howitzer

That seems really cool, probably something I'll get.

That pullback-chomping looks really interesting and novel! Talk about non-Technic sets having better and more ingenious technical functions than Technic sets... Also what is happening in that latter photo, the book-thing is there apparently completed but the person in the photo is still assembling the pullback-mechanism? While apparently looking at instructions which have no apparent relation to the assembly in question?

"Just" is of course a relative word, this contest was 1,5 years ago, but not so distant in terms of contests.

We just had the Space Police contest so I don't think spaceships aren't revised anytime soon...

The loader seems really great but other than that not very interesting wave. The cars are boring as usual and the excavator either hides something really cool (probably not) or is really underwhelming. The space rover thing is weird and imaginative but doesn't seem that interesting functionally.

So many gears! Seems really cool!

So... half-tracks allowed or not?

I haven't been buying much Technic in the recent couple of years but this thing I surely must get. Waiting for reviews but at the moment it feels like Technic at its best.

Mixed feelings here too. It looks nice and I like the new bucket function but the price is way too high, even considering the rising costs of manufacture.

At least there is an aesthetic purpose on it and it's not just to make the construction easier nor because there are no alternative colours available. As an aesthetic choice it's a matter of opinion if you like it or not.

For a while now there has been lots and lots of great Technic sets that are not labelled as Technic while vast majority of the sets with Technic label are technically dull and uninteresting...

New connector in the 21356 River steamboat set, one end has friction and the other doesn't:

Yeah, vibrant yellow is the TLG's official name for neon yellow...

Are those rims neon yellow or normal yellow? Can't tell due to the neon green tyres...

Too bad you didn't finish your entry, it would've been really interesting to do a comparison!

I cast my vote but it was reallly hard thing to do, considering the huge differences between the various entries, all of them so unique and wonderful. I'd have hoped more entries but on the other hand, having even more of them would've made voting even more difficult.

Looks very Polished with Stellar execution. I'll get my coat ->

I'll have to see about it. The lead screw transmission is something of a bummer for me as I couldn't get it to work but I have an idea for alternate solution which I wasn't able to attempt as time ran out for the contest. Tailstock would also be an interesting challenge considering it's requires stuff that can't be easily made with Lego (such as drill chuck) so I'll see about it. Building a casing would also be nice. You probably could reverse engineer my bearing design from the photos but I'm not sure if you should, considering that it is probably much too large for the project you describe and there's no way it could withstand the forces present when running several thousand RPM so I believe you'll have to think of something else. Unless Lego purism is an absolute must, you could try a third party liftarm with integrated ball bearing.

Yeah, that's true, what the video shows is clearly well out of design range of the motors and I wouldn't be surprised if the maker burned out several motors in the making of that video.

I do! Thank you so much, the entry post is now there!

Metal lathe Unfortunately my entry was far more complex and difficult thing to build than I had anticipated, so my entry is barebones and missing some of the features I originally planned. The implemented features include: Spindle on ball bearings Motorized with 9V train controller for multiple speeds in both directions Thread cutting gearbox with 4 speeds and direction switch Motorized longnitudal feed Manual traverse feed Self-centering chuck with three jaws

I was just about to make my post to the entry topic and it's locked :(

I hope these two photos help to explain it: In the first photo you see the "key" for adjusting the jaws, which drives both, the worm gear that connects to the jaws and the 20T->12T->20T->banana gear which rotates around the whole chuck, driving each of the jaws.

So when's the contest going to close @Jim ? I'd love to have a month or even a week more of building time to polish my entry but we're already way over the original closing date so...

Since the last update I've been building with all the time I could spare and as the competition draws close I have attempted to get something presentable done. Here's a photo of my entry as it is now: As you can see there's a lot missing, most importantly toolholder, tailstock and casing. But the things I was able to build do work to such an extent that I consider this project a success, even if there's much room for improvement. The final list of features is: Spindle on ball bearings Motor control with 9V train controller for multiple speeds in both directions Gearbox with 4 speeds and direction switch Motorized longnitudal feed Manual traverse feed Self-centering chuck with three jaws When beginning I thought that the ball bearings might be the most difficult thing to design and I was totally wrong - those ended to be among the easiest parts of the build. The chuck demanded some serious creativity and while it works in principle I'm not satisfied with it, as it has very high resistance and is hard to open or close. Some lubricant would probably help but at this point I don't want to stain my Lego. Another serious hurdle to my progress was the lead screw connection to the tooldholder sled. I made numerous attempts to connect it so that the lead screw can turn constantly and is locked for feed from a switch in the sled, but I couldn't get it to work at all so I had to settle for this less realistic version where the lead screw and the sled can't be disconnected and the switch between manual and automatic feed happens at the gearbox. The lack of casing also makes the whole thing wobblier than it should be, which doesn't prevent it from functioning but is apparent when you try to run it. This whole project feels like I've been exploring the limits of what can be done with Lego and it has for sure been a great learning experience even if I'm not fully satisfied with the result. Anyway, I hope you like it! Here you can find some more photos of the progress, also on the failed lead screw transmission thing: https://imgur.com/a/P548tFF Here's more photos of the finished thing: https://imgur.com/a/kMXrnVE Here's a video: