inspired to do nothing

[bluedawg76]

i got inspired after seeing Joe's ellipse jig and thought I'd make something completely useless, well almost useless. It is mesmerizing to watch the motion.....

 

[Charlie]

I made several of those years ago. I went to a meeting at the company home office and gave them to the CEO, VP, etc. As they were playing with them at the board room table, someone asked what they were. I told them I called them "Corporate Executives". The CEO asked "What do they do"? My answer was "Nothing". I guess the joke went over quite well because I was still with the company 25 years later.

 

[Sealeveler]

That ought to keep them busy.
Tony

 

[WadeP]

I thought those were called 'do nothings'. The thingy not the CEOs.

 

[bluedawg76]

i was thinking of giving it to my Dad in anticipation of his retirement, when he'll have all the time in the world to do nothing.

 

[toolferone]

Love it! I guess once you have the set up, you could make a lot at once.

 

[mshel]

We used to call them BS Grinders. :gar-La;

 

[MikeH]

I made several of those years ago. I went to a meeting at the company home office and gave them to the CEO, VP, etc. As they were playing with them at the board room table, someone asked what they were. I told them I called them "Corporate Executives". The CEO asked "What do they do"? My answer was "Nothing". I guess the joke went over quite well because I was still with the company 25 years later.

I love that!!! Does anyone have plans for it?

 

[bluedawg76]

I don't have plans but can give the rundown:
4-5" square block (3/4-1" thick) though 5" is a bit big
rout a dovetailed slot to about 1/2 the board thickness through the middle, turn 90 degrees and repeat ( I "scored" this with a couple of passes with the TS first)
the first pass slot was a bit narrow so I opened it up a bit my moving the router fence back ~1/32-1/16" and routed again on both edges to maintain a centered slot
for the keys, raise the router ~1/16" higher than the slot depth and rout the mating dovetail on a board ~5-6" long (3/4" thick). I did this so that the keys would be slightly raised above the base. Cut out the dovetail key on the TS or BS.
cut the length of the keys to equal one side of a slot
the lever was ~1/2" wide x 1/8" thick about the length of the base
insert the keys in neighboring slots so that they are not protruding into the middle or at the ends. Mark the middle of the length of the keys for screw holes. Keeping the keys in this position, lay the lever across the middle of the keys and mark the spots for the screw holes on the lever (1 screw on the end and the other somewhere in the middle of the lever). I made the holes in the lever the same diameter as the screw so that they wouldn't bind but would freely twist.
Also, on the end of the lever I attached a short piece of dowel via a screw to act as a handle.
Put the keys back in position in the base and attach the lever. Enjoy.
To smooth out the motion, I removed the long edges of the dovetail key with a chisel (or round them with some light sanding). Further sanding of the edges may help as well as a bit of wax.
To add some flare, I cut 45 degree miters to make an octagon out of the square
HTH,
Sam