This is awesome! Reminds me of an artist that would encapsulate items like cameras into resin and then slice them with a water jet cutter creating a different version of an 'exploded view'. Can't find the link.
I’m sure you have though about it already, but if you had a way to modify the refractive index of the resin, you could make the fishing lines disappear completely.
fellerts · 4h ago
I never gave that any serious thought. What additives would do that, do you think?
Edit: A quick search reveals that there is quite a lot of prior art from the optical community. Darn, maybe I'm not done here.
encom · 3h ago
The rabbit hole never ends. Godspeed, friend.
poutrathor · 22m ago
> Bartosz, if you are reading this, contact me and I'll send you the final casting. This project would never have happened without your blog post.
I am impressed by the quality of your work on this side project and I love that final attention.
Retr0id · 6h ago
> I don't have the tools or knowledge required to sand this down to a perfect mirror finish
I did a resin cast that had a similar "lip" at the edge (I turned a LGA CPU socket into a coaster), and I was able to sand it down fairly easily using regular sandpaper of progressively higher grit, producing a more or less perfect cuboid. The flatness was achieved by taping the sandpaper to a flat surface, and moving the part.
It's been a while, I can't remember if I used some kind of polishing compound at the end or whether the sandpaper alone was enough for a good finish.
fellerts · 6h ago
I suspect you're right, but knowing myself I'd quickly get sick of sanding (6 faces with 5-6 different kinds of sandpaper), and I'd want an orbital sander. Then I'm pretty sure you want to polish the surfaces: lots of elbow grease or a polishing/buffing tool. If I had a workshop with space for tools and dust I'd probably go for it, but I'm doing this in the living room of a small apartment.
This would be a similar process to finishing any painted surface. Progressive through the grits, each time removing the scratches from the previous grit, wet sanding with the higher grits. You can then hand polish with polishing compounds you can get at any hardware/car accessory store. You can start with an orbital sander or a belt sander of some sorts. I've done this on guitars I've built.
If you're fairly close it shouldn't be a ton of work.
Loughla · 6h ago
Tape or glue sandpaper to a piece of glass for a really flat surface. It works nicely for making consistent angles.
Source: holy shit can you get a knife sharp using this method.
thom · 5h ago
Part of me wants to believe this is sacrilege: these are incredible machines, and the magic is in not just seeing _how_ they work, but that they continue to work reliably for decades, and when they don't it's magic seeing them fixed somewhere like https://www.youtube.com/@WristwatchRevival. But also... this is incredibly cool! As kids, my brother used to do these little resin sculptures, putting in sand shells and little plans to it'd look like the bottom of the sea. I tried repeatedly to get into the same hobby but I was always too impatient so my designs would end up with fingerprints all over them before they'd properly set.
aDyslecticCrow · 4h ago
Pocket watches are sold in antique shops by the price of their weight in brass. Finding one that is complete but needs a cleaning and new oil to spring to life is relatively easy.
There are 10x more pocket watches than owners interested. Theyre incredible machines... but their greatest use is practice materials for aspiring watch repair technicians.
They're expensive to repair because few people have the skills and tools. The demand is so low. (I have two)
polishdude20 · 3h ago
How does one get started in this? I'd love to have this as a hobby!
technothrasher · 1h ago
I literally started by buying a bunch of cheap Waltham movements on eBay and tearing them apart. From there my progression was read a few books, watch some videos, buy some tools, join the NAWCC and go to some local meets, and meet local folks to teach me directly. Once you make some helpful friends who are a lot more knowledgeable and experienced than you are and are eager to teach, you're off and running.
I actually discovered pretty early on that my interest was more in clocks than watches, but the early explorations in the watch realm were almost entirely applicable to clock repair as well. I have since repaired at least a hundred clocks and pocket watches. Next month I'm going down to the NAWCC school of horology in Columbia, PA to take my third workshop there, this one on the repair of wooden works clocks. The school was closed for a number of years, but has fired back up in the past few and I know they're actively working on getting more watch repair workshops going. Last time I was there they were just putting together a killer watch lab with some very expensive benches and equipment.
fellerts · 3h ago
Watch a few hours of watch repair on YouTube. If you're still intrigued, I highly recommend Mark Lovick's course over at https://www.watchfix.com/. You'll learn all you need to know about tools, lubricants and techniques to service most watch movements.
thom · 3h ago
You can buy a kit that comes with a practice movement:
Does it help you to think of this as an instructional aid? That was literally the purpose of the digital version that inspired the project.
woodrowbarlow · 4h ago
it's magic to see the repair process, but not magic to see how the mechanisms work? i'm unsure how you could draw enjoyment from the former without also appreciating the latter.
thom · 3h ago
Kinda hoped that's what I wrote, but clearly not. For what it's worth, I'm already working out how I can give the same treatment to my Atari Lynx when it conks out.
alexjplant · 3h ago
I was pleased to see that the author used the PT5000, one of my favorite calibers. As pointed out in the article it's a Chinese clone of the ubiquitous ETA 2824-2; this movement is used in a lot of affordable watches that are sold on AliExpress. You can get a Submariner homage with a sapphire crystal, ceramic bezel, lume, and full water resistance powered by this movement for $100 that keeps time just as well as a Swiss watch (i.e. within COSC standards). Before I sold it mine was running at +5spd... the Chinese watchmaking industry is truly something to behold.
fellerts · 3h ago
It is remarkable indeed! When not ruining watches with resin I enjoy servicing them, and I'm planning to learn how chronographs work next. The ST19 movement is on its way now, another very reasonably priced, reliable and fully mechanical chronograph with a column wheel. Hats off to the Chinese.
modeless · 4h ago
Is there no transparent substance that is gel-like for a period of time before it cures solid so that the pieces can simply be suspended in it and nudged to their final positions manually? Like a gel suspension 3D printer but where the gel hardens instead of being washed away at the end. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swB5-GzX3nQ
I don't know how viscous SLA 3D printer resin is, but if it could be made viscous enough then it seems like maybe you could just suspend the parts in it, tweaking their positions as much as you want until they're just right, then blast the whole thing with enough UV to cure all of it.
hinterlands · 1h ago
There are gel-like resins, but you'd have massive issues with air entrapment. There's really no shortcut for making these. Casting in layers is the most common approach, but as noted in the article, it's hard to avoid slight refractive index discontinuities.
matsemann · 3h ago
If it's fluid, I guess you always would have an issue with buoyancy/density. The things you want to suspend will either want to float up or sink down before it cures.
But maybe it could work with something like beads of same refraction index, and then pour resin in when everything is in place? At least it works for water, I've seen it used for decorations and then pouring water over when everything is in place.
> The hands are set to an invalid time. 10:10 is the way to go.
What made the time invalid? The synchronization of the seconds didn't match the position of the minute hand midway between the minute markers?
fellerts · 1h ago
The minute hand is set to 43-ish minutes past the hour while the hour hand is showing 15-ish minutes past noon/midnight. If you’re used to reading analog watches it’s jarring.
jessejjohnson · 1h ago
Anyone know how these animations are created and displayed? Very well done.
bastijn · 1h ago
I believe he hand-codes everything from scratch in WebGL and plain js. Which is amazing. [0] is an example.
While it might not have the same cachet, an easier way to get this done would be to use a laser printing inside an glass or acrylic block --- just model all the parts:
but there should be companies doing 3D --- I distinctly remember a company doing a 3D map of the nearby star systems (which the _Universe_ role-player in me desperately wanted) --- perhaps:
Adam Savage took on a similar style of project trying to make an exploded cellphone cast in resin - with the added challenge of making the screen work. It was evidently a sponsored project and some of the work was rushed a bit - the outcome feels more like a prototype rather than the display quality piece he was going for - but the same kind of problem solving and techniques were involved.
Still, if you’re interested in more of the same sort of thing, worth a look:
Thank you! That video somehow slipped by my feed, but I'll make sure to check it out.
I'd imagine Adam getting a kick out of my resin project, but I don't think he hangs out on HN.
jameshart · 4h ago
Agree he’d love it (and likely have some solid tips for how to get that glass-mirror finish…)
fellerts · 4h ago
Well, if Bartosz doesn't reach out (I offered to send it to him), I'll consider sending it to Adam. My favorite builds of his are boxes that reflect their contents, and I'd love to see what he'd consider for something like this.
pvg · 4h ago
but I don't think he hangs out on HN.
I mean, given sufficient resin to attract and then encase him...
phatskat · 38m ago
Plot twist, OP is Adam Savage and is throwing us off the trail!
petermcneeley · 6h ago
The suspension (supports) should not be visible if it has the same index of refraction.
fellerts · 6h ago
Yep, nylon and epoxy resin have similar indices of refraction, but it's not perfect. I tried casting thin rods out of epoxy to replace the nylon but failed to achieve a good result.
buserror · 6h ago
Have you tried Fluorocarbon? this has replaced Nylon for many fishing use (fly fishing in any case), it has a different refraction index -- not sure if it would be closer, or further from the resin, but at least it is different! :-)
fellerts · 5h ago
Never tried, because fluorocarbon's index of refraction (1.42-ish) is further from epoxy resin (1.50-1.57) than nylon (1.53). It does make sense that fluorocarbon has replaced nylon because it's going to be less visible in water (1.33).
I guess the epoxy's index of refraction depends on all kinds of factors such as the mixing ratio and the conditions under which it cures.
jasonjmcghee · 7h ago
These look incredible. I'm guessing there are museums that would love display these.
This is incredible… congratulations on creating such an amazing piece.
kiru_io · 7h ago
This is such a cool idea! You could potentially sell this or contact some watchmakers!
cjaackie · 6h ago
This is a labor of love, there’s no way the 15+ hours would be worth it commercially.I think it’s cool and if you start looking at things like this as a business idea they get unfun really fast.
charcircuit · 5h ago
There is currently no competition, so he gets to set the price.
crazygringo · 5h ago
Except that above a certain price, demand falls to zero.
The question is whether there is any overlap at all where the price would be high enough to motivate supply (worth it to him) but low enough that there's still demand (worth buying). Also factoring in the cost of marketing, since potential buyers don't just automatically find you.
There are a huge number of business ideas where there is no overlap at all. Finding an overlap even without competition is hard enough. (Then add competition and it gets even harder, of course.)
mholm · 4h ago
I'd wager OP will get some DMs from people willing to pay $1k+ for this sort of thing. Watch people can be very spendy, especially for something unique like this.
fellerts · 4h ago
Nothing of the sort has happened yet.
mholm · 41m ago
That's a shame, might just have to circulate in front of the right people.
shepherdjerred · 2h ago
I don’t think I’d pay $1000 but a couple hundred would be reasonable to me. This is so cool!
ggm-at-algebras · 2h ago
I like this, and respect the craft which went into making it. I still think an immersive 3D model you can interact with may be more functional to illustrate mechanisms.
The room of clockwork/ratchet mechanisms in "Musee des arts et metiers" in Paris is fantastic.
vorgol · 1h ago
You might also find the open source mechanical Swiss watch movement interesting:
https://openmovement.org/
cybertim · 7h ago
l'm curious if Bartosz will actually contact him for that final casting, i know i would definitely love to own one. And mainly because I love mechanical watches, especially what's inside, but I don't like to wear or really use them, this is a great solution for this "problem".
nativeit · 6h ago
> I don't have the tools or knowledge required to sand this down to a perfect mirror finish, but that's okay.
That was my only note: it would look incredible if squared off and polished to perfection.
jv22222 · 7h ago
If I saw that in a shop I'd be super tempted to buy it.
Peterpanzeri · 6h ago
Hope i can implement ths soon
hinterlands · 7h ago
I've done some projects like that, although not with as many parts! I think the main disappointment that awaits the author is that within two years or so, the epoxy will turn yellow. These resins are unfortunately not UV-stable, even if kept in a reasonably well-lit area indoors (bookshelf, etc).
There are resins you can use for projects like that if you want them to last, but they're less fun to work with.
fellerts · 7h ago
Modern epoxies often claim to be UV stabilized, and as far as I can tell, this is a relatively recent advancement. For reference, I used Entropy CCR (slow cure) for the final model: https://entropyresins.com/product/ccr-clear-casting-epoxy/
I guess we'll wait and see!
hinterlands · 6h ago
We had UV-stabilized resins for the past two decades or so, but it just slows down the process. I used several UV-stabilized products and it just doesn't last.
For the UV-stable options, you have polyesters (which are very smelly) and premium aliphatic polyurethanes (which are finicky to work with).
hunter-gatherer · 7h ago
Would putting some UV filter glass, the kind often used in museums, work to protect it the resin? I'm wondering if you fixed a glass casing around it that way... granted you'd have corner seems for the glass though
Hm, the left example does indeed looks bad in the sense of loosing transparency. But it was kept in direct sunlight.
amelius · 6h ago
Wouldn't it make more sense to add the parts and epoxy layer-by-layer? So you don't need the sticks to hold everything together.
(Of course that means creating a new vacuum for every layer, probably).
rusbus · 6h ago
perhaps you did not read the post—the author attempted layer-by-layer first but discovered it was impossible to get a smooth final result.
This is apparently a well known issue among people who create resin-cast structures.
amelius · 6h ago
I think it may still work if you don't wait until the last layer has completely cured. The viscosity just has to be high enough to be able to suspend the artifacts.
istjohn · 6h ago
Again, you may want to read tfa
amelius · 6h ago
This sums it up:
"To achieve the effect I want, I need around 20 layers for a regular pocket watch movement. If I were to cast each layer in a transparent container, adding components and epoxy as the previous layer was half-cured, I would be doing nothing else for a solid week."
luxuryballs · 2h ago
next step do one that can somehow still work as a clock, maybe by projecting the hands down into the watch face from above with lasers, or just have a super thin working watch hidden in the face, or hardcore mode somehow connect all those parts with real functional shafts ^^
KomoD · 7h ago
That is so cool, I really want one lol.
yapyap · 4h ago
TK Jewelers is a scam. The jewelry's fake. Watch exploded on date. Bent wrist, thing fucking exploded.
azhenley · 7h ago
I wear mechanical watches and have a small (and growing) collection. It’s irrational, but I like them anyway :) I’d appreciate an art piece like this.
Video on the project https://vimeo.com/354927033
Edit: A quick search reveals that there is quite a lot of prior art from the optical community. Darn, maybe I'm not done here.
I am impressed by the quality of your work on this side project and I love that final attention.
I did a resin cast that had a similar "lip" at the edge (I turned a LGA CPU socket into a coaster), and I was able to sand it down fairly easily using regular sandpaper of progressively higher grit, producing a more or less perfect cuboid. The flatness was achieved by taping the sandpaper to a flat surface, and moving the part.
It's been a while, I can't remember if I used some kind of polishing compound at the end or whether the sandpaper alone was enough for a good finish.
Here's the process as explained by a reputable epoxy vendor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-WYOK90KNo
This would be a similar process to finishing any painted surface. Progressive through the grits, each time removing the scratches from the previous grit, wet sanding with the higher grits. You can then hand polish with polishing compounds you can get at any hardware/car accessory store. You can start with an orbital sander or a belt sander of some sorts. I've done this on guitars I've built.
If you're fairly close it shouldn't be a ton of work.
Source: holy shit can you get a knife sharp using this method.
There are 10x more pocket watches than owners interested. Theyre incredible machines... but their greatest use is practice materials for aspiring watch repair technicians.
They're expensive to repair because few people have the skills and tools. The demand is so low. (I have two)
I actually discovered pretty early on that my interest was more in clocks than watches, but the early explorations in the watch realm were almost entirely applicable to clock repair as well. I have since repaired at least a hundred clocks and pocket watches. Next month I'm going down to the NAWCC school of horology in Columbia, PA to take my third workshop there, this one on the repair of wooden works clocks. The school was closed for a number of years, but has fired back up in the past few and I know they're actively working on getting more watch repair workshops going. Last time I was there they were just putting together a killer watch lab with some very expensive benches and equipment.
https://sutcliffehansen.com/pages/tool-kits
I don't know how viscous SLA 3D printer resin is, but if it could be made viscous enough then it seems like maybe you could just suspend the parts in it, tweaking their positions as much as you want until they're just right, then blast the whole thing with enough UV to cure all of it.
But maybe it could work with something like beads of same refraction index, and then pour resin in when everything is in place? At least it works for water, I've seen it used for decorations and then pouring water over when everything is in place.
Random video showing what I mean: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LuTlY6DkHQw
What made the time invalid? The synchronization of the seconds didn't match the position of the minute hand midway between the minute markers?
[0] https://ciechanow.ski/js/watch.js
This company works from photos:
https://beyond-memories.com
but there should be companies doing 3D --- I distinctly remember a company doing a 3D map of the nearby star systems (which the _Universe_ role-player in me desperately wanted) --- perhaps:
https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/diy/3d-model-neare...
could be modeled in Lego bricks?
Still, if you’re interested in more of the same sort of thing, worth a look:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfEIstmyZaM
I'd imagine Adam getting a kick out of my resin project, but I don't think he hangs out on HN.
I mean, given sufficient resin to attract and then encase him...
I guess the epoxy's index of refraction depends on all kinds of factors such as the mixing ratio and the conditions under which it cures.
Also https://ciechanow.ski/ is an absolute inspiration.
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The question is whether there is any overlap at all where the price would be high enough to motivate supply (worth it to him) but low enough that there's still demand (worth buying). Also factoring in the cost of marketing, since potential buyers don't just automatically find you.
There are a huge number of business ideas where there is no overlap at all. Finding an overlap even without competition is hard enough. (Then add competition and it gets even harder, of course.)
The room of clockwork/ratchet mechanisms in "Musee des arts et metiers" in Paris is fantastic.
That was my only note: it would look incredible if squared off and polished to perfection.
There are resins you can use for projects like that if you want them to last, but they're less fun to work with.
I guess we'll wait and see!
For the UV-stable options, you have polyesters (which are very smelly) and premium aliphatic polyurethanes (which are finicky to work with).
Or just a yellow tint?
(Of course that means creating a new vacuum for every layer, probably).
This is apparently a well known issue among people who create resin-cast structures.
"To achieve the effect I want, I need around 20 layers for a regular pocket watch movement. If I were to cast each layer in a transparent container, adding components and epoxy as the previous layer was half-cured, I would be doing nothing else for a solid week."
No comments yet