Who we write for
Detail-minded hobbyists: people who own calipers, keep a spares drawer and want to know why something works, not just that it does. We assume you can follow a sketch and hold a screwdriver. We do not assume you own a machine shop.
How we judge a mechanism
Scale
Does it fit inside the thing it improves?
Repeatability
Does it do the same thing every cycle?
Maintenance
Can you see what wore and replace it?
Illustrative versus verified
Every page separates two kinds of numbers. Verified reference values come from published standards, datasheets or well-documented history — ISO 286 fit tables, bearing dimensions, thread pitches, dates. Illustrative dimensions come from our own bench prototypes and are labelled as such. They show proportions; they are not specifications, and your printer, wood or metal will behave differently.
What we will not do
- Invent test results, cycle counts or measurements.
- Recommend products in exchange for payment. We have no affiliate links.
- Hide the failure. If a design broke, we say where and why.
Sources we lean on
Henry T. Brown's 507 Mechanical Movements; Douglas Blanding's Exact Constraint; Larry Howell's Compliant Mechanisms; ISO 286 tolerance tables; magnet manufacturers' published datasheets; and the open documentation of community systems such as Gridfinity.
Spotted an error? Email [email protected] and we will correct it with a dated note.