They make my head hurt.
May 22, 2004 1:48 PM Subscribe
That is sooooo cool! Really. I want one! How in the name of all above do they make this stuff?
posted by elwoodwiles at 1:59 PM on May 22, 2004
posted by elwoodwiles at 1:59 PM on May 22, 2004
How in the name of all above do they make this stuff?
Just like with pears. When the tennis ball is really small and first growing on the branch, you put it in the bottle. Then the tennis ball grows and by the time it's ripe it's much bigger than the bottle of the neck and you harvest it. Same thing with Rubik's cubes, just be sure not to break the corners on the young cube.
posted by Nelson at 2:11 PM on May 22, 2004
Just like with pears. When the tennis ball is really small and first growing on the branch, you put it in the bottle. Then the tennis ball grows and by the time it's ripe it's much bigger than the bottle of the neck and you harvest it. Same thing with Rubik's cubes, just be sure not to break the corners on the young cube.
posted by Nelson at 2:11 PM on May 22, 2004
My poor, poor brain!
posted by armoured-ant at 2:42 PM on May 22, 2004
posted by armoured-ant at 2:42 PM on May 22, 2004
Well the tennis balls and knots, rubix cubes and cards are easy to understand. If you puncture a tennis ball it will collapse under pressure and it is really hard to see the incision if done correctly, with excellent dexterity knots can be tied, R cubes reassembled and cards put back in a case (I would guess the baseballs have been emptied and refilled/restitched). Some things (as Nelson alluded to) could just be a product of an extreme amount of waiting, some things I don't know and am intrigued
posted by edgeways at 3:05 PM on May 22, 2004
posted by edgeways at 3:05 PM on May 22, 2004
Nelson, don't tease elwoodwiles with your plausible nonsense. Everyone knows that these objects are made by manipulations through the fourth spatial dimension.
On preview - edgeways, I think my theory is more likely than your ludicrous concept of hugely patient and dextrous "makers".
posted by thatwhichfalls at 3:13 PM on May 22, 2004
On preview - edgeways, I think my theory is more likely than your ludicrous concept of hugely patient and dextrous "makers".
posted by thatwhichfalls at 3:13 PM on May 22, 2004
does anybody know how the "arrow through apple" is done? that's been bugging me since i was a kid.
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 4:15 PM on May 22, 2004
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 4:15 PM on May 22, 2004
does anybody know how the "arrow through apple" is done? that's been bugging me since i was a kid.
The apple and arrow started as a single piece of wood.
posted by astirling at 5:10 PM on May 22, 2004
The apple and arrow started as a single piece of wood.
posted by astirling at 5:10 PM on May 22, 2004
OK, I think I "get" all of these to some degree, except for the damn metal ball bearing inside a cube with six holes. How in the world was that done? My only guess is that the ball bearing is actually wooden and painted to a steel finish, but that doesn't seem like it'd fool anyone who touched it (weightwise). Any ideas?
posted by blindcarboncopy at 5:15 PM on May 22, 2004
posted by blindcarboncopy at 5:15 PM on May 22, 2004
the damn metal ball bearing inside a cube with six holes
Molten steel which is then cast and polished inside the wooden cube. They would have grown it inside the cube, but ball bearings take too long to grow compared to Rubik's cubes and tennis balls.
posted by Nelson at 5:53 PM on May 22, 2004
Molten steel which is then cast and polished inside the wooden cube. They would have grown it inside the cube, but ball bearings take too long to grow compared to Rubik's cubes and tennis balls.
posted by Nelson at 5:53 PM on May 22, 2004
does anybody know how the "arrow through apple" is done? that's been bugging me since i was a kid.
The apple and arrow started as a single piece of wood.
no, i was told that that specifically is not the solution. (true, maybe i was lied to . . . )
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 6:02 PM on May 22, 2004
The apple and arrow started as a single piece of wood.
no, i was told that that specifically is not the solution. (true, maybe i was lied to . . . )
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 6:02 PM on May 22, 2004
The arrows through apples and arrows through bottles are made with a highly compressible wood - when soaked in water, the pointy end can be squeezed down enough to pass through the hole; when the wood dries out, it expands back into the arrow shape.
Most of the other things are done "in the bottle" with special tongs and tools - the web author mentions on one of the pages that one of the constructors designed his own vise that could be inserted into the bottle to re-flatten washers, etc. - but knowing that doesn't take away from the incredible patience and dexterity required to do any of these. Great link!
posted by yhbc at 6:31 PM on May 22, 2004
Most of the other things are done "in the bottle" with special tongs and tools - the web author mentions on one of the pages that one of the constructors designed his own vise that could be inserted into the bottle to re-flatten washers, etc. - but knowing that doesn't take away from the incredible patience and dexterity required to do any of these. Great link!
posted by yhbc at 6:31 PM on May 22, 2004
"Molten steel which is then cast and polished inside the wooden cube.
Once again, Nelson seeks to lead you astray.
The real answer is a solid block of wood is eaten away by trained wood-eating ants which live in symbiosis with steel excreting scarab beetles.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 6:33 PM on May 22, 2004
Once again, Nelson seeks to lead you astray.
The real answer is a solid block of wood is eaten away by trained wood-eating ants which live in symbiosis with steel excreting scarab beetles.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 6:33 PM on May 22, 2004
Steamed wood can be made quite compressed.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:50 PM on May 22, 2004
posted by five fresh fish at 6:50 PM on May 22, 2004
Doh. should have rerefreshed.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:51 PM on May 22, 2004
posted by five fresh fish at 6:51 PM on May 22, 2004
For the bottle ones, I think that they start with all of the objects and one of these bottles on a table and then turn the bottle inside out. Easy.
posted by bonehead at 6:59 PM on May 22, 2004
posted by bonehead at 6:59 PM on May 22, 2004
I *heart* Nelson's explanations. :) Also, thatwhichfalls for the symbotic ant/beetle theory.
posted by dejah420 at 9:28 AM on May 23, 2004
posted by dejah420 at 9:28 AM on May 23, 2004
It specifically said of the 'Mistic Bottle #1': ' Note that deck is still in its original celophane wrap.'
I see religion.
posted by of strange foe at 7:49 AM on May 25, 2004
I see religion.
posted by of strange foe at 7:49 AM on May 25, 2004
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