Pinwheels in Inkscape

My new model involves making pinwheel gears. I used to do this in Illustrator and used the tutorial on the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre website for this. However, I no longer have this software and instead went for the Open Source alternative of Inkscape. I had trouble working out how to make the pinwheels at first but now have a method. I thought I'd create a PDF and provide a download link for those who are interested in it:

http://www.mediafire.com/view/?z0r4prji5oaptz0

One of the nice things about making automata is that the materials do not necessarily have to be expensive. I'd find it hard to justify spending hundreds of pounds on a piece of software to assist with the design process, so I use a free alternative. 

Of course, another alternative would be to just use a protractor, ruler and a compass but I always find my accuracy slightly off with this method. 

I hope this helps. If you have any queries, please comment/contact me.

Post seasons greetings

Hello and seasons greetings to you all. Just thought I'd give a quick update following Christmas.

I've started working on my next model which I will make in time for Valentine's day (hopefully). I've made the frame and am going to incorporate a pin wheel gear, as I 'm fed up with work gears. Besides, pin wheel gears can be tricky to make accurately so there's a challenge there in itself. Pics to follow soon. 

I have also been shopping on line and have bought a few new goodies, such as a block plane, a drill press stand and a drill holder so I can turn my drill into a lathe of sorts. This should allow me to do more interesting things and hopefully with a bit more accuracy. 

I might also be getting a workshop in the new year! Good times!

Anyway, back to the model.

Ta da!

For your pleasure and amusement (hopefully), here is a video of my latest automaton, "Cruel Santa":

I hope you forgive the poor quality and editing. 

Also, Santa has extra short legs because I believe every cruel tyrant should be mocked in some way to make them less scary and deny them the power of fear over their subjects. 

I also didn't give them any eyes as I was concerned I would mess them up and ruin the whole piece. 

A Christmas miracle!

Well, not really a miracle and more like a bit of hard work but the model is finished. I'll be creating, editing and uploading a vid tomorrow. Then onto eBay. In the meantime, here is a picture of the cams I used.

OK, so it didn't work

Not because the shapes were incorrect but it comes down to the same problem of measurments not being precise, which then has an impact on other parts of the mechanism. I think I got 2 movements working but it looks messy. Better to do the job properly then leave it messy and prone to breaking.

Because of this, I won't be able to finish the model before Christmas.

I could always save it for next Christmas, or maybe as an early new year model.

I hope this works!

So...I have an idea for how to design the cam wheels. Hopefully it'll work. 

I have made a series of radial circles and have marked each dividing line with a number which I am using for timing, so when one part of the model does something at this point on this cam, something else will happen at the same point on the other cam.

It's a bit messy but hopefully it'll at least give me some idea of how it will all work. I'm going to make the cams out of cardboard first, rather than cut the wood straight away. I also forgot that the cams are turning anti-clockwise so I need to reverse the cut-outs so they move the right way.

Note to self: get cardboard. 

Ready in time for Christmas?

Well, progress has been kinda slow so I'm not even sure that the model will be ready in time for Xmas. I'll do my best though. Here are some random pics:

I've also redesigned the mechanism a bit and removed the gears and replaced this with a belt drive to sow things down. Next stop, working out where to place the levers and also to make the cams. 

How I wish I had a scroll saw...