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Well the little dog ended up as a Chocolate Lab. The first photo is after the pyrography was completed. The next two shots are after a paint job and surface urethane. The collar still remains to be painted while I decide whether it will be green or red - likely red, the more I think about it. He might yet get a dog tag if I believe it will be visible enough in the final piece. 
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Over the last couple of days I have been wood burning fur on the dog that is to be part of the current automata. He has been posted previously in the blog. It's the kind of thing that can be a little tedious at times, as well as loud if you are using a vacuum to suck smoke fumes away as I am, since I am not working in my sj. Anyway I thought I would throw a photo of a partially burnt pooch into the blogsphere. 
A couple of hind quarters and a head to go.
Well the little leviathan got a some colour this morning. He now looks more like a fish should. His eyes were left "bug eyed" show that their movement would be more evident. His jaw pin was installed and plugs put in and sanded prior to painting. They were still visible in the last photo. My intention with a component like this is to look somewhat real, perhaps a whimsical, and portioned to facilitate the planned movement. Tail fin to nose he is 4-3/4" long. 
I added the four additional pectoral fins to the fish and added a little ribbing detail on all the fins and defined the gill plates with a wood burning tool. 
A little finish sanding and touch up and onto painting.
The current automata project has a large Bass lurking under the dock where a boy is fishing. He will periodically poke out his head and as he does his mouth will close and eyes will roll. Large is relative of course, he is just over 4" long. 
The little block on his chin is to limit how far his mouth falls open and has been cut down substantially so it is not noticeable. There are two cables that operate the eyes and mouth. One of them (for the eyes) can be seen in the photo near the bottom rear. The actuator for the eyes had to be assembled in the fish as it was made. As shown below the blank was sliced in half horizontally and a brass lever, weighted with solder was installed. The eyes are drilled out dowels slipped onto brass pins and were shaped into eyes after reassembly of the body and final carving. There are small brass tubes through the rear of the fish so the cables operate smoothly. Three fins are made from 1/16" ply and added later. The two dorsal fins can be easily seen above. There are still two pectoral fins to be added when the above photo was taken. I'll repost after he is painted. 
Been busy in the shop this week, doing lots of little bits on a new piece. At lot of redesign as I go on this piece to fit all the components I want in without interference. I just finished roughing in a dog that is part of the piece; maybe mongrel, maybe Golden Labrador. His role is to enthusiastically peer over the side of a dock looking into the water. His head scans back and forth while his tail vigorously wags back and forth. Here are a couple of views. View from below showing the internal lever arms. 
A view showing him as he will sit on the finished piece. The next task is to use a wood burning tool to depict his fur. 
Lastly here is a view from below showing his face. Its a bit of a shame that he continuously looks down, so viewers with have to crane their necks to she the details on his face. The pencil lines are to assist in the alignment of the fur. 
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Why Automata?Automata is a creative blend of my life interests , engineering, art and woodworking. Archives
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