This is a mechanical steam engine speed regulator. As steam passes through the engine, the top spins, when centrifugal force spins the heavy metal balls far enough out, steam is released from the system, lowering the pressure, and regulating the speed of the engine. By adjusting how far out the balls spin before steam is released you can change the engine speed. The term, "balls out" came from this mechanism, and has nothing to do with masculine anatomy.
I took this photo in the summer of 1976 at Greenfield Village, a part of the Henry Ford Museum complex in Dearborn Michigan. Shortly after I took this, the docents turned on the steam, let the balls fly and demonstrated how this worked.
I developed the film, and made the print. There is a reflection on this image, there is glass in the frame. It has been in the frame since 1977, I am not going to take it out at this age. This was the first piece I showed in a public show, at the Titusville Art League show in the spring of 1977, earning an honorable mention. It will be going into a show with a theme of New Works and First Works, in late March.
You took a picture of two hanging balls? I'm shocked.
ReplyDelete