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The Antikythera Mechanism Episode 11 - Inscribing The Back Plate - Part 1

🕑 Added 2022-05-08 01:59:57 +0000 UTC

Comments

Darren Coles

Watching through this and your previous projects multiple times always gives me ideas and inspiration. So a big thank you there Chris! I’m curious how the year 2010 or 2020 would be written?

Jose Martinez

It’s a joy watching you work. I’m always enthralled seeing you mold every piece to perfection. I’m patiently waiting for the next chapter, I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us.

sztojanov

can't wait the episode two :) thanks for sharing your incredible work!

Mark Kaehny

Given the Rhodes connection, could this technical knowledge base be somehow linked to the Byzantine tech like the sundial? I would somehow feel sad if this capability back then was just lost, but if it somehow changed but continued I somehow would feel better.

Clickspring

Thank you mate :)

Johnno Dee

Breathtaking skill, I would be so worried about making a mistake! Kudos to you Chris

Clickspring

Thank you Nicholas - I used this one: https://youtu.be/Nksb2RCNsF0?t=923 - Cheers :)

Nicholas Kvaltine

Wow, what dedication! It's really a thing of beauty. That layout fluid is working great. I rewatched the episode about all the different fluids/methods you tested and none of them seem to quite match. I guess you kept experimenting! What are you using now?

Chris Muncy

Thanks Chris. I forgot all about this.

Clickspring

Good Morning Chris! Yes I do a weekly chat every Sunday 22:00UTC on the Clickspring Discord, do please come along and say G'day :) - (Invite link: https://discord.gg/ADKw4adv )

Clickspring

Thanks very much Matt, so pleased that you're enjoying watching - Cheers :)

Clickspring

Merci Roberto!

Clickspring

Thank you so much mate :)

Clickspring

Cheers mate :)

Clickspring

Ha ha! Thank you Kay :)

Clickspring

It was about 4 months for the video, and I'd guess about 1 month of actual engraving work. Its hard to separate out the two activities because the setup for filming interrupts the work - Cheers :)

Clickspring

Thanks Adam :)

Chris Muncy

Good morning from the Great State of Texas Chris. I have no words. Watching the video and listening to the narration of the work done was my sole focus. I am still amazed that you have not been backed by a major sponsor. But I digress as I have said all of this in the past, but it is still pertinent. So I have a question/thought/idea: Could you do a Q&A for your patreon supporters? Either have us submit questions or do a YouTube Live stream? I know that your time is incredibly valuable, but the advances that you have taken since the start of your videos is beyond amazing.

Matt Walters

This is not the first one of your videos that has choked me up, and I'm sure it won't be the last. Your philosophical connection with the maker of the Antikythera mechanism is astonishing, and moving. That said: I'm with the other inquiring minds who want to know /how many hours/ that took. In multiple dimensions you must have more patience than all the saints, combined.

Bruce Johnson

Well the greeks WERE into epic poetry!

Roberto Cioffi

I am blown away by the amount of research and attention to detail that went into the making of this video. We're no longer speaking only of great craftsmanship, we're in an entirely different league. Chapeau !

PJ

I thought the gear train was the most impressive old school tech build I'd seen but this runs right a long side with ~10k hammer blows with a homemade steel engraver, let alone deciphering and understanding the language and symbols of a 2k yr. old 19 year calendar with adjusted months of variable days. All done in 20 min. of superb videography/editing and narration of how it all works. It boggles the mind that this was built 2k years ago by someone with your passion for learning, skills to achieve such a mechanical wonder and pass it forward for others to use and grow from. I am most grateful to have had this brought forward in my life and to have gotten to know you over these years! Thanks, My Friend!

veritanuda

Fascinating and inspiring. Part of this journey has been how to put your headspace into the original artisans who not only conceived of such a device, but also how to manufacture one, and perhaps manufactured dozens if not hundreds!? Thanks, Chris, for taking us on this journey with you. It just goes to show every generation has vision and skill it could pass on to it's ancestors, if only we stopped and thought about it.

Kay Brinkmann

Chris, amazing work as always! Your dedication to this task is so admirable. After you finished the mechanism, could you maybe look into time travel? Because I’d love to know what the craftsmen of the original mechanism think about this 😁

Kaedenn

Just how many hours did it take you to inscribe that ring? I thought "that's a _lot_ of engraving" once you marked everything out.

Adam Knight

Amazing work. Always worth the wait when we see the quality of your workmanship.

Stubbs

Haha, cryptic as always mate :-D

Clickspring

I can read slowly (with a lot of pronunciation mistakes), and my vocab is still fairly limited. Mostly terms and words directly related to the mechanism, research, literature etc. Its been one of the best parts of the project so far. An absolute joy learning the origins of so many words - Cheers :)

Clickspring

I think 3? It holds an edge well - Cheers mate :)

Clickspring

Ha ha! Imagine the rhyme for this dial! Cheers mate :)

Clickspring

Cheers Phil :)

Clickspring

Thanks Andrezj :)

Clickspring

Cheers Mark :)

Clickspring

Thank you mate!

Clickspring

I'm so pleased you're enjoying it Pete :)

Clickspring

Thank you René!

Clickspring

I'd have said you're completely bonkers! Cheers mate :)

Clickspring

Will definitely get a chance to go over this at some point. There is at least one repair in the original mechanism that I hope to cover at some point too - Cheers :)

Clickspring

Yes I will try to get as much published as I can, although its a slow process. The video was about 4 months to make, but the Metonic dial engraving only I'd guess to be a roughly 1 month task - Cheers :)

Clickspring

Cheers Joshua :)

Clickspring

Thank you mate!

Clickspring

Much more to come, its all intertwined now - Cheers :)

William Smith

Chris, this was astounding to see, thank you so much for posting such amazing content in these videos. My wife and I were wondering, how much Greek did you learn as part of this project? You have an obvious command of the alphabet, general pronunciation, and numbering mechanics, but wonder how deep that goes. Cheers!

Glenn Trewitt

Inquiring minds want to know... How many times did you have to touch up the edge on the engraving tool? Possible units include months/sharpening. :-)

Mike Michelizzi

Beautiful work as usual, thanks for all the hard work to share it with us! After seeing the level of effort needed to keep track of how many days a month had back then I've got a new appreciation for the "thirty days hath September..." rhyme, haha.

Phil Sydor

Thank you, Chris - another excellent video. The amount of research you do and your ability to translate that into workable production methods is staggering. Only one mechanism has ever been found. There must have been simpler precursors, yet we have no evidence there were any. The design of the Antikythera mechanism is remarkable and must have taken many years to perfect. Thank you for bringing the mechanism back to life and helping us understand how mechanically sophisticated the ancient Greeks were.

Andrezj Cawley

Brilliant explanation as ever. I've just started reading "A Brief History of Time Keeping"and this helps to put the different types of calendar into perspective. Fascinating but not entirely straightforward!! Keep up the good work.

Mark Teece

Absolutely amazing work and incredible patience - thanks for letting us come on your journey

Graeme Brumfitt

Wow Chris that was some layout work and engraving! Well blown away... TFS, GB :)

Pete Savage

I'm not only totally blown away by the engineering skills of the ancient Greeks to put this much precision information into a mechanism but also by the dedication and intellect required to reverse engineer and recreate that information and engineering in the present day. Not to mention your skill, patience, knowledge, craftsmanship and dedication to keeping your building techniques as original as possible. Each video in this series astonishes me more and more. Thank you for taking the time to share your journey with us.

René Wessels

Amazing work once again, well worth the wait!

MrTridac

I would guess you drill a small hole and put in a plug. Then file and sand it flush with surface and re-polish. We've seen him make rivets and pins disappear. So, should be possible.

MrTridac

I wonder what you would have told someone ten years ago, when they had suggested that you'll learn ancient Greek by 2022. That's AAA+ dedication, mate!

UdoWagner

Your craftsmanship and explanation is amazing. Aside from how long it took you to engrave, what was done if you make a mistake or the tool slips. After all, they were human beings and not robots. It would be great if you could show how such a mishap is fixed. I can't imagine the whole metal plate being melted down again and starting over.

Matts Koldewijn

Just wondering if you are planning on saving all gained knowlegde after this series is completed because this is amazing work and research. Just a quick question: how many hours do yo estimate it took to engrave this one dials? Cheers

Joshua Greer

So excited this series is finally starting! Would love to hear a little more of your background. You are quite a unique and amazing craftsman. Looking forward to watching this series unfold.

Grant Hullinger

You're surely a master engraver now after all of that! Awesome update!

Stubbs

G'day Chris! So happy to see another video on this series. Is all of your academic research completed to a point where you can continue the production of the rest of the mechanism?

Clickspring

Many thanks Lachlan :)

Clickspring

Thank you Clayton!

Clickspring

There's value in taking some of these processes through to completion, in particular, proving out the 'on demand' martensitic cutting tool proposal - Cheers mate :)

Clickspring

So pleased you're enjoying it mate :)

Clickspring

Thank you mate :)

Clickspring

Thank youmate, much appreciated :)

Clickspring

Thank you Ralph :)

Clickspring

Thank you mate,and no probs at all. Will still be there when you get more time - Cheers :)

Clickspring

Thank you mate :)

Lachlan Elliott

Beautiful work Chris, thanks for sharing.

Clayton Mellington

This is another stunning piece of work Chris! The sheer time and effort you put in continues to amaze us all!

Jeff Armstrong

I can understand that you made, and used, the engraving tools as a proof of concept by why not use your you-beaut engraver to do the bulk of the work?

Jeff Armstrong

I was wondering that too.

Kerry Benton

As always, just so humbled and inspired by the work you do. What a genuine treat to be able to take part in it, even just as an observer.

rob reynolds

Hi Chris, this is amazing. The detail is mind blowing. Can you post a video of you slipping or carving the wrong character just to make the rest of us mere mortals feel a little better.

Michael Lloyd

Already been mentioned but the engraving is incredible. I've enjoyed the toolmaking that you do to hold true to how it is thought that the device was made. It adds another dimension to the project

Ralph McCoy

who's that rapping tapping on my you-tube door. I believe that when it was first made, more than one craftsman did this. Once more Cris you have astound and humbled me.

Clifton Ballad

Beautiful as always, sorry i've been missing from the discord chat, life kicked back in.

Andrew Smith

Such impressive engraving from "simple" tools.

Clickspring

Its hard to separate out the video making, research etc from the work; this vid has been in progress for about 4 months. A rough guess for just the engraving would be about a month of decent 8 hour days - Cheers :)

Clickspring

Cheers Will, much appreciated :)

Clickspring

Thank you mate :)

Clickspring

Terrific, so pleased to hear that James :)

Clickspring

Cheers mate!

Eric Logan

Incredible work on the engraving! If you don't mind sharing, how long did it actually take you?

Clickspring

Will Josephson

What a spectacular commitment to this project you show here. I know you had been working on engraving for a couple years and your work here is incredible. Thank you.