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After what seemed to be an eternity, the Trojan Cat is almost mechanically complete. The sequencing of the Arduino controller is still a work in progress. Here's a teaser of the mice in the body of the cat who have popped out of the body.
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Conquergood Creative will be heading off to Kitchener/Waterloo to attend the Canadian National Wildfowl and Grand Valley Carving Competition show on March 18th and 19th. Don't worry I won't be displaying or entering any of my sorry attempts s at wildfowl carving! I will however have a few automata pieces on display. It is always a good chance to see beautiful carvings, talk to fellow woodworkers, with different interests, and spread the art of automata making. If anyone who reads my blog would like to see a few pieces in the flesh and chat about automata drop in Saturday or Sunday! The show is in the Forbes Family Hall in the Manulife Financial SportsPlex, 2001 University Ave. East, Waterloo, ON. The show runs from 10:00am to 4:00pm. Here's a link to their website. http://www.canadiannationals.net  Well "7-1/2 HP" got the final touches on the weekend and is ready for video production. Here is a little peek at part of the finished project for the curious.  The tails and manes were made from an old piece of hemp rope that was lying about in one of the storage sheds. It's likely been around for 40 years of more. I guess it makes the piece vintage!
Here's a quick clip of a "quickie" automata project for consumption. Keep in mind in this case a "quickie" seems to be something like three days work! (I need an apprentice!) Anyway a few finishing touches are yet to be added before the whole storyline is revealed And oh yes, the little horse is the half horsepower. FACTOID: (One metric horsepower is needed to lift the average person by 1 meter in 1 second.) Had to leave my shop to take care of business in the city for a bit. The Trojan Cat is in the shop waiting my return to fit things together. But I can't sit idle too long, ( well I can actually) so I have laid out my new project while in the city. No scroll saw here so all I can do is do setup here to save time once I get back into the shop.  Hardly an exciting photo but it does demonstrate how I use templates from my CAD design software to cut shapes for the project. I light dusting of temporary spray adhesive holds things together while drilling and cutting. They likely won't get cut out till Monday.
Well now I can officially say the mice are finished! See the gang below. Now the challenge is fitting them into a space to make them look crowded yet far enough apart to allow space for the movements. It's hard to tell from the photo but, some can turn their heads, some can raise and lower their shields, some can raise their spears, some can wave their swords, and others can twist on the spot. If forgot to add that the hatch has been fitted in place. So onto the next step. It seems there is always a next step!   After a few distractions, including a few snow squalls, indoor flying, and extended coffee with some neighbours, the Geek army got some colour.. Most are still missing arms, waiting to see what their placement in the piece will allow. Who will carry shields, spears, or swords? Three of these guys will twist their heads to look around. So a with little more figuring of the lift and mechanism and things should get straightened out. .  |
Why Automata?Automata is a creative blend of my life interests , engineering, art and woodworking. Archives
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