I created 75 of these little machines for Google. They were given as gifts to people who had been speakers at the Zeitgeist Americas 2012 conference. The parts were waterjetted from 16 gauge stainless steel, then welded together and powdercoated. I did a run of 4 different colors to match Google’s pallette, and the parts were mixed and matched in the assembly.
It’s operated by lighting the little copper alcohol lamp at the lower left hand corner of the photo. It heats a pressure vessel that then moves a piston, releasing a little steel ball to roll down a track. It falls into a basket and is then dumped off onto a magnetic ball catcher.This sets a little pendulum oscillating.
The oscillating pendulum moves this little lever and after a couple of cycles, the lever disengages the red catch. The catch releases the pressure vessel, which falls and snuffs out the lamp.
This video shows the process a little bit better.
The machine came with a little accessory pack, which included a bottle of fuel (denatured alcohol), a ball, a lamp, a box of matches, a manual, and a shiny penny.
