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Here'a a quick video clip of the unpainted fish in motion! They have been painted since. Temporary jaw pins are still in place.
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I got back into the shop, a little rain always helps, and basically finished up the mechanism portion of "Schools Out" as planned. It's what will put the bounce in the school of fish that will give them the illusion of swimming forward. I haven't done the final glue-up of all the fittings yet. I always try to leave my options open till the end. Many a time I've glued pins in and then cursed as I tried to free them to make some unplanned last minute correction. Although I showed you the handle in my last blog post I also have not attached it yet. This allows me to disassemble the input shaft of the gearbox if necessary. I've attached this little video giving an early peek at how things will work. The fish bodies are just blocks for the moment. The jaws of the fish will open and close as the fish rise and fall. You may be able to see on the template where these will eventually be fitted. Enjoy. Al School's Out Teaser VideoThere are many terrific automata out there that show groupings of creatures in motion. I have always thought that fish ones were particularly interesting. After my assembling my last piece turned into something a little frustrating I decided to make something a little simpler. Hence my next project - school of fish. they will be nothing to exotic tough as they will simply bounce up and down and open their mouths as they appear to swim. As it is simpler it will likely end up in a more comfortable price range. So with the design and CAD drawing completed I will start building "School"s Out" this weekend. 
School's Out!
You can now see a video of my latest automata, "Pond Life" on the "Pond Life" page on my website or on my Youtube channel. Additional photos taken during the building are shown on the Pond Life Photo Gallery Page.
Hope you enjoy them! Al Well it seemed like forever for me but I eventually finished my latest piece, "Pond Life". Originally it was to be "The Life of a Frog" but the addition of Billy the bass, and Willy the water snake as a handle made rename the piece. As I mentioned before, even though it was a simple project in concept, I made more little boo-boos and &*$@# along the way than any other piece I've done. So this will go down as a real labour of love. I thought about putting it aside many times! Anyway here is a photo. In a view days I'll throw together a video and post it. 
Still without pupils, an eerie look at best, Hopkins has received his environmental camouflage. It isn't easy being green, or at least so says Kermit the frog a famous distant relative of Hopkins. For now Hopkins sits and waits for his pond to be developed. Hopefully those out hunting for frog's legs won't come upon him 
Here is a followup from the item two posts ago. It shows some of the links inside Hopkin's body during construction. Here is the same view as before just before the top cap is glued on. The two brass wires protruding from the opening near the eyeballs are the links that pivot the eyelids. The jaw pivot rod has been added and a 1/8" thick plywood arm has been attached as an actuator. Five brass rod links yet to be added, down through the bottom of the cavity, will control the eyes, eyelids, and lower jaw. 
Here's Hopkins assembled and covered with a coat of white sandable sealer prior to applying paint. It gives him a ghoulish appearance. He is still without pupils, which will only be positioned once all the linkages are attached in he mechanism. I intend to have his eyes follow a fly that is buzzing around in front of him. 
Remember the water lily from a few blogs entries back? It will be positioned somewhere in front of him as shown below. A couple of lily pads, a fly, and the "uppers" will be complete. Then it's onto building the mechanism... 
Well it was a lovely weekend here in Southern Ontario for a change so not all the time was spent locked in the shop. The garden railroad required some spring cleaning before too many sprouts got in the way. However Hopkins did get some internals made and installed, his lower lip progressed, some and some rudimentary shaping. In this case making, soldering, shaping and fitting up the levers for the eye movements did take a little time.  Hopkins with eyeballs, eyelids and mouth temporarily in place. Lots of shaping of the brow yet to come when the assembly is glued together.  View without top showing lever bars for eyelids (not connected yet), right angle levers for eyeballs (one on left connected), and dowel for jaw pivot (lever arm yet to be installed} Back in the shop this week, hopefully some big steps forward!
Al In my automata current piece I am trying to keep all the linkages and mechanism hidden inside the character. This week I've spent time back in the city working on CAD designs of internal pieces to make all of Hopkin's parts work. I'm off to the the shop tomorrow and hopefully, if there are not too many interruptions, I'll be in fabrication. Problem is it that it may be the first nice weekend of the year and the Garden Railroad needs a spring clean!
Too many toys, too little time! Al |
Why Automata?Automata is a creative blend of my life interests , engineering, art and woodworking. Archives
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