Uploaded February 2016 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
This is another object of interest that serves little purpose, beyond making people wonder how it was done. I didn't make a proper build video, simply because 90% of the build is drilling (which is somewhere between paint drying and hospital waits with respect to entertainment value), so this video is just an explanation of the process that I used.
Construction:
If you use a large Forstner bit, be sure to make relief holes with a smaller bit, to help speed the process along by removing the bulk of the material. Use a pilot bit first, to define the centers of the holes, and then you can simply rotate around the four sides, keeping the depth drilled at about the same. It's pretty time consuming. Wear glasses when you push the bulb into place; having one pop during insertion will scare the ghost out of your machine. Oh, and once again: FREEZING IT FIRST WILL NOT WORK. Tight tolerance fits for bearings and such can be assisted by such a temp reduction process, but the amount of shrinkage is an order of magnitude or two smaller than what is necessary in these wood-stretching cases.
Advanced challenge: My original sketch for this project was titled "bulb in a helix." The premise was to drop the bulb in a long, oversized cradle and then twist it 90°. This would cause the gap between the parallel support bars to shrink, trapping the bulb in a helical structure that would further shrink as it dries. I didn't get around to trying it yet.
Impossible nail-through-wood trick:
youtube.com/watch?v=fEATei2wewY
Impossible pinball in a wooden cube:
youtube.com/watch?v=qO7aFRO5WMw
Music:
Dhaka by Kevin MacLeod:
incompetech.com/music
This is another object of interest that serves little purpose, beyond making people wonder how it was done. I didn't make a proper build video, simply because 90% of the build is drilling (which is somewhere between paint drying and hospital waits with respect to entertainment value), so this video is just an explanation of the process that I used.
Construction:
If you use a large Forstner bit, be sure to make relief holes with a smaller bit, to help speed the process along by removing the bulk of the material. Use a pilot bit first, to define the centers of the holes, and then you can simply rotate around the four sides, keeping the depth drilled at about the same. It's pretty time consuming. Wear glasses when you push the bulb into place; having one pop during insertion will scare the ghost out of your machine. Oh, and once again: FREEZING IT FIRST WILL NOT WORK. Tight tolerance fits for bearings and such can be assisted by such a temp reduction process, but the amount of shrinkage is an order of magnitude or two smaller than what is necessary in these wood-stretching cases.
Advanced challenge: My original sketch for this project was titled "bulb in a helix." The premise was to drop the bulb in a long, oversized cradle and then twist it 90°. This would cause the gap between the parallel support bars to shrink, trapping the bulb in a helical structure that would further shrink as it dries. I didn't get around to trying it yet.
Impossible nail-through-wood trick:
youtube.com/watch?v=fEATei2wewY
Impossible pinball in a wooden cube:
youtube.com/watch?v=qO7aFRO5WMw
Music:
Dhaka by Kevin MacLeod:
incompetech.com/music
