# Another jaw dropper. An astonishing 250 year old programmable automaton.



## johnnielsen (Feb 5, 2021)




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## Tom Kitta (Feb 5, 2021)

The boy is not an ancestor of a computer - it is an ancestor of a CNC machine. Mechanical computer steers boy hand in 3 axis to produce a part.


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## johnnielsen (Feb 5, 2021)

Cam automatic screw machines have existed for 150 years and they rely on exactly the same mechanisms. You could say they were precursors of analog computers. When I had one (Traub A42 cam automatic) it was one of my favorite machines. It was great fun to make a 1 3/8" diameter 6-6 nylon wheel 1 1/4" long with a two step bore and a heavily radiused corner in just over 5 seconds including advancing the bar stock at better than 500 pcs an hour.


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## Tom O (Feb 6, 2021)

Amazing what they could make. Like the one in the movie “Hugo”.


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## YotaBota (Feb 7, 2021)

WOW, The term "craftsman" means the best of the trade but this is way beyond craftsman. There must have some sort of templates/machines for cutting the gears and cams but I can't even imaging doing this with a file and saw.


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## johnnielsen (Feb 7, 2021)

YotaBota said:


> WOW, The term "craftsman" means the best of the trade but this is way beyond craftsman. There must have some sort of templates/machines for cutting the gears and cams but I can't even imaging doing this with a file and saw.


Yes, the skill required to build it is incredible but what about the person who designed it. That really blows my mind.


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## CalgaryPT (Feb 7, 2021)

I've read the Linotype is the most complicated mechanical machine ever built, and I was fortunate enough to grow up around them. But this is incredible. A true mixture of art and machine. Imagine the mind of a person who designed this and his thoughts at night before he fell asleep. This man wasn't just dreaming of sheep. Truly amazing, and almost scary in some ways; it must be the eyes and their sync'd movements. Wow.

Thanks John.


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## Crankit (Feb 7, 2021)

Absolutely incredible mastery of movement! I could only imagine the time spent into producing this


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## DPittman (Feb 7, 2021)

Mind boggling in every aspect.


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