For those who don't know, "Orrery" is the proper name for those models of the solar system. It doesn't have to be a whole nine planet one, just where a planet goes around the sun or moons go around the planet. The name ORRERY comes from the Fourth Earl of Orrery, he was a patron of George Graham, who built the first mechanical model of the solar system in England, in 1700.
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They have fascinated me since childhood and the one that is advertised on TV at the moment has sparked it off all over again.
Of course, over £300 is an awful lot to pay for one. Especially as I don't have any cash at the moment, let alone £300 to spare.
However, Mark, the lovely man that he is, has said he can make me one. The snag is, he needs plans. Unfortunately, proper model engineering plans can not found for love nor money at the moment. I have found lots of picture though, of some really stunning ones!
Finally we found somebody selling scans of them on eBay, but how acurate or detailed these are remains to be seen. Mark won them for the princely price of £2. I also found this!
And yes, I do realise the doing it this way, especially including the cost of the tools, will probably be more expensive. But he is paying and it will give him something to keep him out of trouble.
hello enfys - i want an orrery too...never knew thats what they were called - nice blog!
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