Marco Facciola, a 16-year-old high school student, created a functional wooden bicycle to fulfill a class requirement. No metal was used (even for the chain and ratcheting system) - only wood and glue.
Link - Thanks Andrew Phillips!
Marco Facciola, a 16-year-old high school student, created a functional wooden bicycle to fulfill a class requirement. No metal was used (even for the chain and ratcheting system) - only wood and glue.
Link - Thanks Andrew Phillips!
splinters :)
As for it lasting long, the intent isn't so much to have a practical bicycle as to challenge his woodworking skills ... think of it more as a piece of art.
The kid's story on the link is interesting -- His Dutch grandfather had to use wooden wheels on his own bicycle during WWII on account of rubber shortages. I have a related story: My mom was born in 1941, and as rubber was in short supply, when her father built her a toy wagon to ride in, he put wooden wheels on it. I had that same wagon growing up and I still have it (with the same wooden wheels -- they wear fairly well actually). When the weather gets nice, I'll plop my 1 year old son in it and pull him around in it as well. It's 65+ years old, but still looks good.
Neat!
Did he use wooden dowels instead of nails? That's way more impressive than the paper engine with all sorts of non-paper parts in it.