Laser-cut Donkey Kong automaton by Martin Raynsford

You may recall the amazing mechanical version of the Donkey Kong arcade game I posted about a while back. Here's a simpler, fun project by the same creator, Marin Raynsford. As you can see from the video, the essence of the classic arcade game Donkey Kong has been represented as a contemporary automaton.

From Martin's web site:

The main drive mechanism is provided by the laser cut bike chain, barrels roll round the girder as if thrown by Donkey Kong. A cam and follower make Mario jump up and down in the appropriate places. I got the gear ratio slightly confused and made my second gear twice as big as need be so I duplicated the jump pattern on both halves of the gear. It was a fun little project and I learnt a lot about what not to do on future projects.

Love the wooden chain and sprockets!

See more detailed in-progress photos of the Donkey Kong automaton on Martin Rynsford's web site.

---

Artist Chris Fitch gives an in-depth explanation of the mechanics of his incredible swimming fish kinetic sculpture

Artist Chris Fitch took the time to of put together a video in which he explains the mechanics of his limited edition piece titled, Tantalus Mackerel. I don't need to say much more here, because his explanation is so good.

As for the piece, here is what Chris Fitch as to say about it:

The story of Tantalus has been, since its Greek origins, a consistently applicable metaphor for the human condition. Tantalus angered the gods by trying to feed them the flesh of his own son, passed off as ambrosia. For this, he was chained to the bottom of a lake that reached to his chin. With luscious grapes drooping from vines above his nose, starving Tantalus was unable to enjoy either food or drink, as they were pulled away whenever he reached. I won't go on about how I think this relates to American culture today, which suffers from a kind of self-inflicted hunger from unrealistic expectations. Nor will I attempt to make any connection between the story of Tantalus and our current global problem with mercury levels in deep sea fish, and how we are our own gods and are punished by our own actions when we poison our own food supply. Let me just say, instead, that this piece is about a frustrated fish trying to catch a bug.

It's an incredible piece in every way: the narrative, the artistry, the mechanics. He only made three of these beauties, and (as of this writing) one is still available. For more videos and photos of sculptures by Chris Fitch, visit http://www.chrisfitchsculpture.com.

---

Opportunity - a welded steel rolling-ball sculpture by Tom Harold

Here is a new rolling ball sculpture from artist Tom Harold titled Opportunity. I really like the tone-emitting ball drops!

From the video description:

It measures 52.5" x 33" x 11" and is made entirely of welded steel, clear coated to prevent rust. It features a motor-driven chain lift effortlessly supplying marbles to the topmost track that then divides into two tracks via a tipper-style track splitter. Once on their way, the marbles encounter a number of entertaining devices including a chime, four tone-emitting ball drops, three 360-degree loops, two spirals, wavy track, a four-ball collector, and a coil plus elements made from tubing, welded rings and over 51 feet of track with dips, curves and bends.

To check out additional kinetic art by Tom Harold on his web site or inquire commissioning a piece of fascinating by the artist.

---

A trio of zipper-mouthed film canister creatures by Nemo Gould

Check out this recent piece by artist Nemo Gould titled Zip Synch. The heads for the strange and endearing creatures are small zippered film canisters.

From Nemo Gould's web site:

The inspiration came from the little film canisters that form their heads. I had done this once before with the piece "Head Case #2". Recently I came across several more cases at a flea market and couldn’t resist making a chorus line of them.

In addition to the film canisters, the piece is made from sprockets, chain, gears, motor, LEDs, mirrored plastic, and wooden box.

See more kinetic sculpture by Nemo Gould on his web site.

---

Hand-cranked metallic mechanical fish by Chris Cole

Here's an fascinating automaton to start your week. This piece, titled Delmar, was created by artist Chris Cole. The hand-cranked automaton depicts a fish. The kinetic sculpture features a chain drive, a fanning dorsal fin made of wrenches, several cranks, exposed linkages, and eyes made from sprockets. This fish is mechanical inside and out!

Check out more sculptures on Chris Cole's web site.

---

Huge kinetic sculpture animates a comical cartoon scene in plywood

Check out this kinetic relief sculpture by Jakob Bue titled Alchemechany. Bicycle cranks, sprockets and chain allow a person to the side of sculpture to set the scene in motion. A long serpentine chain behind the scene transfers motions to the inner parts of the wall-sized sculpture composed main of wood. The scene depicts cartoon man on the left frantically running and grasping for an object held at the end of a serpent's tongue on the opposite side. I love the cartoon style, the scale, the unabashed use of plywood as a surface material, and the choice of limiting the colors to black and white. I often say that contemporary automata are like single-panel cartoons set in motion; this piece is a perfect example.

See more sculptures by Jakob Blu on his web site.

[ Thanks Christoph! ]

---

270 Piece Georello 3D Gear Tech Construction Toy

The Quercetti 3D Gear Tech construction set allows you to build 3 dimensional mechanical creations. The 270 piece set includes pillars, connectors, extenders, interlocking base plates and meshing gears in four sizes. The universal joints allow gears to be connected horizontally or vertically. The chain and and elastic belt drives provide a means to transmit rotary motion to distant axles and gears.

This looks like a really fun way to learn about most basic mechanical components and principles!

Here's where you can get the 270 Pieces Georello 3D Gear Tech by Quercetti: Construction Toy

---

Del Short's chain-driven slot rotary drive

Another wonderful wood machine from the inimitable Del Short -- this one featuring a very interesting slot drive, several wooden chains with sprockets, and a chain tensioner.

---