Ask HN: Any communities/apps for hobby clockwork/gearpunk?

2 points

5 years ago

Just as there are many apps/tools/communities for hobby electronics and building electrical circuits etc., is there any such hobbyist ecosystem around building clockwork machines or even computers using only mechanical components (gears etc.)?

How about an app akin to the Incredible Machine game [0] where you built Rube Goldberg-like contraptions, but for practical real-world projects, that lets you pick and plop components with a 3D interface and simulate the machine onscreen?

This thought just occurred to me that it could be a very entertaining and rewarding hobby.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_Machine_(series)