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The W. Heath Robinson appreciation society thread,

16 replies

quoteunquote · 16/08/2013 16:13

Please come and share your ideas, plans and desires here, things you have done, or things you would love to invent.

As a child I always had Heath Robinson posters on my bedroom ceiling, and I think it may of had an influence on me,

I have on my vehicles squirters, front , back and sides, so you can press a button and water comes out as if off a supersoaker, I use these to move livestock off the roads (dartmoor), or along when moving them from place to place, I can't imagine not having these as I find them so useful, and have added them to all our vehicles over the years.

My children always come home without me having to locate them when playing in the fields and woods, because I have a pulley on the side of the house which if you pull a cord in the kitchen sends an orange buoy to the top of the chimney, so as the buoy gets nearer to the top, the nearer food is to being on the table, they can see it from everywhere.

at the start of the summer, my friends horses were really suffering, and getting grumpy, so we rigged up a pipe with lots of little holes in, hung up above a concrete slab at the end of one of her fields, and put a motion sensor connected to the tap which has a basic irrigation water timer on, now the horses can walk under it and have a shower when the flies are getting too annoying or they feel hot, it really popular, and they queue up.

I always when building a bathroom, have a loo roll dispenser, so when you buy a big pack you put them all in and they reappear by the loo roll holder, because anything else is annoying.

So anyone else out there that loves to make contraption?

or what would you like to make your life easier?

OP posts:
Rooners · 16/08/2013 16:17

I think I want to marry you.

Blush
Foxred10 · 16/08/2013 16:18

You are my hero SmileSmile

wonkylegs · 16/08/2013 16:20

All sound fab, I'm gonna get my thinking cap on for our new house.

TheWookiesWife · 16/08/2013 16:31

I remember my dad putting in an alarm system in our house - it was deffo HR inspired !! consisted of long strings and loops and a shrill sounding alarm - the idea was if a door was opened with out the loop being unattached first - the alarm with go off ! I remember finding this a great game when I was about 8 !! my poor poor dad !!! he didn't find it quite such fun !!! lol !!( sorry dad !!! x )

quoteunquote · 16/08/2013 16:40

no, don't say that, I want reassurance that other people make contraptions,

I was just driving across the moors got to Haresfoot cross and the cattle were blocking the road as usual, they don't respond to horns, and the grockles were stuck, and as I used the squirters, the occupants of the other cars were killing themselves laughing and it occurred to me I need to find others who share the need to remodel and make devices.

OP posts:
quoteunquote · 16/08/2013 16:42

wookie I love your dad, I am no longer allowed to instal homemade alarms, which is sad as they were far more impressive than the one that you buy, which everyone ignores.

OP posts:
TheWookiesWife · 16/08/2013 17:09

tee hee !!

harbinger · 16/08/2013 17:23

Our lean-to sun room used to leak along the back wall. The water would run down the internal wooded beams and drip at random. So our solution was not to fix the flashing, oh no, it was to attach internal gutters to the beams, collecting in one bucket.

quoteunquote · 16/08/2013 17:46

love it, I hope you used the water for the plants.

OP posts:
harbinger · 16/08/2013 19:11

I don't think any plants would have needed any more water. No water lilies or aquatics in the garden Grin

quoteunquote · 17/08/2013 00:14

hottub?

OP posts:
flow4 · 18/08/2013 08:04

My DS2 is a bit like this. He got an iPod touch for his 13th birthday, and shortly afterwards bought webcams and various wires, and set up a CCTV system inside his bedroom and outside his door, to protect from Big Brother Invasion. He somehow arranged it so he could watch his cameras on his iPod from anywhere - and I mean anywhere - via some kind of web link! I vetoed the electric shock door handle!
When our outside security light was replaced, it still worked, and he adapted it to run plugged into a socket (rather than off a mains spur) so he now has an extra-bright light for his desk.

I'm rather in awe! Grin

HeathRobinsonMuseum · 21/09/2017 09:13

We at the Museum are just loving this thread! are you still out there all you brilliant remodellers putting Heath Robinsonesque ideas into practice!

Hoppinggreen · 21/09/2017 09:18

This is a very old thread but my DH is currently making a face recognition thingy out of a raspberry pi, when (if) it's finished it will scan your face and say "hello "
No idea of a practical application for it but it's keeping him busy!!
Might be a bit tecky for HR though

ChampagneSocialist1 · 21/09/2017 21:53

Something which puts socks into correct pairs

HeathRobinsonMuseum · 22/09/2017 13:49

fabulous!

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