'Two dogs that meet on a regular basis' by Paul Spooner

Another delightfully simple, but at the same time extremely clever automaton by Paul Spooner. This one features two dogs both of which are connected to rotary indexing mechanisms. As the dogs rotate, their greeting ritual is played out. The piece shows Paul Spooner's wonderful carving style and humor. Made in a limited edition of six, these automata were made almost entirely of recycled materials.

Here is were you can learn more about Two dogs that meet on a regular basis by Paul Spooner.

---

Bussola: a large mechanical sculpture by Jennifer Townley

Check out the hypnotic majesty of this piece by Jennifer Townley titled Bussola.

From the artist's web site:

'Bussola' is named after the Italian word for 'compass', as this sculpture is inspired on one of Leonardo da Vinci's designs for such a drawing tool dating from 1514. The three-dimensional machine is built up from a collection of identical instruments that work in the same way as the original compass.

Here is where you can see more mechanical sculptures by Jennifer Townley.

[ Thanks Jim! ]

---

Christmas Copter automaton by Ron Varga

Here's a clever concept for an automaton -- this one created by Ron Varga. The remote-control helicopter flies around the top of the Christmas, each time barely missing the boy who ducks just in time.

Here is where you can find more information about Christmas Copter automaton by Ron Varga.

---

Mechanical Principles - a film of mechanical movements in action

Check out this fascinating 10 minute segment of a longer piece by Ralph Steiner featuring classic mechanical movements. Many of these mechanisms can be found in the book 507 Mechanical Movements as well as the larger, but similar 1800 Mechanical Movements, Devices and Appliances.

Some interesting movements shown in the film include:
 • Counter mechanism
 • Gears engage on diagonals
 • Square gears
 • Variable speed transfer
 • Rotary to linear action with a 4 tooth cog

Here is a page on Amazon listing lots of great books on mechanical movements. Also known as "the list of awesome".

---

The Kings of England - automaton by Paul Spooner

Here's a great new automaton by Paul Spooner. When the handle is turned the faces of the king changes along with the number designating which king it is. The mechanism is ingenious and delightfully simple, combining a friction drive and a rotary indexing system.

According to Paul Spooner:

In olden times there were serious struggles for the throne of England and being the offspring of royalty was not the guarantee of a life of ease and luxury that it is for today’s genetic lottery winners. To achieve a run of four kings such as this required eternal vigilance and a preparedness to fight dirty. All these monarchs are clearly related to each other as their dental records show. Four kings can only be told apart by the number of teeth they have. On the golden wheel down below is his regnal number (or dental record).

The piece measures 210mm high x 115 mm wide with a depth of 55 mm. This is a 'one off' which means it is the only one available. Here is where you can learn more about and/or buy The Kings of England by Paul Spooner

---

Clever use of an auger drill bit as a worm screw to drive a wooden gear

A worm drive mechanism can be very helpful for slowing down a gear train. Just two components can change the ratio drastically -- a task that would require a gear train with many more gears. This can also provide a great deal of mechanical advantage.

Here's a clever use of an off-the-shelf auger style drill bit. The bit is a 7/16-Inch solid centre auger bitdesigned to go into a bit brace like this one.

The end portion of the bit was modified using a Sherline micro-lathe and a Dremel tool with an abrasive cut-off wheel. We don't see how the gear itself was created, but it is modified with a Dremel and sanding drum to better mesh with the worm screw.

From the maker's description:

The wood screw, spurs and cutting edge at the end of the bit would need to be removed as well as the first flight of the auger, which had a shorter pitch. I ground away the bulk of the unwanted material on the bench grinder. The first flight was removed so the remainder of the auger would be of consistent pitch. The center shaft and inside areas of the flutes of the wood auger bit are not uniform. I saw making a helical gear as being a bit problematic for this purpose and decided to use a standard spur gear modified to run as a worm wheel. Since this would be used in a low speed low torque application, this simplified version of the worm wheel should be quite adequate. Because of the inconsistent form of the auger bit, a good deal of trial and error fitting was required.

If you feel like learning all there is to know about worm drives, check out The Theory and Practice of Worm Gear Drives (Kogan Page Science Paper Edition). As the title suggests, this book covers both theoretical and practical design aspects of worm drives. The excellent book Making Things Move by Dustyn Roberts covers the topic adequately for the average mortal, as does the affordable Basic Machines and How They Work.

If you'd rather just tinker a bit with a model (and I would, if I were you), check out Tamiya's Worm Gear Box. This worm gear can produce extremely low speeds of rotation. It has two selectable gear ratios of 216.1:1 and 336.1:1!

See more amazing creations by Ron Walters on his YouTube channel.

---

Article on how to make a simple ratchet mechanism out of wood

The latest installment of my quarterly column on automaton-making techniques is now live! Dug’s Automata Tips, Techniques and Tricks No. 11 shows a step-by-step procedure for making a simple ratchet mechanism out of wood. The ratchet is advanced on tooth at a time by a driving pawl which is powered by a hand-crank. This can be an easy way to extend the duration of an automaton's performance. Simply attach some of the automaton's actions to the axle that is being slowly advanced, one step at a time. Meanwhile, a more fast paced set of actions can be driven off of the same axle to which the driving pawl is attached.

Need an example? Imagine that the figure of a man with a car jack is driven by a mechanism (probably a cam) attached to the driving pawl. Every time the hand of the automaton makes a rotation, the man could raise and lower the handle on the jack. Next, imaging that a car jack is connected to the same axle as the ratchet that is being driven. It would rise a fixed increment for every rotation of the automaton handle. It's not an exciting example, but it should give you an idea for how the two axles, while operating simultaneously, have a different pace and type of motion. One is continuous complete rotary motion. The other is partial intermittent motion.

The rest is up to you! I hope you enjoy the article on how to make a simple ratchet out of wood.

-Dug North

---