mechanisms

Kinetic sculptures : ‘Wood that Works’

Posted by hil

Wood that Works is a portfolio of beautiful wooden kinetic sculptures by David C. Roy who works out of Ashford, Connecticut. My favourite is Variations, but there is something about the unexpected timing in Migration, that is very attractive too. Each of the sculptures is powered by a constant force or Negator spring which you wind up to start the motion, and the movement lasts from 2 to 18 hours, depending on the sculpture.

Roy recommends one book for its great mechanism drawings: Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements by Henry T. Brown (copyright 1868, 1896). Actually, I like its full title from the seventeenth edition of 1893 even better:

“Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements, Embracing All Those Which Are Most Important In Dynamics, Hydraulics, Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, Steam Engines, Mill and other Gearing, Presses, Horology, and Miscellaneous Machinery: and including Many Movements Never Before Published and Several Which Have only Recently Come into Use”

Automata

Posted by hil

Sometime last year I happened across the Flying Pig Gallery, a site which houses whimsical paper automata models for you to cut out and make. There are numerous models in kit form, such as this hopping kangaroo, while others like the Agreeable Sheep are free to download. There’s also a very cool section of animations that illustrate mechanisms that are used in automata. They assure us that no sheep were hurt in the making of the trebuchet animation :-).

Of course if you are interested in automata, and haven’t come across them already, you need to know about Cabaret Mechanical Theatre, a Museum of Automata (Mechanical Sculpture). In particular, follow the artists links to see some wonderful creations.