# Mechanicals



## IMG_0001 (Jul 24, 2014)

A friend of mine was reassembling small gearboxes in the office and I thought why would'nt I seize the opportunity to take out my old Novoflex macro bellows with 105mm on an XSI that I leave at work. Sadly, I had left my flash home and the fluorescent light did not prove to make for very nice textures. Moreover, my co-worker soon started asking for more general views of his work (which I'm not allowed to share).

Nevertheless, here is one not so bad image at close to 1:1.

Please feel free to add your own close-up images of mechanical gizmos to the thread.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Jul 25, 2014)

That's a difficult photo to capture, a flash might have ruined it. Shiny metal is among the most difficult for me.


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## cid (Jul 25, 2014)

I really like all these metalic monochrome shots at macro or near macro distances and this one is also really nice 



Mt Spokane Photography said:


> That's a difficult photo to capture, a flash might have ruined it. Shiny metal is among the most difficult for me.



Indeed, I would even say there is no flash necessary, I find natural light, maybe some reflector fine enough to create nice high contrast shot of metalic subject


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## AcutancePhotography (Jul 25, 2014)

Gears and macro just seem to go together.  I agree with the previous posters -- a flash would be more difficult to use correctly. A reflector and some consistant lighting will be much easier. 

If you are going to explore this type of photography, I can highly recommend the book Light: Science and Magic as it will teach you more than you ever wanted to know about how to light reflecting things.


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## Logan (Jul 25, 2014)

what i do for a living, and a little experiment with a homemade light box.


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## IMG_0001 (Jul 25, 2014)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> That's a difficult photo to capture, a flash might have ruined it. Shiny metal is among the most difficult for me.



I would have used a flash to have a bit more lateral light, but I would have used a comparatively large diffuser. The light was an office ceiling neon array so it is very omnidirectional. For this particular shot, I was able to position the assembly so that the light was relatively good. On the other hand, for the non-macro close-up shots of the entire assembly, the diffuse light was harder to make interesting and the images look bland.

Here is another shot. Admittedly, this is a crop from a more general close-up. But I think it also looks good.

Still many thanks for the feedback and tips.


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## IMG_0001 (Jul 25, 2014)

Logan said:


> what i do for a living, and a little experiment with a homemade light box.



This claw is not a macro shot is it?  Anything mechanical goes, no worries... You photograph industrial stuff or you make mechanical stuff for a living?


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## Logan (Jul 25, 2014)

IMG_0001 said:


> Logan said:
> 
> 
> > what i do for a living, and a little experiment with a homemade light box.
> ...



sorry! i didn't actually notice we were in the macro section until just now. I work at a machine/fabricating shop, grapples are one of many things we make, they are for logging, kind of an old school method, but popular on the west coast and in new zealand. 

photographing reflective surfaces is really hard, especially aluminum, it catches anything colourful behind you and throws off the colour, and hiding scratches is super hard, the light seems to catch them and really show up in photos. my lightbox is about 16x24, only big enough for small parts like that threaded pin, i was trying to take pictures of some aluminum boxes but i think the only way is to get them totally inside a white box with a hole just big enough for the lens. i have been wanting to try the setup that amazon patented with the glass plate to get rid of the floor reflection.


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## ajperk (Jul 25, 2014)

A few years back my father rebuilt/refurbished the engine of his car. Lots of interesting little parts, gears, etc...


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## tolusina (Jul 25, 2014)

I have lots of mechanicals, mostly broken stuff. No art attempted, strictly visual verification of failures.


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## tolusina (Jul 25, 2014)

Logan said:


> ....... hiding scratches is super hard, the light seems to catch them and really show up in photos.....


Some irony here. You want to hide the scratches, for me, the scratches often tell the story, without the scratches I don't get paid.............


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## IMG_0001 (Jul 25, 2014)

Nice images, keep them coming!

Personally, I also like it when my images show some wear and tear (or gunk)... Although this images from my daily job are not very strong artistically.


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## mrsfotografie (Jul 25, 2014)

Here's two that I took for practical reasons, but turned out to pretty good photography, too


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## IMG_0001 (Jul 26, 2014)

mrsfotografie said:


> Here's two that I took for practical reasons, but turned out to pretty good photography, too



Now thats funny, creating this thread I was thinking that I should try some macro of my bike wheel hubs, of some chain links and possibly of the cleats mechanism... you've beaten me to that.


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## Logan (Jul 26, 2014)

IMG_0001 said:


> Nice images, keep them coming!
> 
> Personally, I also like it when my images show some wear and tear (or gunk)... Although this images from my daily job are not very strong artistically.



those are really neat, what kind of magnification? is that fibreglass or carbon and you analyze the failure points? i know a little bit of metalurgy, enough to know why something is broken, and i find the microscopic level of failure analysis fascinating, although its not really necessary for me to know.

the aluminum scratches experience came from trying to get a clean product shot of some industrial nozzle boxes, i wanted them to look nice to sell, but the reality is they are going in the back of service trucks and we dont bother to keep them pristine. i tried cloning them out but between the grain of the brushed aluminum and the variation in colour from the reflections i made zero progress. i'll see if i can track down an example. (cant find i think its on the work computer)

first a shot i kind of like and keep trying to improve upon, have to get in and get out before the camera gets coolant all over it, the shop is annoyingly dark too. i like this one because i managed to get a wisp of smoke and some motion blur at the same time. shutter speed was a hair too slow because i have camera shake too, but at least theres somewhere for improvement!

second shot is a brass bushing, really fun to take pictures of, the brass just glows under the right light.


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## mrsfotografie (Jul 26, 2014)

IMG_0001 said:


> mrsfotografie said:
> 
> 
> > Here's two that I took for practical reasons, but turned out to pretty good photography, too
> ...



...by 6 years 

These were actually not shot with a macro, but with a Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 on a 40D. That was an excellent lens with good close focusing ability. Too bad my copy started giving wrong focal lengths in the exif, and poor AF speed most likely due to exposure to humidity on a trip in Africa.

If you're interested, the pics show a venture into 'half step gearing' - a temporary solution I used to modify my roadbike for riding the 'Marmotte' bike ride in the French Alps. It is normally set up for riding in the Netherlands (flat country), but by combining the 9 speed 11-32 cassette from my mountainbike with a 39t and 42t plus an old Suntour front derailleur that can handle the small step size of the front gears, I ended up having 17 gears of different step size which, despite a complicated shifting pattern, worked like a charm. See http://sheldonbrown.com/gear-theory.html and look for 'Half-Step Gearing'.


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## IMG_0001 (Jul 27, 2014)

Logan said:


> IMG_0001 said:
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> 
> > Nice images, keep them coming!
> ...



It is fibreglass. The first one is about 1:1 and the micrograph is only about 35x taken on a scanning electron microscope. I have some of up to 5000x, but not with me right now. I do material durability testing and those images are for analyzing failure modes.

I understand that for commercial shots, scratches and gunk are not strong selling points. I guess one really needs to start from a brand new part or rebuff it.

I like your image from the lathe turning the threaded bar and the brass does look good indeed.


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## IMG_0001 (Jul 27, 2014)

mrsfotografie said:


> IMG_0001 said:
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> > mrsfotografie said:
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Intersting story, I'll check the link for sure. That Sheldon Brown site is a bible for cyclist isn't it. Personally I've been riding a fixed gearfor a few years as I mainly ride around the city and park in crowded bike racks where I've had my derailers bent a few time. Fixies are so much more reliable and give so much feedback when riden with cleats.

I've spent several months in NL in 2011 and it is flat indeed, although the wind can be quite strong along the Ijsselmeer. Needless to say that my Canadian home town now feels so unfriendly to bikers since I've been in NL though.


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## mrsfotografie (Jul 27, 2014)

IMG_0001 said:


> Intersting story, I'll check the link for sure. That Sheldon Brown site is a bible for cyclist isn't it. Personally I've been riding a fixed gearfor a few years as I mainly ride around the city and park in crowded bike racks where I've had my derailers bent a few time. Fixies are so much more reliable and give so much feedback when riden with cleats.



I've built a commuter bike based on a single speed mountainbike frame that addresses that by using an 8-speed internally geared hub. The first photo shows the hub when the bike was new (april 2004). At that time the bike looked like a proper mountainbike with nobby tires and without fenders. The photo was taken with my first digital camera - a Canon PowerShot A20.

The second photo shows the current state of affairs after 10 yrs, the bike has evolved into even more of a city bike with fenders, narrow slick tires and such. Still with the same hub though which now has more than 15000 km on the clock. This photo was taken with a Canon Powershot S90 that I now use for such 'practical' pictures. 



IMG_0001 said:


> I've spent several months in NL in 2011 and it is flat indeed, although the wind can be quite strong along the Ijsselmeer. Needless to say that my Canadian home town now feels so unfriendly to bikers since I've been in NL though.



Yes sometimes I say the wind is our hills. Sometimes the wind feels like a mountain too :-\ NL is a very bicycle minded country, but for mountain biking and the spectacular nature I think I'd prefer to be in Canada


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## Roo (Jul 27, 2014)

Thanks for the inspiration all. I now need to go and find those Prost F1 gears and spark plug I have stored


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## IMG_0001 (Jul 27, 2014)

mrsfotografie said:


> IMG_0001 said:
> 
> 
> > Intersting story, I'll check the link for sure. That Sheldon Brown site is a bible for cyclist isn't it. Personally I've been riding a fixed gearfor a few years as I mainly ride around the city and park in crowded bike racks where I've had my derailers bent a few time. Fixies are so much more reliable and give so much feedback when riden with cleats.
> ...



That looks like a nice bike to ride around on. A friend of mine rides a 3-speeds Nexus hub and also has the front generator/brake hub on a vintage bike. He actually had his front fork breaking off at the shoulder as it was designed for a rim brake and the hub brake force had too much leverage. Luckily, it broke down when he was almost stopped so only minor bruises. I guess this front hub is better for replacing disks.

Here in Montreal, bike theft is such a plague that I'd rather have as inexpensive components as I can. Those Nexus are too expensive for my taste and I've been too frustrated having my stuff stolen. On the other hand, a fixie built on an old road bike fits the bill perfectly.


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## IMG_0001 (Jul 27, 2014)

Roo said:


> Thanks for the inspiration all. I now need to go and find those Prost F1 gears and spark plug I have stored



I'll be very angry at you if you don't!


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## mrsfotografie (Jul 27, 2014)

IMG_0001 said:


> mrsfotografie said:
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> > IMG_0001 said:
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On theft, I think here in the Netherlands, bicycles are almost considered public property so I make sure to use a good lock. If I think it's iffy I'll use an old crappy bike.


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## IMG_0001 (Jul 27, 2014)

mrsfotografie said:


> IMG_0001 said:
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> > mrsfotografie said:
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My two locks are the most expensive parts on my bike apart from the wheels. The thing is that you can't really lock your hubs and you can just unbolt them and rip the spokes off. Thief will go there here. It is amazing because Montreal is such a safe place otherwise.


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## mrsfotografie (Jul 27, 2014)

IMG_0001 said:


> My two locks are the most expensive parts on my bike apart from the wheels. The thing is that you can't really lock your hubs and you can just unbolt them and rip the spokes off. Thief will go there here. It is amazing because Montreal is such a safe place otherwise.



That's really extreme! Not much that can be done about such persistence. :-\ Fortunately over here most people tend to see a bike more as one piece of kit. It always amazes me that people say their bike is 'broken' and mean the whole thing. Why they don't think of it as made of individual parts is beyond me...


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## Logan (Sep 8, 2014)

in amsterdam i saw a bike locked to a bridge by the frame, and EVERYTHING was stripped from it, right down to the headset and bottom bracket. stuff you need specialized tools to remove. i guess it wasn't so much a bike locked to the bridge anymore as a frame. 

here's a shot i thought was kind of neat, some skidplates for my toyota, and a cool view of all the suspension bits.



IMG_0001 said:


> snip
> 
> My two locks are the most expensive parts on my bike apart from the wheels. The thing is that you can't really lock your hubs and you can just unbolt them and rip the spokes off. Thief will go there here. It is amazing because Montreal is such a safe place otherwise.



If you have 20mm front hubs guys used to make custom axles with a unique head, and a matching tool, that a normal wrench wont work on. rounded triangle like a fire hydrant works well. i think someone started selling them but that was 10+ years ago and i dont know if they ever took off.


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## Roo (Aug 29, 2015)

IMG_0001 said:


> Roo said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks for the inspiration all. I now need to go and find those Prost F1 gears and spark plug I have stored
> ...



It took awhile (I couldn't find them until I moved house) but here they are as promised. Just a quick shot for now but at some point I'll give them a clean up and do a proper setup.


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## danski0224 (Aug 29, 2015)

Macro of a carbide cutting tooth on a masonry holesaw.


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## Don Haines (Aug 30, 2015)

mrsfotografie said:


> NL is a very bicycle minded country, but for mountain biking and the spectacular nature I think I'd prefer to be in Canada



I biked the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton (carrying camping gear)..... I MELTED a set of brake pads on one of the downhills......


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## Valvebounce (Feb 28, 2016)

Hi Folks.
Though they are not true macro shots, I have some mechanical detail shots that seem to fit here better than anywhere else These are some jobs I'm working on (or have worked on) for proof of condition or just the customers scrap book, these are all from classic Triumph cars so the owners want their photos for the history file.
I generally have my camera and flashes on wall brackets with a timer remote so it is almost a timelapse situation and I pick the more interesting shots just in case you thought I was spending all my time taking pictures. ;D Some jobs do require hand held shots, there are fewer of those.

General layout of the gearbox.


IMG_1421_DxO by Graham Stretch, on Flickr

Looking end on to the 1st gear laygear teeth to show they are not worn to points. I think the coloured Splodge is a nitryl glove finger print in oil.


IMG_1419_DxO by Graham Stretch, on Flickr

Looking end on to the input shaft teeth to show they are not worn to points. I like this one for the Bokeh on the shaft that is sticking up. this is the item top left of the general layout shot.


IMG_1445_DxO_2 by Graham Stretch, on Flickr

Measuring the endfloat of the gear on its bush using a surface table and DTI.


IMG_2956_DxO by Graham Stretch, on Flickr

A seriously worn timing chain with the adjuster about 1/8th inch from popping out.


IMG_2181_DxO by Graham Stretch, on Flickr

Top the new chain, bottom the old chain, the degree of sag is a good indicator of condition.


IMG_2187_DxO by Graham Stretch, on Flickr

Top the new chain, bottom the old one, if the sag didn't show the wear, the stretched length does!


IMG_2189_DxO by Graham Stretch, on Flickr

The new timing chain installed and adjusted so that there is just a small gap on the tentioner just in case there is some excentricity on any of the new sprockets it will not go over tight.


IMG_2196_DxO by Graham Stretch, on Flickr

Laygear pin showing the surface spalling to explain why the gearbox makes a noise.


IMG_2226_DxO by Graham Stretch, on Flickr
These are all taken using a 20D with 17-85mm kit zoom using either 2 Triopo flashes set obliquely over the bench or one on camera for the engine shots.

Thanks for looking, I hope they are of some interst, I welcome criticism with the caveat that I'm fixing cars not running a photography studio!  ;D 

Cheers, Graham.


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