Remarkable People

Szymon Klimek's artwork is small, mechanical, and amazing!

View 48 Images
Szymon Klimek fabricates some of the most amazing miniature electromechanical artwork you are ever likely to see
Multiple views of a Klimek miniature train engine together with coal tender (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Klimek's SPONGE - a solar powered engine with unworldly interlocking structures acting as springs (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
A miniature of a 1902 Mercedes Simplex (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Szymon Klimek achieves his amazing results primarily by using a collection of standard hand tools (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Szymon Klimek with a handful of his miniatures (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Miniature train (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Miniature train (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Miniature train (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Miniature train (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Klimek's Mechanical Bird (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Klimek's Mechanical Bird (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Klimek's Mechanical Bird (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Klimek's Crystal Nautilus (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Klimek's Crystal Nautilus before mounting in goblet (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Klimek's SPONGE - a solar powered engine with unworldly interlocking structures acting as springs (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Klimek's SPONGE - a solar powered engine with unworldly interlocking structures acting as springs (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Klimek's SPONGE - a solar powered engine with unworldly interlocking structures acting as springs (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Klimek's SPONGE - a solar powered engine with unworldly interlocking structures acting as springs (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Klimek's Fortune (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Klimek's Fortune (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Klimek's Fortune (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Klimek's Fortune (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Klimek's Fortune (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Klimek's Fortune (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
A miniature of an ornate horse-drawn coach (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Cutout parts for Bugatti 35 miniature (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Body of Bugatti 35 miniature (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Finished Bugatti 35 miniature (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
A train miniature atop an engraving table (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Assembling a train miniature (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Assorted Klimek miniatures (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Parts for the Vertical Solar Engine (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Partially assembled Vertical Solar Engine (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
A substructure of the Vertical Solar Machine (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Klimek's Vertical Solar Machine (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Klimek's Vertical Solar Engine (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
The Vertical Solar Machine in its goblet (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Klimek's Vertical Solar Machine (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Klimek miniature of an old-style bicycle (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Group of hat box miniatures (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Display of various Klimek miniatures (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Partially assembled miniature train engine and coal tender (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Miniature train engine and coal tender (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Miniature of 1902 Mercedes Simplex (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Miniature of 1902 Mercedes Simplex (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Miniature of 1902 Mercedes Simplex (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Miniature of 1902 Mercedes Simplex (Photo: Szymon Klimek)
Szymon Klimek fabricates some of the most amazing miniature electromechanical artwork you are ever likely to see
View gallery - 48 images

A hobby is what you do with the rest of your time. It tends to feed a deep-seated need of which you may not even be aware - to be your best self. Some people golf, some swim, some quilt, some travel, some climb mountains ... there's no end to the list. Then there's Szymon Klimek, who makes some of the most incredible miniature electromechanical sculptures imaginable.

Szymon Klimek was born in Poland in 1954, and currently lives in Poznan. He earned an advanced degree in Engineering and made his way in the world. At the age of 50, he decided to make an 80 mm (3.15 inch) model of a locomotive and tender (roughly a Z scale model train - 1:220). The model was designed to fit inside a glass goblet for display. He has now completed more than 100 miniatures.

Multiple views of a Klimek miniature train engine together with coal tender (Photo: Szymon Klimek)

Klimek draws his plans up, being careful to include even the smallest details from the original. He then cuts the parts from thin (0.1 - 0.08 mm) sheet brass. He details and forms the various pieces by hand, then glues them in their proper places before finishing with a lacquer finish. Occasionally pieces are given some extra bling, such as floral motifs, ribbons or glittering zircons. Recently, Klimek has been creating fantasmagorical engines powered by a small solar cell, adding the element of motion, as shown in the videos at the end of this article. The microscopic detail Klimek produces in his work speaks to his sensibility for design and his patience, as well as for the steadiness of his hands.

A miniature of a 1902 Mercedes Simplex (Photo: Szymon Klimek)

Klimek used to cut parts and engrave his miniatures using a home-made reducing pantograph, but now uses CNC and lasers for cutting and engraving. Despite the entry of the 21st Century into his workshop, many of the pieces for his miniatures are still hand-cut. All bending, fitting, polishing, gluing, and varnishing processes are performed manually.

Szymon Klimek achieves his amazing results primarily by using a collection of standard hand tools (Photo: Szymon Klimek)

A typical miniature requires two or three months of work from starting the drawings to finishing the device. But the most difficult step, according to Klimek, is installation of the miniature into a glass goblet. From the start, the miniatures are designed to fit within a roughly spherical glass goblet having an inside diameter of 112 mm (4.4 in), a height of 142 mm (5.6 in), and a mouth opening of 86 mm (3.4 in). Surprisingly, one of the tricky bits is to properly clean the goblet.

Klimek's SPONGE - a solar powered engine with unworldly interlocking structures acting as springs (Photo: Szymon Klimek)

Many miniatures are designed to barely fit inside the goblet - the diameter of the flywheel in the figure above is 84 mm (3.3 inches) is diameter. Once fit inside, the support struts are adjusted to their proper positions, and then are glued in place. Klimek then seals each goblet with a transparent lid to maintain a dust-free environment for his masterworks.

Szymon Klimek with a handful of his miniatures (Photo: Szymon Klimek)

Two of Slimek's miniatures are in the Craftsmanship Museum in Carlsbad, California. But honors and recognition do not seem his motivating forces.

"I just decided to build a micro construction," says Slimek. "Sometimes they are unreal, but creating them gives me great joy. More than that - creating my devices gives me and people looking at my miniatures something to enjoy. I find it hard to imagine I can do something else."

Source: Szymon Klimek

View gallery - 48 images
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Flipboard
  • LinkedIn
4 comments
windykites
Amazing models, but let down by poor quality pictures. They almost give the impression of being faked, although they are obviously not. They just have an unreal quality about them.
videobug
Simply amazing...congratulations....one question, how long does it take to built one those art craft?
Mark Eastaugh
Brilliant pieces of engineering/art work by Szymon Klimek...
I see Klimek did the photography as well, but there I think he was a little too enamored of photo shop and its special effects. Works like this deserve some skillful lighting and the hands and eyes of a professional photographer.
MQ
Let up on the aesthetic criticism....
These masterpieces are unique.....
Of course it would be better if the heat engines really worked, but they aren't intended to be working replicas, rather functional models....