I used to have the hypoid pinion I removed from my Toyota pickup truck rear end (when I changed the gear ratio to compensate for larger tires) as a paperweight on my desk. The flowing curves and polished steel gave it a really Art-Deco look.
It was free, beautiful and weighing close to 10 lbs, very functional. Can't beat that :-)
Speaking of gorgeous, if you're ever in a machine shop and get a chance to look inside the headstock of a top end 1940-1970s vintage engine lathe, do it. The quality and precision makes automotive stuff look like hammered pot metal.
I hang out on a couple of online machinist fora and I agree. Even the outsides of something like, e.g., a Monarch 10EE are beautiful. Sculpted in a way that just doesn't seem to happen anymore.
Two of my favorite machine porn photos are from WW2 - a woman at a beautiful Warner & Swasey turret lathe: http://www.shorpy.com/node/1809 There's another one on that site of a woman using a Heald Borematic that I can't find right now, but it's even more amazing. I need to find it so I can order a large print.
I used to have the hypoid pinion I removed from my Toyota pickup truck rear end (when I changed the gear ratio to compensate for larger tires) as a paperweight on my desk. The flowing curves and polished steel gave it a really Art-Deco look.
It was free, beautiful and weighing close to 10 lbs, very functional. Can't beat that :-)