Help!

[The Inventor]

I need help with writing about Invetisto building his Clockwork body. I don't want to just do a time skip. I want to actually have him build it up slowly throughout the story. I want to write about it's mechanics and everything. Think you guys could help?

[Ashla]

I am terrible at most science so I doubt I could be much help :P
But you could start with... a toaster? - No... Hmmm...

[Otto]

I've done a little bit of research on the smithing process, so that I kind of sound like I know what I'm talking about when it comes to Otto plying his trade. If you have any queries about different kinds of steel, their methods of production, and their application, then ask away! I won't pretend to know everything off the top of my head - on the contrary, I think it would be a good learning experience for the both of us.

Plus I do have some university-level chemistry education, but it's a little... rusty (hahaha, aha, haa... ugh. Sorry).

[Witchblade]

I'm a Machinist by trade, not a scientist, but I could probably help you with some of that... well, maybe. Technology in machining would be wholly different by Althanian time standards compared to today. :S

But, I dunno, maybe I can still help. You don't necessarily have to go too indepth over it anyway. Talk about levels and pulleys, gears, things like that. I mean honestly, from a reader's perspective, you don't want to go too detailed with it anyway, otherwise you might bore your reader or lose them in technical jargon.

[The Inventor]

Thank you all. It is going to be purely gears and springs so I just need to talk about that correct.

[Otto]

Witchy sounds like your go-to person, in that case. I'm sure you could come back to this thread if you wanted to go more in-depth with the design (e.g. power sources, protective treatments, material types, etc.) at a later stage.

[The Inventor]

Well, I know the energy source, It will be a mainspring which is used in old watches to keep it ticking without a pendulum, which is another possibility. what do you guys think, pendulum or mainspring?

So I need to mainly give the most important stuff such as the fact the gears are gold and what it's power source is as well as when he connected the arms and legs to the body and such?

[Otto]

Gold is nefariously soft. Corrosion won't be an issue, but pure gold will deform incredibly easy; my guess is that gold gears will have a very limited lifespan due to the stresses they will be placed under. Since it's also very heavy, you'd need more power to move it about. If you want something gold-looking, brass would probably be a good choice. If wikipedia is to believed, then "Aich's alloy" might be just the thing:


Aich's alloy typically contains 60.66% copper, 36.58% zinc, 1.02% tin, and 1.74% iron. Designed for use in marine service owing to its corrosion resistance, hardness and toughness. A characteristic application is to the protection of ships' bottoms, but more modern methods of cathodic protection have rendered its use less common. Its appearance resembles that of gold.

Of course, you can still throw in a sacrifical anode here and there to further help prevent corrosion, should you so wish.

As for the power source - I can't see you getting anything like anough power to move a mechanical body that size around for any substantial length of time, not from a spring or pendulum. But a) I don't know much about either, and b) this is Althanas! You're allowed to bend the rules of reality a little bit here.

EDIT: what do you guys think about pneumatics?

[The Inventor]

Hm, Brass might be just the thing for the gears. As for the spring, it is used in all watches before the battery operated clocks came around. Also consider the fact that gears move together so each time the spring moves the first gear all the other gears move too. As for a pendulum, if you have it the right size & the weight is wound, pulled up to the top of the clockwork, every 7 days then the clockwork keeps moving.

[Otto]

Having more gears means there are more components that you need to spend your energy on moving, even if they they are linked. And I do understand that springs and pendulums do impart energy when wound up, but that's not what I was questioning. It was more about whether they will provide enough energy to power a self-supporting, near-human size mechanical body for any useful length of time. But, as I said, this is Althanas. It doesn't really matter, I don't think.

[The Inventor]

Well, Apparently it depends on the length of the pendulum, the longer the pendulum the more strength there is behind it. If the pendulum was the same length as the body I feel it would probably give off enough energy to run this clockwork machine. Plus, it only will have mandatory gears so that it will not be over weight. Joints will also have gears in them to move them when needed.

[Otto]

Gears, cranks, shafts - Witchblade! Where you at? This sounds like it might be your sort of thing.