I don't know how many here are familiar with Martin Molin his "folktronica" band Wintergatan, but this is one of the coolest contraptions ever devised by man.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvUU8joBb1Q

More stuff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFfe4ZRQOH8

How it works:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uog48viZUbM&t=401s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0Guq7vZb_E

There are amazing people and things in this world and this is one of both.

Fascinating !!
But don't show it to OSHA !

Fascinating indeed;so Rube Goldberg.I used to work with a guy who thought that way (homo mechanicus). Some have it + some don't. I remember during the 1st gulf war when we were having trouble with sand getting in the carbs of our tanks,I asked Dave,"How would you fix this?" Simple he said + drew a diagram on a napkin that would put an airline coming off the exhaust manifold W/ BD damper that would blow out the sand before it ever came in contact w/the carb. Totally passive. I asked him to give his idea to the pentagon + he told me HELL NO,if they found out what I can come up with they would snatch me. Moot point now,he died several years ago.Death of a genius is always sad.

I'm thinking this is the same machine that broke the Nazi Enigma code.

The second machine reminds me of player pianos. A genius to be sure.

Dave

Some people have too much time on their hands, apparently.

Grizz

The first thing I thought of when I saw the ball bearings (?) was of an old machine (about the same size as the one in the video) they had in the old Hughes Tool Company plant in Houston, on Polk Avenue when I first went to work. It was about obsolete then but had been used since maybe before WWII. It fed ball bearings from a large hopper into line, and to an opening from which they dropped, one at a time. They would hit a steel disk and rebound, depending on their hardness into one of three "buckets". If they ended-up in the center bucket they had the proper hardness and were used to assemble rockbits used to drill oil & gas wells. If they fell into the short bucket, they were too soft, and if they were too hard they were also discarded when they landed in the far bucket. The ball bearings came out in a steady stream. It was mesmerizing to watch. The drop was about four feet.

I always wondered how the inventor came up with the idea. The first engineer that blurted it out in a meeting probably got fired.

Really nice cover!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uUwkP1uM_w

That'a awesome Bill thanks for posting.