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Mechanical Watch

ciechanow.ski

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Re: Mechanical Watch

#161

Post by rkangel »

digisign wrote: post #150
causi wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True multimedia is a lost art. We had it back in the 90s when software came on discs and it was a high-density, polished product that combined text, audio, video, and interactive elements on the same page. The internet taking over turned everything back into text, and then as bandwidth grew the only thing we thought to use it on was higher and higher bitrate video. When I was a kid I thought the future was going to b…

There is a movie player that would highlight the character/actor on screen at the moment you hit pause. There is a link to find out more that would take you to the appropriate web page with the info. I want to say it was google play, but not completely sure.

Amazon Prime Video show you information on the actors in the current scene. If you are (e.g.) chromecasting from a phone you have it continually on the mobile display while the film is on the TV.

Re: Mechanical Watch

#162

Post by moffkalast »

s3ctor8 wrote: post #119

I didn't know I sas going to learn about watch mechanisms today, but I couldn't stop reading!

It's so insane how they figured out all of this. The self winding one way gears are even like a mechanical full bridge rectifier.

How was any of this even manufactured at such miniscule scales...

Re: Mechanical Watch

#163

Post by moffkalast »

avestura wrote: post #3

This man is marvelous. Even though I know how top-notch he is at writing interactive blog posts, he surprises me with his quality every time I open his new blog posts. Bartosz is a huge inspiration for me.

I read the GPS one a few months back, he absolutely amazingly explained the whole thing to a depth I never would've expected.

Re: Mechanical Watch

#164

Post by rkangel »

_fat_santa wrote: post #2

There's something magical about mechanical watches. Maybe it's just knowing that you have this perpetually winding machine on your hand (in the case of "automatic" mechanical watches). Also knowing that the thing will last forever, take care of it and it will probably outlive you. Can't say that about an Apple Watch. If you want a good mechanical watch that won't break the bank I suggest picking up a Seiko SKX (thoug…

I keep considering a mechanical watch, but I think I'd find the accuracy a bit tedious - having to continually adjust it every week so that I didn't arrive late to appointments.

I like a watch that gets out of the way - it just works. I've got a Citizen watch a little like this: https://www.citizenwatch.co.uk/stiletto-ar1130-81a.html

It's a quartz watch, powered by solar power through the face. It has 'just worked' for as long as I've had it. From an accuracy point of view, it loses negligible amounts over the several month interval between me being forced to adjust it anyway (daylight savings, international travel).

Re: Mechanical Watch

#165

Post by wlesieutre »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #139

Does anyone know how the author supports themselves? They have a patreon, but it’s not enough to make a living: https://www.patreon.com/ciechanowski The hardest part for me when doing open source work full time was giving it up and getting a day job. I was fortunate that my wife was the breadwinner, and that I got to see what it was like to be a stay at home husband. I’ve often wished to go back to it. Did the author…

> I write interactive articles about physics, math, and engineering. It's a weekend hobby of mine, so I only end up making a few articles per year.

Superman it is!

Re: Mechanical Watch

#166

Post by erikig »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #139

Does anyone know how the author supports themselves? They have a patreon, but it’s not enough to make a living: https://www.patreon.com/ciechanowski The hardest part for me when doing open source work full time was giving it up and getting a day job. I was fortunate that my wife was the breadwinner, and that I got to see what it was like to be a stay at home husband. I’ve often wished to go back to it. Did the author…

A cursory search indicates that he's a game developer in the UK which explains the WebGL chops.

Re: Mechanical Watch

#167

Post by vngzs »

rabuse wrote: post #15

That's it, this is gonna make me pull the trigger on a skeletonized watch. I've been wanting one for a couple years, but never really sat down and browsed, but I appreciate the mechanics so much more after reading this.

It's like a clear hood on your car. On a nice enough car, it shows the beauty of the engine. But on a cheap one ... Skeleton watches can be uniquely telling of the price of the watch.

Worth mentioning, most mechanical watches will have a sapphire back, so when you take them off you can admire the movement privately.

Re: Mechanical Watch

#168

Post by [deleted] »

aliljet wrote: post #4

This may not be the most valuable comment, but my goodness, the quality of this writeup and it's interactive descriptions of complex mechanical components AND their interactions is radically impressive. The treatment of complex topics in deeply visual and partially interactive ways, for me at least, is a remarkably helpful way to learn.

[deleted]

Re: Mechanical Watch

#169

Post by amelius »

phailhaus wrote: post #67
sixothree wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does anyone know the tooling used to create these?

According to his Twitter, he just uses bare canvas and WebGL. [1] What a legend. You can inspect the page and read the source js, it is unminified. [1] https://twitter.com/BCiechanowski/status/1484013009219375105...

Very impressive. The only thing that would make it better is a physics engine that would allow the user to play with gears etc.

Re: Mechanical Watch

#170

Post by sakopov »

A few months back I stumbled upon a YouTube video of a watch maker servicing a mechanical watch. This started a mild obsession with watch making and I've been watching these videos ever since. For anyone interested, here's an awesome video [1] of a guy putting together a watch and explaining how all 60 parts of a typical mechanical watch work together (by the way the tools he uses are as cool as the movements themselves). It's surprisingly easy to follow for a noobie.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkK6e4tb5Qk

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