ORRERY ASSEMBLY

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As part of the 2018 Interplanetary Festival, Make Santa Fe committed to building an orrery, to be installed in the railyard. Afterwards, it was disassembled moved to the Santa Fe Children's Museum. Here are the assembly instructions.

The orrery project

(1)
Make the base cross. Note the orientation, there is a mark where they meet (see inset). Also choose a direction - one of the ends is different: this is where the driving mechanism connects.

Thread the brown electrical cord up through the hole in the center.

(2)
Mount the center post. This connects with 4 wingnuts. The marked corner should point in the direction of the driving mechanism.

But first slide the brown power cord up the tube. At the top, fold the end over and tuck it back into the tube, leaving a loop of about 4" sticking out. Connect the ground wire to the plate, one screw, one washer.

(3)
Slide the base disk (with the four stubby legs) down the post. It has an orientation (marked 'A'), such that the cord guides are on the side of the drive mechanism.
(4)
Lift the skinny tube-and-disk up and onto the center post.
Lift the middle tube-and-disk up and onto the center post.
Lift the fat tube-and-disk up and onto the center post.

Slide the 3 plastic spacer rings into place.

(5)
Mount the drive mechanism onto the triangular frame. Four washers and wingnuts.

(6)
Remove the little block from the tip of the triangle. Slide the drive+base assembly onto the base cross, close enough to the center posts so you can pass the 3 rope loops over the top of the center post. When doing this, make sure the orientation of the loops is OK (no twist).

Then slide the drive+base away from the center post, and bolt it to the cross. 2 washers and wingnuts.

(7)
Mount xxx
(8)
Mount xxx
(9)
Mount xxx
(10)
Mount xxx
(11)
To mount the Sun,
  1. pull the end of the power cord out of the top tube.
  2. Pass it through the Sun holder, and slide the holder onto the top tube.
  3. Attach the wires to the lightbulb fitting.
  4. Slide the cardboard protector over the fitting.
  5. Stick the fitting into the top tube
  6. Screw in the lightbulb
  7. Lift the Sun up and over this assembly, the top wire fits in between the 2 little nails on top of the bracket.
  8. At the bottom, tie the twist tie around the tube
Hubert van Hecke
Last modified: Sat Jul 7 20:35:03 MDT 2018