Free plans for a charming cat and mouse autoamton by Christopher Blasius

Check out this really nicely made video showing step-by-step how to make a cat and mouse automaton. The narration is in German, but the video is so clear it hardly seems to matter. (Incidentally, if you turn on the YouTube CC function, English subtitles are shown.) This charming automaton was created by Christopher Blasius.

You can download free plans for the cat and mouse automaton from his web site.

[ Thanks Charles! ]

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Two Odd Volumes on Magic & Automata available as a free download

Our friend Joe Freedman of LEAFpdx has made the book Two Odd Volumes on Magic & Automata available for download. The book covers some of my favorite subjects including the magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, history, magic, automata, and mechanical toys.

'The Sette of Odd Volumes' was a group of book collectors in Victorian era London. They published transcripts of the lectures they presented to each other. Two Odd Volumes on Magic & Automata compiles two of these lectures into a single book. An affordable printed version of the book has been available for a while, but if you prefer to have an electronic copy (PDF) you are now in luck!

In the first section of the book, William Manning offers his recollections of the famous magician, Robert-Houdin. In the second section, Conrad William Cooke provides a history of automata to that point. It's a fascinating book and well-worth reading.

Though the digital version of the book is available for free, please consider using the Paypal donate button on his page. A lot of time and effort went into creating this book and I'd like to see Joe Freedman produce more of his excellent mechanical creations. Show him some love if you can! Here is where you can download the book Two Odd Volumes on Magic & Automata.

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Rob Ives to create paper gear zine!

Paper Engineer Rob Ives is in the midst of creating another one of his zines. This one will take the same format as previous zines -- six pages, each featuring gear-based facts including perhaps worm gears, bevel gears as well as gear trains and the standard gears featured here. Each page will have a link to the downloadable, printable, make-able version of the featured gear project ready for you to make. Check his blog regularly for updates

Here is the post about the gears set shown above which will be the first part of the zine. This project includes two interlocking gears, one with eleven teeth, one with nineteen teeth.

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Too Much Coffee - download and make this paper automaton

Need something to do on a cold February weekend? Why not head over to the web site of paper enginneer Rob Ives and download the entertaining paper automaton shown in the video?

Too Much Coffee is an paper animation kit that you can download and print out from your computer. To do this project you will need to have some thin card stock paper, scissors, and some Elmer's glue. A cutting board and an X-acto knife will also make things much easier. The Too Much Coffee kit comes with two files: a full set of illustrated, step-by-step instructions and a file containing all the parts that you will need to print, front and back on six sheets of card stock.

Here is where you can purchase and download the Too Much Coffee paper animation kit. If you think you may make more than a couple of these models, you might want to consider getting a membership to RobIves.com.

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Free cartoon paper cutout toy patterns from the 1920s

Back in February of 2012, I posted about a bunch of free mechanical paper toy plans from the 1920s. The link previously posted by The Barnacle Press doesn't seem to work any longer. Fortunately, Christine Nelson has posted a set. These mechanical paper toy plans were created by an artist named Dan Rudolph for the LA Times back in 1922 and 1923. The plans show you how to make moving toys by cutting out and articulating the parts of various cartoon characters. Shown here is one example, titled Bimbo the Begging Monkey. There are lots to choose from including cartoon characters, animals, and the occasional celebrity.

Here is the link to the flickr set with Dan Rudolph Newspaper toy designs.

[ Thanks Christine! ]

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Universal adapter set allows you to connect 10 different toy construction systems together

The Free Universal Construction Kit is a set of 80 adapter bricks that allows you to connect ten completely different popular children's construction toy systems. This is a groundbreaking creation.

From the product web site:

By allowing any piece to join to any other, the Kit encourages totally new forms of intercourse between otherwise closed systems—enabling radically hybrid constructive play, the creation of previously impossible designs, and ultimately, more creative opportunities for kids. As with other grassroots interoperability remedies, the Free Universal Construction Kit implements proprietary protocols in order to provide a public service unmet—or unmeetable—by corporate interests.

The Free Universal Construction Kit has adapters that connect Lego, Duplo, Fischertechnik, Gears! Gears! Gears!, K'Nex, Krinkles (Bristle Blocks), Lincoln Logs, Tinkertoys, Zometool, and Zoob! Simply incredible.

While the set cannot be ordered directly, the adapters can be downloaded from Thingiverse.com as a set of 3D models in .STL format. These can then be reproduced by personal manufacturing devices like the Makerbot 3D printer. The production of physical sets may be arranged through a personal fabrication service bureau such as Ponoko.com. You might also try a makerspace in your area. You may also find a 3D printer in the architecture, industrial design, or mechanical engineering departments of a local university. Ask nicely.

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Download free plans for The Rolling Reels Circus paper automaton

Here's a great paper automaton available for free from Pino at paperpino.net. Turn the hand crank to make the cams rise and fall. The cams in turn, shift up and down allowing the reels to 'climb' the moving stairs. When the reels reach the top, they spin down the curved ramp to start the process over again. And it's all made with paper and glue! Ingenious.

Here's where you can download the plans for The Rolling Reels Circus automaton.

[ Thanks Ian! ]

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Free plans to make a slope walking exotic bird

Our good friend Roberto Lou Ma has done it again! He's the one who brought us the free plans for making various ramp walking wooden toys including the robot and the rhino.

The video shows his latest incline-traveling creation -- and colorful bird that scoots down the ramp in little bursts. Would you like to make a ramp-walking bird like the one shown here? Well you can thanks to his talent and generosity!

Here are free plans to make the ramp walking bird in PDF format.

A big thank you to Roberto Lou Ma for continuing to create these ramp-walkers and sharing the plans with The Automata / Automaton Blog!

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Clown pedaling a bike paper automaton

Here is a wonderful and complex paper automaton kit designed by the talented PaperPino. This one is entitled Wandering in the Sky.

From the automaton's description:

The three-gear train moves the wheels of the tricycle, and the scotch yoke mechanism moves the bird wings. Connected to the pedals, the clown's legs are linked with a lever system that moves the right arm and the head. With the Removable Inter-locking Pin System (RIPS), most of the parts are assembled without glue.

Here is where you can read more about the clown on a bike automaton on Paperpino.net. There is a small download link for this free model kit on the bottom of that page.

Want more on paper automata? Here's an older post with a round-up of paper automata resources!

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Wood gear machine for crushing aluminum cans

Steve Garrison has come up with several innovative ways to cut gears from wood. His technique allows you to use various tools including a router, scroll saw, and table saw. In addition to making standard spur gears, his method allows you to cut helical and herringbone gears from wood. It is wooden herringbone gears that allows this ferocious wood machine to crush cans with ease.

From the YouTube description:

A reduction gear train made of pine plywood sheathing scraps laminated together with screws and powered by a 3/4 h.p. electric motor. Herringbone or Chevron gears are stronger than spur gears and do not have any tendency to move along the axle even under heavy loads. There are no bearings other than the center hole drilled through the plywood turning on half inch diameter smooth steel shafts lubricated with axle grease. The gear ratio is 72:1 not including the belt drive, the belt drive makes the overall ratio around 172:1 (About 10 rpm output with a 1720 rpm input from the motor).

This is an impressive display of power. Garrison's method can also be used to make gears for lighter duty jobs -- like the power train on Dave Johnson's Buckyball Moving Machine.

Visit Steve Garrison's web site to see videos and examples of his wood gear cutting technique. It is available as a 52-page e-book in PDF format.

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Updates on robot and rhino ramp-walker projects

As you may recall, the multi-talented retired engineer, Roberto Lou Ma, has been kind enough to provide free plans for two different ramp-walking figures: the rhino and the robot. These are available only here on The Automata / Automaton Blog!

Regarding the robot: Sky Engineering Labs has made an interesting simulation model of the walking robot. I've posted it above. Their YouTube page offers a couple of engineering-related tutorials on MBDyn and MATLAB Graphics. Here is my original post with the free downloadable plans and instructions for making for the ramp-walking robot.

As for the rhino: Roberto Lou Ma, as now provided a PDF of the patterns so that they can be printed out out full scale. They are also available on the Ramp-walking Rhino page.

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Rob Ives's updated paper engineering web site

The clever paper engineer Rob Ives has has completely updated his web site. If you've never been to his site or built one of his ingenious models this is a great time to do so!

For great information on mechanisms, kits, models, downloads, and tips on paper engineering visit http://www.robives.com/.

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Free plans for 'Frustrated Felines' by Paul Spooner

Over at the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre web site they are graciously offering free plans for the 'Frustrated Felines' automaton by Paul Spooner that they sold for a time back in the in the 1980s. THANK YOU!

Here's where you can download plans for the Frustrated Felines automaton.

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Paper Soldier with Nodding Head by Peter Markey

Over at the fanstatic Cabaret Mechanical Theatre web site they are offing a free download for a nodding paper soldier designed by Peter Markey.

Here is the page for the Paper Soldier with Nodding Head by Peter Markey.

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Fluttering Heart - animated papercraft model

Another clever animated model from Rob Ives. Here is the idea: the heart model folds flat so it can be placed into a card. When the card is opened the heart will pop out and 'flutter' to the amazement of the recipient.

Check out this fluttering heart papercraft model.

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CPR wood automaton with available plans

Here's a video that shows a fun automaton designed by Ken Schweim. He has written complete construction plans describing how to build it. It has 36 pages, 36 photos, and 26 blueprints with complete step-by-step instructions. It is available for download for a cost $10 payable through PayPal. This might be a great way to get into making wood automata.

You can purchase and download plans for this wood automaton at Ken's Devil Dog Automata page.

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Mario Hammer paper automaton download

Another Mario Brother's inspired paper automaton download is available at Nintendo Papercraft. The paper Mario smashes a Goomba with a large hammer.

Here's the page with the Mario Hammer paper automaton kit.

[ Thanks Alan! ]

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Walter Ruffler paper automata at Flying Pig

Flying Pig paper animations has announced the addition of paper automata by Walter Ruffler to their website. There are twenty seven models from which to choose.

Shown at left is Ruffler's model title "Off Road".

Visit this section of the Flying Pig web site for the full line of Walter Ruffler paper automata kits.

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The Dog Ate My Homework paper automaton

The latest fun paper animation kit from Rob Ives: The Dog Ate My Homework.

Like his other offerings, this model comes as a downloadable file that you print onto thin card-stock with your printer. Once printed, you then cut out the parts and follow the illustrated instructions to make the animated model.

The color version can be purchased now for a modest price. A free, uncolored version will be available on October 20th.

Here's the link for The Dog Ate My Homework paper automaton.

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Reindeer Ride paper automaton kit downloads

Here is the latest paper automaton creation by Rob Ives, called Reindeer Ride. There are two versions of this one. The colored version costs the usual £2.50 GBP (about $4 US dollars). The uncolored version is a completely free download! This could be a great holiday project for you or the kids.

Also, be sure to check out Rob's Workshop Notes blog in its new home of http://www.robives.com/blog. He posts to it most days about the fascinating process of creating paper automata.

Here is where you can get the Reindeer Ride paper animation kits.

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