An ancient TV program featuring myself and the lovely Sue Jackson at her automata store in Covent Garden, Sadly the shop is no longer there. Happy days. 

 The Flying Riever is finished andwas instaled today.The Museum are very happy with it. Many thanks to Sam Lanyon http://www.conceptshed.com/ for all his patience.

I have finished the painting on the riever.

I have designed a new automata as a gift for Valantines day. It cam be purchased from my ETSY shop  http://www.etsy.com/listing/89421745/a-hand-made-automata-for-valentines-day

My Heart Has Wings

My Heart Has Wings

My Heart Has Wings

 I have been working hard finishing all the moving automata that will be attched to the rievers bike.

The skeletal bird

The skeletal bird

The Nautalus

The Nautalus

The moving mermaid painting

The moving mermaid painting

The moving mermaid painting

The foxy riever

The foxy riever

The iridescent bug

The iridescent bug

I had a very plesant and undemanding day compleating the nautilus (which I have now learnt to spell) There were lots of maths and measurements involved in the making of the shell but I enjoy using math some times as most of my work just happens.I like the way the cams have a sort of shell like apperance, a happy accident.

The shell, cut from thin ply using a sharp knife.

The first 3 sections of the shell contain the mechanical parts.

The tentacles.Spell check said testicles.

The cams that will operate tentacles.I have drilled holes in the centre of the cams to save weight. It is very satisfying to drill holes to save weight.

The cams fitted into the shell.

The first tentacle installed. I am using a brass tube bearing on a stainless steel rod with a generous clearance.

The finished assembly.

This is the support bracket for the nautilus.

This 12volt geared dc motor will drive the cams. It will be run at 3 volts to extend the life of the motor

The completed automata (apart from the painting.)

 The riever's body has gone off to Sams workshop to have it's metal supporting frame welded up. I have kept the head and added a beard and some hair. I have also started work prototyping the Nautalus out of card. The Naultalus is one of three automata which will direct the museum visitor to the Natural History section of the museum..

The rievers hair and beard will be painted a strong ginger.

Card Nautilus mock-up

Each section is increased in length by 20cms and increased in width .25 of an inch. The actual Nautilus will be made from the same thin ply as the riever.

 Work is progressing well on the riever. I am getting the hang of working with the thin ply and I am forming shapes that I thought would be impossible. Its like making a giant card cut-out and the finished pieces are strong and very light.

One of the rievers high boots. The toe cap is the only piece made from solid wood.

The breastplate was the most difficult piece to get right.

The legs fitted to a wooden support.This will be fabricated in steel tube later.The feet have been screwed onto the pedals.

The breastplate rests on the tube that acts as the leg pivot. It is supported just below the shoulders by the upright pole.

An access hole has been cut to allow for the fitting of the flapping cape mechanics..

The neck and head are pivoted, and both will move, operated by one of the legs

An extra piece has been added to the breast plate, using the card template to get the shape right.

The head with a wooden nose.

The helmet, with a card mock-up of the crest.

I rubbed wood filler over the paper mache and then sanded it to get a smooth finish. Later it will be given a few coats of gesso and sanded again

This is the mechanism that operates the eyes.

I have added two ears.

The gauntlets.Only the fingers are solid.

I have started to work on the head and body of the Border reiver. The finished figure will be made from 1.3 mm birch plywood to keep it as light as possible. If the ply is soaked in water or steamed it can be bent into tight curves. It naturaly only likes to bend in ond direction, but if soaked or steamed, it can be persuaded to bend a little in the other direction.  

My first head in card, half life size.

The fist head was taken apart, and the pieces were used as a pattern to form the life size head, again in card.

The second head was taken apart and used as a pattern to cut the ply. This ply head still has a card nose.

The eyes are made from table tennis balls and will look up and down.

Some of the body parts, made in card.

The upper leg has been cut along the seam and folded flat to form a pattern.

The ply version is soaked overnight and held in shape using pop rivets. When it is dry super glue is squeezed into the join and the rivits are tightened. Later the rivet heads are ground off.

The breastplate is made in the same way. Note the way the ply changes direction at the top, to allow for the opposite bend.

The helmet is made from paper mache, using a wooden hat makers mould.

 
I have been commissioned by the Tullie House Museum in Carlisle to produce a life size automata which will be suspended from the roof of their entrance atrium. The automata will act as signpost, directing visitors to the various galleries, shop, and possibily the toilets.

The Flying Museum Guide

The Flying Museum Guide

The Flying Reiver

 I have finished the design work on another cut out kit for the Evergreen international Corperation.

Steam Flight

Steam Flight

Steam Flight

Steam Flight

Steam Flight

Steam Flight

Steam Flight

I have finished the automata kit for the Explratorium. It has been interesing making a wooden and card automata at the same time. In the wooden version, the bird closes it's beak as the neck jerks up, powered by a spring. In the card version, where a spring or rubber band would cause too much friction, the bird closes it's mouth as the neck moves dowm, powered by gravity.

Two automata, both made from trees.Nature gave us this wonderful material and we invented plastic.

The four base pillars are glued together

The bottom of the base.

The best way to attach the base pillars is to apply the glue and push them up from below.

The top is easier to glue if adhesive is applied to the top of pillars one at a time, using a thin strip of wood to apply the glue between the gaps.

This part keeps the levers in line and running straight.

Here it is glued into place

These two parts support the camshaft.

One of the two camshaft supports is glued to the BACK of the base.

The camshaft and cams. The green cam operates the bird and the orange cam works the man's face..

The camshaft is inserted (not glued) into the back camshaft support

The front camshaft support is glued in place (no glue is applied to the camshaft as it needs to rotate

The handle is glued in place

The wooden packing crate is glued together.

The crate is glued onto the top of the base.

The Robo Bird's body is glued onto the crate.

This green lever will rest on the green cam. The profile on the cam will impart movement to the lever, which will move the bird.

The lever is glued into place.

Gravity keeps it in contact with the cam. A little silicone grease applied here will reduce friction.

This is the neck of the bird. It passes through the birds body and the crate and rests on the green lever

This is the pivot for the birds head.

The bird's head.

The pivot passes through the birds head and neck. It is secured by a card disc.

The neck is slid down through the body and crate to the lever.

A linkage from the birds beak is glued to the body. As the head moves up, the linkage opens the beak.

The second beak linkage. When the lever falls, the beak is snapped shut.

The birds back wing and spanner.

Another pivot passes through the wing, spanner and neck. The spanner pivots on a card slot, so as the wing moves up, the spanner moves down

On the other side the pivot passes through the birds wing and arm and is secured with a card disc.

The man's legs are glued together....

followed by his upper body...

and head.

The head is glued to the body...

and the body is glued to the legs.This is best done on a flat surface.

A small spacer is glued onto the front of the legs.

The tabs on the bottom of the legs are glued into slots in the base top. The spacer is glued (where indicated) to the back of the crarte

The man's expressions are glued onto the operating rod

The operating rod passes down through the body and legs to rest on the orange lever

The orange lever glued into place.

When the orange lever is down, the man pulls this face.

When the orange lever is up, it pushes up the expression flap, and the man pulls this face

The man's arms.

One hand rests on the crate.

Here is how the arm is fixed to the body

The hand on the other arm rests on the spanner . As the spanner travels up and down, it moves the arm. The joints in the arm need to be loosened by pre-bending , to reduce resistance.

The grease can.

The grease can is placed, but not glued, onto the hand.

Another automata rolls off the production line. When I was watching the video I relised that the paper packing material spilling out from the wooden crate gave the impression of a birds nest. This lead me to think abourt birds that collect things to take back to their nest.

Exploratorium Tinkering Robo-Bird

I gave the bird a tail made from a clock spring to visualy balance the generator on the opposite side.

It's difficutlt to capture the redness of the LED with a camera.

He is supposed to look like he is thinking.This movment was a by-product of the hand going up to the nose.

The title.

The bird's body.

I sanded down the base of the printed circuit to make it look lighter and so more in scale.

The bird's 'nest'.

The electrics.

The back of Mike.

 I have given Mike some hair (made from thin string) and a pair of glasses. He also has a red, superbright, LED nose. I have also added the levers along with their connections.

I have used the plastic lenses that I employed in making the bird's eyes for the lenses in Mike's glasses

The wires on the LED are pushed through small holes in Mike's face.

The ends of the wires are bent over to hold the nose in place.I wanted the LED to be easy to replace.

The bent ends are soldered to the feed wires.

The LED is very bright.

This lever will operate Mike's head.

The lever fitted in place against the cam.

This wire will be connected to a lever on Mike's head.

When the lever is down, Mike's head is pulled up.

When the lever is up, Mike's head is pushed down.

This lever operates Mike's arm

It is connected to the arm lever.

I thought it would be nice if Mike opened his mouth in shock after the bird had pecked his nose.
I was a bit worried about cutting the mouth out of the almost finished head in case I made a mess of it. In the end it turned out fine and was well worth the effort.

I removed the neck and cut out the lower jaw.

The back of the jaw has been trimed to fit around the neck. It pivots on a thin piece of stiff wire

Front view.

The lower jaw is linked to the body by a piece of fishing line. As the head moves down,the line bends but pushes against the jaw, keeping it closed.

When the head moves fully back, the line comes under tension, opening Mike's mouth.

My progress so far. the automata will be called 'The Tinkering Studio Robo- Bird

Mike's forearm moves up to his nose in an arc from his elbow.The hand is attached with a small spring, which allows it to move a little.

The lever that works the arm. Rather than soldering a rod on the arm pivot (which has to be removed when I come to the painting)I bent the lever from one piece of wire,which is stronger as there is no soldered joint.

I made the bird's eyes by cutting the clear plastic tops off of novelty eyes and glueing them on to my own drawings,mounted on to wooden dowles.

The bird with it's eyes.I have used the belt drive that I aded, to operate a crank, which moves the bird's arm.

The same drive turns the crank on the generator, which moves Mike's arm.

Still lots to do,

Here is my progress so far. When I am working I tend to jump from one thing to another rather than progressing in a straight line. I was going to order the pictures in groups, The Man, Cams, The Bird, ect, but I decided that this would give a false impression of my working methods.

Mike's body and neck.

Mike's neck lowered. It was difficult to get enought clearance between the body and the bird while still leaving enought room for Mike's arm to raise up to his nose.

Mike's head with one eye fitted.When the bird pecks his nose, he will raise his head and go cross eyed, looking at his glowing nose.

Here is the linkage that will move the eyes.

As the neck and head move up, the crossover rods will move the eyes together.

The first cam. I will need to remove and replace the cams a lot, so to get a nice sliding fit on the 8mm shaft I drilled an 8mm hole and then opened it out by re-drilling with a piece of 8mm steel. This operation produces a terrible screaming noise .

The cam assembly.Later I will screw each cam to it's neighbour.

The cams instaled into the base.

This lever will raise and lower the bird. I have fitted it now so that I can test the bird and make sure that it's beak makes contact with Mike's nose

The pivot tube on the lever is in Imperial brass and is a sloppy fit on a lenght of metric stainlees steel rod. It is best to avoid brass on brass as it tends to seize up.

This is the crate that the robo bird will sit on. It will have a label saying ' Exploratorium Robo Bird Kit' or such like.

Later I found this nice wood, so despite cursing , I re-made the crate

The crate positioned on the base.

The nylon bearing for the bird's neck. I made the square hole by heating up the bass and pushing ot through.

The bearing has been glued into the birds body.

The front of the bird's body

The bird's head, The beak closes using a scissor action. Imagine holding a pair of scissors and lifting them up by the pivot point, they will close.

The birds head connected to it's brass neck.

The bird's head positioned on it's body.The linkages from the head have been connected.

Here is the connection between the lever connecting rod and the neck. As yet it has not been glued but is a tight push fit. It will be glued at the very end.

One of the bird's two aluminum wings. Later they will be brushed with steel wool in a circular motion, the effect will resemble the enging cowling of 'The Spirit of St Louis' .

As rod passed through the neck will operate the wings.

As the neck goes up.the wings go down.

I have added a pulley to one of the cams to achieve more movment on the bird. The cam is right underneath the bird so I am sure that I can make something happen.

I have connected the pulley from the cam to the base of the bird.

The drive I have just added will impart a rotating acton to Mike's left hand, so I need to make a gripping hand.

I am crap at carving so to make to fingers bend I have to make a flat hand and chop it up.

After sanding all the fingers and thumb at an angle I glue them back on.

Mike's hand will be turning a generator. By chance, I found this brass fitting from an Indian door handle which is the perfect size to fit.

The generator fitted to the birds body. More soon xxxx

I have finished the base and drive for the automata. The Exploratoriam has quite a high humidity so I have used birch ply in it's construction as it less prone to shrinkage and expansion.

The lower parts of the base have been screwed together.

The top is screwed on.

These two strips of ply will support the camshaft.They are a tight push fit as I will need to remove and replace them many times later.

I have made two nylon bearings to ensure that the camshaft turns without friction.

The camshaft is a piece of 8mm stainless steel

The motor is mounted onto a piece of ply.......

...and screwed onto the base.

The drive pulley parts. I have knurled the end of the brass boss to give good adhesion for the epoxy glue.

The drive pulley glued together...

and fitted to the motor.

The camshaft pulley is glued onto the shaft and over the securing pin. All of the cams will be screwed to this pulley.

The drive betl is joined by melting both ends. These are industrial quality and last for years.

The motor connected to the cam shaft. If the automata does jam up,the belt will slip,thus protecting the motor.

I have finished the prototype of the card automata kit that I am making for the Exploratorium http://www.exploratorium.edu/ .

Finished prototype

I have added a spanner......

...and a can of grease.

This cam and lever operate the bird.Another cam behind it moves the mans face.

I have been commissioned by my good friends at The Exploratorium,San francisco  http://www.exploratorium.edu/ to make two automata. One will be in wood and metal and the other, based on the same design, will be in card, and sold as a do it yourself automata kit.

My design for the wooden automata. It will have a cycle of 10 to 15 seconds.

Design for the robot bird.

Ideas for the card automata.

Upside down ideas

Normal nose

Red nose

Here is how it works.The tall hair hides the flap as it slides up behind cut outs in the face

The base of the bird

I may replace this with artwork of a crazy printed circuit.

These levers work the bird and the mans face

This cam operate the levers.

As the birds head and neck drop down, two linkages, attached to the body, snap the beak shut.

With card automata,it's easy to get a quick downward movment, you just use gravity. Quick upward movments require an elastic band, which are a pain to include in the kits.

In the wooden version the birds head will spring up,rather than down,The beak will be closed using a scissor action. I will use a spring on a lever which will follow the cam.When the lever reaches the cut out in the cam, it will spring up.

My donations box for the John Rylands Libary is finished. Every painted part was given four coats of acrylic paint and the painting took four days to compleat. Once I have finished the plinth and the perspex cover is made it will be delivered to the libary in Manchester.

John Rylands Libary donations box

John Rylands Libary donations box

John Rylands Libary donations box

John Rylands Libary donations box

John Rylands Libary donations box

John Rylands Libary donations box

John Rylands Libary donations box

John Rylands Libary donations box

 Here is my progress so far

The inside of the womans head. A fishing line will be attached to her tea cup and pass through her head. When the line is pulled. the cup will be raised to her lips and pull her head back(her neck will be a stiff spring)

The two sides of the womans head glued together. I have left an access hole for threading the line. This will be covered by a small removable hat

The womans and her chair.

The Dragon and his chair.

The Dragon leaning forward, with his mouth open.

The cams, as yet un-cut.

The cans fitted into the base and connected to the drive motor.

The figures hvae been fitted in place on the base and a table has been added.

I have given the woman some hair (made from the cord taken from our old pouf, pardon me)

The acess hole is still acessable. I might get a phone call in 5 years time saying that the 20lb line on the cup has broken.

Here are the cams cut to shape. I have a very simple way to work out the cam profiles but it's a secret.

At the end of the cycle a little bookworm will emerge from a pile of books with a thank you sign, or perhaps a musical score from 'Sweet Charity', but pobalbly not,as she was a prostitute and my client might not like that concept

I have been commissioned to make a donations box for the John Rylands Libary in Manchester, UK.The automata will feature Enriqueta Rylands, who used her large fortune and 20 years of her time in the foundation of the Libary.

Concept Drawing

Dimensions

After a few days of manic painting the fishy automata is finished, and ready to fly to the US.

The fishermans Tale

The fishermans Tale

The fishermans Tale

The fishermans Tale

The fishermans Tale

The fishermans Tale

The fishermans Tale

A very nice man contacted me via my web site and asked if I could make him an automata. He is a keen sailor and fisherman and wanted a piece based on this subject.As I am a keen sailor and fisherman, I was only too happy to accept his commission.

The base and crank support.

The crank. The metal rod will be fixed into the base of the fish.

I have attached a pulley to the end of the crank. This will operate the fishermans winch .

The handle and a bit of reduction gearing.

The top is screwed on. I have added a nylon bearing to help the metal fish supporting rod move smoothley.

To state the bloody obvious, the fish. It is inspired by a drawing from the great Ronald Searl,from his book 'Zoodiack'.

These metel rods will support the boat.

This linkage moves the fishes head up and down.

The boat is attached to the fish via the winch piviot..The distance between the winch and the crank remain constantt, so a drive belt can be employed with no streaching.Do the math.

The fishes eyes (a delcasy in Greece), are moved by this lever.

A linkage is attached from the eye lever to the front of the boat. I make this up as I go along.

The Fisherman. Inspired by a sketch from the GREAT Roland Emmitt.

The hat brim and moustach are made from card.

The fisherman in his boat, ready to land his prize catch.

The fishes pectoral fin. By a happy accident, this is positioned near to the winch drive belt ,so I have added a pulley to male it revolve in an amusing way.

The winch drive belt kisses the fin pulley and there is enought friction to make it revolve.

The pectorial fin in place.

A Seagull 4hp two stroke. These were origanally designed as 'disposable' outboards for the allied beach landings during World War 2. I have one and disposable is the operative word. they do look nice though.

The outboard in place. A certain amount of artistic licence has been employed.

One of two fenders.

An elasticatd line runs from a hook in the fishes mouth to the winch

An irresistable worm.

The finished piece. Next paintig and then video.

I have was  asked by my agents,Evergreen International  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evergreen_Group to design a cut out automata kit of a Chinese Dragon. Next year is the year of the Dragon so I am hoping that it is a popular model. The finished kit will be printed on both sides of the card.

The bottom parts of the base glued together.

The crank and crank slider. A card washer has been glued on to keep it in the right position.

The crank has been inserted (but not glued), into a hole in the crank support.

Once the crank is in place.the base top can be glued on.

This part fits over the slider.It is a loose fit and helps the slider move smoothley.

Care has been taken not to get any glue on the slider,which must be free to move up and down.

The central part of the Dragons body.

It is glued onto the crank slider.

This strip of card add extra support.

Oops, forgot to mention the handle.

Here is the tail.....

and the tail end.

One back leg and claw have been glued together. The upper and lower lag are joined togethr by a card hinge, allowing them to move.

This is the back legs and tail pivot.

It is pushed (not glued) through the lag and tail.

A tab on the lower leg passes through the claw and is glued into a slot in the base.

The other leg is pushed on and a card flame is glued on to hold everything in place.

This linkage moves the Dragons tail up and down. The other claw has been glued into place.

The neck...

lower jaw..

and head.Note the strip of card whic operates the Dragons mouth.

Self adhesive plastic eyes are fitted in place.

Another pivot passes through the Dragons front legs and neck. A linkage moves the neck up and down.

This card strip is glued to the middle part of them body. As the neck moves up and down the mouth is pulled open and closed.

The dragons left claw will hold this cloud ball.

The claw holding the cloud ball is bent over.

The Dragons claw is glued to the cloud ball and the automata is finished.

The compleated Fire Dragon.

Oops again, forgot this bit. It's been a long day and three new cut out designs in one month must be worthy of The Guiness Book of Records, if a little obscure.

This cut out automata kit was commissioned by my publishers, Arcturus Publishing http://www.arcturuspublishing.com/ .
It will be sold at The National Gallery in London. This is my second kit for the Gallery.

The base.

The crank-slider. This part will connect the Tiger's body to the crank.

The first two parts of the crank glued together.

The crank passes through the slider but is NOT glued, as it needs to move.

The compleated crank. It works on the same principal as a car crankshaft, raising and dropping the connecting rod

A support for the crank has been glued to the the base.

The Crank has been fitted into the rear crank support (not glued), an the front crank support has been glued into place.

The base top has been glued into place. note the 'front' markings

This sleeve helps the crank slider more more smoothly. It is hinged so that it can move back and forth.

The handle.

The Tigers body

TheTigers body Has been glued onto the crank-slider.

These two tabs (fom the crank slider) are glued onto the top o the Tigers body

The Tigers leg has been glued to a shaft. The shaft is pushed through the body and tail.

The other leg has been glued in place.

The Tigers upper and lower jaw.

The compleated head. The head is pivoted so that the mouth can open and close.

The front leg.

The other leg has been glud into place.

This linkage operates the front legs.

This linkage operates the back legs.

And this linkage pulls the Tigers head open.

The lower legs are glued on.

This folage disguises the leg linkages.

The foreground and background has been glued on.

My first design idea.

Design artwork submited to The National Gallery.

First moving prototype.I always find that the first prototype has an excitement that the finished piece lacks. this is very annoying

Another card automata kit design for Evergreen International.

The base parts.

The base glued together.

The crank and slider.

A washer has been added.

The crank fitted (but not glued,it has to move)

A washer holds the crank in place.

The handle has been glued in place.

The top of the base has been glued on.

This part supports the slider as it moves up and down.It is hinged so that it can move from side to side.

This part supports the back of the crank.

The Elk's neck and body.

The Elk's body has been glued onto the slider.

A square rod of card has been glued into a square hole in one of the Elks' arms....

it passes through a square washer, the Elk's body, and another square washer.

The arm has been glued onto the rod. A card disc hides the join.

The back legs are fixed in the same way except that they do not have any washers fitted.

This joint allows the skis to move.

Both skis have been fitted.

This card linkage moves the Elk's arms.

The Elk's head.

The Elk's head is balanced on the neck. This allows it to move a little.

The backround.

The compleated automata.

This is my first new design for the Evergreen International Corperation based in Tiwan. It is called 'A Wolf in Sheeps Clothing' and is based on a wooden automata thay I first made ten years ago.

The prototype

The prototype has been taken apart and layed out on A4 paper to work out how many sheets will be needed.

The base supports. The artwork has been compleated (using the prototype as a guide).Here are the base supports . All the artwork has been colour photo copied.

The base. I have marked the back as it is easy to get it the wrong way around.

The base supports glued into the base at right angles.

The base top.

The base top glued onto the base supports.

One of two cam shaft supports.

The cam shaft support glued into place at the back of the base.

The cam shaft with two cams. The pink cam operates the wolf and the green cam works the sheep.

The cam shaft fitted (not glued) into the cam shaft support.

The front cam shaft support glued into place.

The handle is glued onto the end of the cam shaft.

This green lever that operates the sheep.

The sheep lever glued into place and resting on the green cam.

This pink lever operates the wolf.

The wolf lever glued into place and resting on the cam.

The chair and wolf's body.the linkage from the geen lever has been glued to the wolf's body. .

The head and lower jaw. The linkage opens the wolf's mouth as he leans forward.

The wolf's arms fitted into place

The sheep's chair and legs.

The compleated sheep. A linkage connects the sheeps head to the green lever.

The sheep's asparagus and the wolf's mint sauce.

The sheep's attempt to hide the menu.

The finished cut-out.