Product Review

Are you fascinated by the moving mechanics often hidden from the eye in engines and machines?

After retiring from a long career in scientific machinery design, author Raymond Levy found a renewed interest in the construction and mechanics of basic wooden apparatuses. Making Mechanical Marvels in Wood is Levy's fascinating collection of DIY wooden mechanical projects. It demonstrates how you can use wood to construct a number of intriguing mechanisms that whiz and whir, bob and flip.

Choose from a variety of projects that are inspired by classic devices of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including:

• The "Eccentric" of a conventional crankshaft
• The "Geneva Wheel" found in high-quality spring-wound watches
• The "Fast-Return Actuator" that is commonplace in many machine tools

While most other mechanical projects hide the movements inside, these projects are designed to perform their mechanical stunts with marbles that move, wheels that spin, and even pistons that pump to the delight of the folks who crank the handles.

With step-by-step instructions, scores of how-to illustrations, and draftsman-quality drawings, these wooden models are marvelously easy to make and enjoy.