@Fatman posted:...Ok .. to Inertia Motors ! .... these were a quick phase in the early 1920's to 30's and were presented as an alternative to messy and dangerous steam engine toys for children ... several makers , Hess, Tipp & Co , and Wm. Kraus all made versions .. basically the are an enclosed heavy flywheel connected thru an amazing array of tin cut and cast alloy gears to enable them to be sped up to a hefty amount of RPM's where the input energy is then stored by the flywheel to be released via a secondary clutched gearing line to a pulley from which could be driven the same toys that were powered by steam engines of the day ...
Sadly they only run at usable power for a minute or two at best , but the infinite joy of cranking them up , feeling the raw power and the whining muted roar of the flywheel as it accelerates and runs down is a joy to behold LOL!
In essence they were the supercharged early brothers of all the "Friction-drive " toys of the 70's we all were disappointed by
Of all the models the most common are the Hess ones , they aren't hard to find , but they have 4 different ones ( I am missing one version ) , Kraus produced 2 diff designs (I still need to find one) , Tipp&co just the one ( gottit!)
J.L. Hess Dynamobil
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Site with info ... https://www.hesstintoys.com/dyna1.html
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Great post regarding the inertia motors - totally new information for me!
Love the two "sawing" toys - so many safety violations! In the still picture, the poor worker is freehanding a piece of wood into a spinning blade. In the video, the human operator is doing the same thing, putting his flesh close to the blade. Imagine such toys being sold today! OTOH, I'll bet those toys taught valuable life lessons to some young boys.
