax, Nova Scotia shop Camera Repair Centre Ltd. delicately disassemble, clean, and reassemble the intricate mechanisms and delicate wires inside an old Pentax K1000 35mm camera. Isn’t everything better set to In the Hall of the Mountain King.

Paul Myers designed this replacement interior door knob which can only be opened by dropping a marble into its top. It’s made from 3D printed PLA, Airsoft and skate bearings. You can pick one up in his Etsy shop, Beta Things. We dig his business card embosser too.

Behold, Shadowman39’s mechanical masterpiece. The appropriately-named Citadel is an imposing K’NEX great ball contraption that splits into 17 different paths. Shadowman says it took him a total of 1 year to finish, mostly building on the fly. More here.

It took quite a bit of planning and engineering prowess, but the end result of Daniel Perdomo’s recreation of Atari’s arcade classic PONG as a game played with mechanical paddles and ball cube is quite impressive. (Thanks Philip!)

Even today, computers error out if you try to divide a number by zero, but check out what happens with this old Facit ESA-01 mechanical calculator when posed with that mathematical conundrum. We’re assuming the death spiral was only ended by unplugging the cord.

Artist Graham Dunning demonstrates how to replicate sounds normally created with synthesizers and digital equipment, instead using a turntable, vinyl records, and mechanical and electrical devices in their place. The whole thing gets pretty bonkers by the end.

This intricate, pneumatic-powered LEGO Technic model built by Huib van der Hart replicates the inner workings of a V-8 engine – and is nearly as loud as one – so you might want to turn your speakers down for this one.

Brickride’s impressive build uses 100% LEGO components to create a fully-functional rollercoaster, complete with a loop and a corkscrew. See a time-lapse of the build here. Check out one of their earlier coasters here.

Inspired by the Theo Jansen’s incredible Strandbeests, these die-cut cardboard animals have legs that can actually walk when your turn a crank. A motorized option is also available, so your menagerie can actually walk on their own.

A look at the mechanical wonders of a Porsche Carerra 3.2 Engine as told through a time-lapse of an old engine being torn-down for restoration over the course of three months by Hoing Motorsports. Shot by Filmkooperation.

Obsessive LEGO builder Solde created this palm-sized replica of the 4A-GE engine found in Toyota’s MR2, complete with working timing belt, crankshaft, pistons and throttle. We’re guessing it doesn’t really make those sounds.

While we’re not sure how often you actually need to sort LEGO axle pieces, we’re still blown away by this mesmerizing mechanical marvel, built by LEGO-maniac Akiyuki, using just a single drive motor.

YouTuber fornax turned a broken printer into something even more useless (and infuriating), a useless machine with not one or two but eight switches. At this point, it’s almost useful for exercise.

The House of Automata has a growing collection of recovered and restored automatons like this 120-year-old singing bird contraption. Sounds kind of like an early prototype for a car alarm.

An incredible demonstration of the mechanical blacksmithing marvels built by Germany’s Hebö Machines, capable of twisting, turning, bending and texturing metal in seconds.

Ivan Owen built this mechanical prop hand which can mimic the movements of the wearer’s hand. You can custom order one over on Etsy. He’s also working on working prosthetic fingers for amputees.

This pendant is the bomb. RogueDZN’s DaisyCutter is a mechanical marvel. Inside its shell is a set of four titanium micro turbines, spinning at up over 10,000rpm. Coming in 2013, limited to 20 pieces.

Countless precisely-cut strips of paper and tiny gears comprise this amazing mechanical marvel – a biped robot assembled entirely from paper, a few wood dowels, and powered by rubber bands.

An incredible feat of engineering by Korean artist JônPaSang, this matrix is comprised of thousands of styrofoam cubes which move in and out to form images. Also serves as a huge projection screen.

Shadowman39 sure has a lot of K’NEX (and time on his hands), as he managed to build a full-scale, fully-functional Skee-Ball machine using only the plastic construction toys (and a few rubber bands.)

Rob Higgs knows how to open a bottle of wine like a boss. Using hundreds of bronzed metal springs, gears and other parts, he built this incredible machine to uncork and pour a bottle of wine.

Urwerk puts an unusually intricate mechanical movement in this modern take on the pocket watch, offering measurements in intervals from 1 second to 1000 years. Limited to just 8 pieces.