The Perpetual Motion Machine Diaries

April 10, 2026

The first part that I attempted to make was a ratchet made of 1/2 inch oak and 4.5 inches in diameter.  There's nothing magic about those numbers.  They just felt right.  As the center-hole-drilling was being attempted, it became obvious that my desire for making this contraption totally out of wood and fashioned entirely by my own two hands was simply not going to work.  A compromise with myself was required - some parts would need to be non-wooden and the majority of those would need to purchased.

To that end, that great modern-day behemoth, fondly referred to as Amazon, became my "go to".  Waa laa!  Soon, parts appeared at our front door as if by magic and at a price point that a generation back would have found unfathomable.  I know, I know.....stuff batched up by the bazillions provides economies of scale but still, that in itself is a near miracle.  In all, Corporate America has made it real easy to spend money at our leisure if for no other reason than it's "almost free".  Maybe that's a blessing.  Maybe that's a curse.  But that's a subject for another time.  I digress.

Yes.  I am in possession of some actual parts.  There's no turning back now.

Now, the rods, collars, and bearings are steel, the connectors (the blue gizmos) are aluminum, and those white washers/spacers are nylon.  All to 8mm specs. The tolerances of them all are amazingly tight.  Especially when compared up close with the ratchet wheel which is all mine.  

Not only is the ratchet wheel the first part but it will also be front and center on the machine.  I laugh.  I imagine that a real mechanical engineer would never consider putting sharp, moving teeth in harms way of small, inquisitive fingers.  Something about an "attractive nuisance".  But safety is not the goal and aesthetics are an after-thought.  No, it's all about the motion.  We're doin' it now!

OK.  Not to worry.  A buzz saw this is not.

All other wooden parts will be sized off the ratchet wheel.  Design from inside (center) to out.  For better or worse, from here on out, everything will be very much trial and error.

   

April 15, 2026

Time to draw the machine in some greater detail and get a feel for how big this thing will be.  Yup, here you go.

These dimensions are all approximations at best:  18" H x 15" W x 7" D.  That 7" depth (not pictured) is the hard part because it contains four levels of moving parts.  Moreover, the sizings are approximations because I've found from painful experience that my final cut seldom matches up exactly with with any given pre-measurement.  Scrap heap material is my specialty.  So for this project, the pieces at each level will be cut and pieced together before determining how they will connect to their counterparts at the next level, and therefore, the sizes required further along.  The drawing has provided a clearer vision of what needs to be done while raising an area of concern as well - how are fat fingers going to assemble the inner-levels where space is tight?  Fatal flaws, obvious and otherwise, are lurking.

Items of Work

1 Ratchet Wheel

1 Pendulum

1 Main Gear

4 Drive Gears

12 Levers

4 Tri Spokes

1 Frame

2 Supports

Items to Purchase

23 Connectors

44 Bearings 

A wise man once told me that "simpler is better".  My sense is that adage holds particular relevance for those of us seduced by the siren that is perpetual motion.  Those 44 bearings are flashing red.  44 points of friction.  

What are the odds?  I think we all know.

Speaking of friction, next up, the five primary gears.

May 23, 2026

Well, this is embarrassing.  The project has ground to a complete halt and has been mired in the proverbial mud for weeks now.  Not for lack of effort, mind you.  Three different jigs of my own making.  A half dozen different tools tried and failed.  Untold brain cycles (limited as they may be) invested.  But sometimes intensity is no substitute for insight and indeed, the harder one struggles, the tighter the stuck.

At this point I had hoped to show my five gears laying flat on a table, each perfectly meshed with the next, and all zipping around in a blur as the slightest rotation is applied to the one.  Reality requested Plan B.  Simple still pictures of my gears merely laying next to one another, but those truly are embarrassing.  Suffice to say the teeth lack uniformity which results in a complete lack of connection, much less motion.  The agony!  

Ah, the psychology of attempting the impossible ..... and the gears were to be the easy part.  I know I could make it work if I had that stainless steel, laser guided drill-press that I saw on the internet.  How's that for counterfactual rumination?  With it the proverb resonates - "Only a poor craftsman blames his tools".  But let me tell ya, my tools are lousy.

Discouragement disables.  No doubt.  Then, as if lying in wait, life itself rises up and gets in the way.  Death as well.  All have conspired against me.

Hopefully, this final entry in this "diary" will bring closure to this chapter.  No, I'm not giving up.  Just trying to reset.  A fourth jig is being conjured in my brain even as I write this and a simpler overall design of the machine itself darts across the synapses begging to be put down on paper.

Someday, soon I hope, the stuck will break loose and you'll be reading "The Perpetual Motion Machine Dairies II".