my name is scotlyn brodzik and i'm 7 years old our whole family loves your show and we were wondering if you could have the teams build a clock that would realy have to keep good time for 1 hour or so please do not alow any versions of a sun dial.

keep up the good work

scotlyn

-- scotlyn brodzik (mcsgzik@rochelle.net), February 13, 2001

Answers

Scotlyn's idea is pretty interesting. There are a lot of clock types to choose from, including pendulum and water-based. Thanks for the idea.

-- Rick Tyler (rick@raf.com), February 13, 2001.

I always wanted to build a clock using a hube fiberglass pole bent down like a spring to power it. A huge clock to see who could bet the most accurate.....Hmmmmmm. I like that!

-- Duane Flatmo, Art Attack (flatmo@humboldt1.com), February 13, 2001.

It should be possible. If someone can build a clock out of Lego blocks, I'm sure they could build it out of junk.

The only problem is that the compition would be BORING

-- Michael (Canadian P.Eng.) (michael@mks-tech.com), February 14, 2001.

Boring?....OK... how about an amphibious clock that blows up when it strikes 12?

-- Duane Flatmo (flatmo@humboldt1.com), February 14, 2001.

I like this idea. It has the right elements: Multiple potential designs, could be built fully/mostly from the junk yard, nice history, and lots of educational potential. Of course, the final product would have to be BIG. The one problem I see is the competition. Accuracy seems to be the obvious measure of the winner, but how do you make it exciting? A good explosions would help a lot if you could figure a good way to bring it all together. How about a team dummy that has to cross over a bomb at specific safe times? The first team dummy to get blown up because of wrong/inaccurate timing loses.

-- Devin T. Ross (dross@telerama.com), February 15, 2001.

Canadians are so rude.

-- www.geocities.com/kablamotheclown (kablamotheclown@yahoo.com), February 15, 2001.

Why do you think they haven't been included on the show. They have big chips on their shoulders because they're overshadowed by the rest of the world.

-- Frank (frankfurter55@hotmail.com), February 15, 2001.

How about building a timed detonator? Combines the elements of clock and explosion...

-- Janell Lovelace (jkl-jy@wayfarer.org), May 08, 2001.

How about a clock mechanism for a depth charge? They could attach it to a "mini" on a platform submerged on a platform in 10 feet of water. Inside the mini would be a Canadian. The teams would have to raise the mini using a crane and two oil drums, disable the explosive before the time ran out, and suffocate the Canadian from the car. Oops. I mean extricate the Canadian...

The difficulty: judging which is the winning team.

-- Dalton (foo@bar.com), May 09, 2001.

--A friend of mine builds pendulum clocks that are more accurate than digital watches. Another friend of mine has made clocks from plywood. Seems to me that between these two extremes it should be possible to build many variations based on what's available in the Junkyard. As for watching them being boring, hey, that's what time lapse photography is for! :-) Besides timekeeping over a known interval, such clocks could be made to trigger events at specific intervals. Perhaps these events could "mesh" in some way; i.e. if two events did *not* occur at the right times they would not have a desired effect. Anyway, seems to me there's lots of room to play with the concept of building clocks..

-- "Steamboat Ed" Haas (steamer@sonic.net), February 05, 2003.