We honestly hope this contest has been as fun for you as it has been for us. We received 172 submissions, and the quality of the work we saw absolutely floored us. I know I’ve said this in prior posts, but I’ll say it again:
Thank you all so much, you are what make this company exist and you make our work interesting!
Picking the winners for this contest was a real challenge. We spent hours going through the dozens of finalists to pick the final five.
Without further ado, let’s get to the 20 Years Strong winners!
Gold
Pisces VI submarine
This submarine is capable of going a mile and a half underwater, making it the deepest diving privately owned submarine in the world. At that depth, the submarine endures pressures of about 3,517 psi. This is about 240 atmospheres of pressure. It’s an incredible feat of design and engineering to survive that.
One of our marketing guys said you couldn’t catch him dead in something that far underwater.
The entrants used Online Metals materials as part of an almost 3 year retrofit and upgrade of the submarine.
You can see more pictures of the sub, and learn about the team and their mission on their Facebook page or their webpage
Pisces VI during retrofit
Silver
Our two silver tier 20 Years Strong winners are…
Medieval One hot rod by QUEST Machining and Fabrication
A custom scratch-built hot rod that was also a finalist in the 2018 Hot Wheels Legends Tour. One of our favorite parts is the exhausts, which are decked out with hand hammered scales and made to resemble hissing serpents.
You can see more pictures of this amazing machine on QUEST’s instagram page and webpage.
Sonderlon S1C Microphone
A custom built microphone designed and manufactured by our customer. Originally they were just trying to build a nicer mic to use in their professional studio, but after “going down the rabbit hole” of audio design and metal machining, they built this beautiful piece.
They have also begun to sell these high-end mics as well! You can learn more at their website.
Bronze
Our two bronze tier 20 Years Strong winners are…
Cometarium
A clock-like device used to mechanically model Kepler’s 2nd Law of Planetary Motion. Devices such as this were used to model human understanding of space and our solar system for thousands of years before modern computers were invented.
This device, made from brass and steel, relies on highly precise, unusual, and complex gearing mechanisms to model the irregular motions of stellar bodies.
You can check out more of James’ work at the Armstrong Metalcrafts website!
Some of the internal gearing
If things like this interest you, check out this fantastic video series where a guy shows step by step how he is building a functional replica of the Antikythera Mechanism, the most famous ancient mechanical computer.
16th Century Inspired Money Chest
An acid etched and hand cut copper chest with functional locking mechanism and a key. The aesthetic is modeled on the Gothic style popular for money chests during the 1500s.
Congratulations to all of our winners!
And also congratulations to all of our contestants. We really want to emphasize how amazing all of these entries were. There were easily two dozen entries that could have easily taken first place. Thank you all for such an amazing 20 years, and such an amazing contest.
Honorable Mentions
Lap Guitar
Copper Plates by DMG Designs
Medieval War Harness
Continually Variable Transmission by California State University, Chico – Baja SAE
Custom side car and motorcycle modifications
Working Model of a flathead V-8 Engine
Ultralight Flyer
Lightsabers
We actually got two different entrants who submitted lightsabers, and both were excellent
Functional 1:12 Scale Lombard Log Hauler
Thank you to everyone involved! Even though the contest is over, please keep sending us images and information of your projects, we are always happy to receive them!
