Laughing Machine #1 - Prototype
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An English king collapses in hysterical laughter. Why are his teeth yellow and wonky? Because he's from the privileged elite and has had access to state-of-the-art British dentistry! Video, description and detailed photos below...
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For once I didn't design this prototype on the computer. It came together quickly and organically in about 10 hours of happy tinkering.
I made it with hand tools from scrap wood. The king is hand-carved from basswood. I used a saw and Stanley knife to rough out the head shape. The details were carved with crooked knives made by Kestrel Tool. It's painted with acrylics.
I was inspired to make it by a piece of wood on my workbench, which I thought looked like someone laughing. I made several versions of the head before settling on a design in which the lower jaw is attached to the body.
It's a simple mechanism. The crank turns a cam and the cam follower, which is mounted above it, moves the body of the king up and down. A pivot in the base of the body gives it a rocking back and forth movement. The head rocks back and forth by momentum, that makes the movement somewhat random and more interesting. I was previously an animator, so this kind of uncontrolled, non-mechanical movement is something try to add to my automata.
The pebble is from my local beach. Its purpose is to keep the cam follower in contact with the cam. Without it, the king would get stuck in the backward leaning position.
I admit it's a bit rough around the edges, but I'lll make a beautiful, refined, enhanced version soon.
An article on making this prototype will be published in an upcoming issue of Automata Magazine.
I made it with hand tools from scrap wood. The king is hand-carved from basswood. I used a saw and Stanley knife to rough out the head shape. The details were carved with crooked knives made by Kestrel Tool. It's painted with acrylics.
I was inspired to make it by a piece of wood on my workbench, which I thought looked like someone laughing. I made several versions of the head before settling on a design in which the lower jaw is attached to the body.
It's a simple mechanism. The crank turns a cam and the cam follower, which is mounted above it, moves the body of the king up and down. A pivot in the base of the body gives it a rocking back and forth movement. The head rocks back and forth by momentum, that makes the movement somewhat random and more interesting. I was previously an animator, so this kind of uncontrolled, non-mechanical movement is something try to add to my automata.
The pebble is from my local beach. Its purpose is to keep the cam follower in contact with the cam. Without it, the king would get stuck in the backward leaning position.
I admit it's a bit rough around the edges, but I'lll make a beautiful, refined, enhanced version soon.
An article on making this prototype will be published in an upcoming issue of Automata Magazine.
