WIP - Another Kinetic Scultpure

[Ian down london way]

Motivation needed

I've not got stuck into a project for a while now, so I'm going to use peer pressure to get me going. I've bought two sets of plans, another clock from the great designer Clayton Boyer in Hawaii (called "Medieval Rack Clock") - easy to find the videos of it working. The other, from a guy in America whose plans I've not tried before, is called Merlot, by Derek Hugger.

This is his web site - http://www.derekhugger.com/merlot.html, and this is video of what I'm trying to do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtwGKpz-6Do.

And this is a still:

So, wish me luck !

 

[marcros]

good luck. I think that I prefer Merlot, but it would very much depend on where it is to go in the house.

 

[AndyT]

Well, having looked at both, I can see that the medieval rack clock is a more impressive bit of engineering but the Merlot is prettier and reveals all its tricks in less time.
So I think you are not really asking which one to make, but which one to make first!

I'd like to watch you make the clock, but I'm hoping there will be plenty of support for both.

 

[woodaxed]

Think i prefer the Merlot but a WIP of either would be good

 

[bugbear]

Merlot is very much a one (albeit a spectacular one) trick pony. So if we're voting, I vote clock.

BugBear

 

[Droogs]

I vote for the clock

 

[Ian down london way]

Sorry, been away clearing up workshop (way too much electronics in there) and looking a a wooden clock I had made a few years ago, which needs some care and attention.

Anyway, I was looking into making the Merlot, but it uses constant force spring steel, which I've not yet been able to source for less than £90 !
So I had decided to do the clock (also 'voted' by you rguys).

However,

My wife was looking at the web site of the guy who designed the Merlot plan, and saw this:

http://www.derekhugger.com/colibri.html

its pretty damn stunning. There is a video of it on this page.

No spring steel, and not a clock.

**** of a lot of parts (400 he says) although quite a few screws and ball bearings I think. Anyway, very different.

 

[woodaxed]

that Colibri is stunning as you say, tbh whatever you decide to build will be interesting to see a wip

 

[Ian down london way]

OK. After some sabotage by a work colleague (LIAM!) my wife and kids have clearly directed me to have a bash at the Colibri plan. So, I ordered it on line, and the PDFs arrived by email in no time flat.

So, this is the still of what I'm attempting to make (although the link to Derek Hugger's page, above, has a video too).

I must say the plans (the PDFs) appear to be very clear - with the most comprehensive assembly instructions (31 pages of them) that I've seen - a sequence which the item should be assembled in. Given the number of parts, I think they will be pretty damn useful.

Anyway, first problem, as always, is printing the thing off.

I'm afraid I cheated a little, and chose to print off on a business lazer printer, rather than a domestic ink jet printer (shhhh - don't tell my work!). The originals are in American paper sizes, but as long as you don't ask for any form of scaling, they seem to come out fine, as none of the parts are so close to the edge of the american sized paper to cause a problem when printed on A3/A4 paper. Each page of the plans with full-scale diagram on have a scale at the top, so you can tell whether the hard copy is to scale in that direction, by just popping a ruler on top. That doesn't, however, allow you to check the other direction.
What i mean by that is my experience of producing hard copy or indeed photocopying, on laser printers is that in the direction the print head / drum lies, the hardcopy have an accurate rendering - because that is fixed in the construction of the printing mechanism. However the other direction is all about how fast the paper 'rolls' past the print head relative to the speed it should be - and that can vary between printers. Its difficult to check that error out so I did a separate test printout (printing the same item out on landscape paper then portrait paper, and compared the two). that showed I had an error that was visible, but less than 1/2 mm over the length of the page. I felt that was reasonable.
(I did email Derek and suggested he put a scale on the long paper direction too, for this reason. He emailed back very quickly saying he thought that was a great idea and would add it on the next iteration of the plans and new plans).

So, there are three sections to the PDF:
* Introduction page - on how the sculpture came about.
* General instructions and parts list (maybe 10 pages)
* Scale parts patterns (17 pages A4)
* Assembly instructions (31 pages
+ Separate PDF of 6 A3 pages (well the american size, but you need to print them on A3).

So far so good.

Now, looking at the parts list was the first issue - do I do it in Imperial (which it obviously is expressed in) or metric.
BIG DECISION

I know I can get things like copper tubes and rods in both easily enough, but the sculpture calls for some pretty involved metal parts. It gives a source in the USA (complete with part numbers) but they won't ship abroad (the plans warn about that). However, I do have relations in USA who could take delivery and repackage and send them on to me, so that's not a blocker.

Adding up all the parts, from the USA supplier - to see it comes to about $200. Bit shocked at that, although that's probably well under £1 an hour for the entertainment time it will be

So, I'm going for imperial, so all the slots and hole sizes in the plans can be used as is.

I've sourced the tubing and rods in the UK (brass, aluminium, steel) from a great supplier - http://www.glrkennins.co.uk - very quick and good prices. Just online mind you, but that suites me fine.

First I need to decide on the wood for the humming bird itself. The picture uses the approach of making the bird and flower stand out by making it out of a contrasting dark wood. I think that looks good, so I've tried to use some left over mahogany (very dry, left over from a grand father clock case i made over 20 years ago!).

I needed some 1/8 inch thick section and some 1/4.
Resaw the blank, and using thicknesser I should be able to take it down to 1/8. Of course the thicknesser won't actually go down that far, so I have to use a false table. However, I found that the grain wasn't flat enough, so once I got to about 3/16th, the 'plank' started to break up - just too much catching on the grain

OK. that will do for now, at least I've started, and this forum will make sure I keep the momentum going

BYE FOR NOW

 

[Sporky McGuffin]

I'd assumed it was all ply, and the bird and flower were stained?

 

[Ian down london way]

The picture shows it as all ply but I'd like to make some of it from hard wood, maybe with some Danish Oil or just wax. I'm not keen on staining ply. We shall see how well it turns out. The bird does not have to be strong.

 

[Sporky McGuffin]

Ah, I getcha. I do find it tricky to get the edges right with staining ply, so that makes sense. I look forward to seeing your progress.

 

[Ian down london way]

Tried some other darkish hard wood, and I managed to get a couple of lengths down to 1/8th of an inch. Cutting the patterns out for the bird parts, and using 3M repositionable spray mount, I foolishly left them overnight. its much harder cleaning the paper off after 12 hours rather than just a couple - hey ho.

I'm using a Hegner multi-cut 1, fitted with one of their quick release holding blocks at the top - well worth it, not just for speed of use, but 'cos they seem to keep the blade straighter by pivoting more effectively. Anyway, after much nagging from she-who-must-be-obeyed (wasn't that a the name of a queen in a 70's film, i seem to recall people falling down a hole in a volcano of something - can anyone name that film?) rather than standing over my Hegner, I've sorted out the right height chair. Given the amount of use that saw is going to have the next few weeks, its fairly sensible I must admit.

So, first tranche of pieces cut, and a tickle in my throat seems to indicate its not mahogany but may be Iroko. So I've now switched to some serious air filtering safety gear, and I'm now using my new (to me, second hand - bought on this site!) trend pro. Iroko is one dust that I find is really irritating - causing asthmatic wheezing at night - not a good thing.

Anyway I've now got all the bird pieces cut and finished smooth. Five tail pieces (with different shaped slots - which makes them splay out when a pin moves up the slot), two wings, and head parts plus the parts of the flower in 1/4 inch. The wood is not as dark as I had hoped, so I may yet treat them to make them a little darker to contrast better.


So far so good, but nothing too hard yet.

 

[woodaxed]

Hi
Really looking forward to this thanks for the wip

btw was Ursula Andress in She 1965 if i remember rightly

 

[StevieB]

Looks really good - can I ask what size the whole model is going to end up being in terms of height and length?

Cheers,

Steve

 

[Ian down london way]

The width - spread out wings, is about 55cm. So I think the whole thing is about that cubed.

 

[Ian down london way]

After cutting some contrasting flower petals in some sycamore :

I thought I'd start on a few simple pieces of metal cutting and shaping. The first one was was a length of the Aluminium tubing that needed to have a couple of flats ground / cut / filed onto it. Later on, they would be the part that some grub screws would hold onto.

It was as I was cutting completely through the metal when making the first one, that I realized that the one size of aluminium tubing available from the UK web site was not right. I had bought the correct tube outer diameter (1/4 inch) but not the right inner diameter. The plans from the USA did spell it out, but I hadn't cottoned on. The ones I had ordered and received tubes with way too thin a wall.

Failed at the first (metal) hurdle.

Wikipedia to research the imperial measurements for metal thickness (SWG) and Ebay to the rescue. So, just under £5 gets me a 6 inch length of the right thickness of aluminium tubing, free P&P. (Only realized later I needed two lengths, but hey ho).

Slight aside - this was the first time I've ever used a delivery approach where I nominated my local Argos to receive the package, and I'd go pick it up. The Argos is located within a late opening homebase DIY store - so really convenient pick up on my way home from work. So convenient. Much better than relying upon someone being home - although the tube would have posted through my letter box.

Oh well, you can see the difference below.
One tube with the fairly accurately filed slots, the other, a bit of the tubing which i filed right though trying to do the same thing. Live and learn.

Reasonably clean finger nails - that's a bit of luck.

Then things started to get REALLY FIDDLY !

Next metal parts are 1/4 inch aluminium tubing (same stuff) with a 3/32 hole drilled through, 1/8 inch from the end, into which is set a 3/32 brass tube (1/4 inch long), all so it will hold a 1/16th steel rod !!!

heck !

Drilling so close to the end and accurately is a mugs game. But sanding (filing) down to 1/8th inch is simple enough, and alu is so soft, I can use my wood files no problem.

So, there is the result of 2 more hours of mucking about ! You can just about see the brass tube within the aluminium - its looking yellower than the steel rod.

i'm actually rather pleased with this picture - it was taken with my iphone (5S), but using a clip on macro lens (the iphone can't focus that close). A birthday present from my kids - working really well.

Next test is to learn how to tap the tubes, to cut a thread on the inside. Something I've never done. Apparently I need an 8-32 tap, whatever that is (thread pitch? Width?). They seem to be available on Ebay and the like. My local model shop only deals in metric, so that didn't work.

I need to go look at a few youtube clips to learn something about tapping.

Onwards and upwards

 

[Joe Shmoe]

I really enjoy your kinetic sculpture builds.

Each time I have read the first post and felt so enthusiastic about trying my hand at these, and a few updates later I'm thinking "yeah, no way!"

Keep up the good work, amazing stuff.

 

[Ian down london way]

Onward and upwards, albeit at an angle

I thought I'd start to churn out a few parts of the same thickness. I like to use reclaimed or local wood so having preped some 1/4 stock I used (repositional) spray mount for a whole set of parts.

I'm finding that I've not been able to drill holes sufficiently accurately in the middle of small wheels. So time for a new jig.

For large discs, I've used my 6 inch belt sander (permanently mounted vertically) and a means of rotating a disc on a pivot point. However for small discs I wasn't about to use that (not least of which because the belt sander is the only tool I own which has taken a major chunk of me off me. (9 months of finger nail regrowing wasn't great).

I've got a mini-belt sander (Axminster, 1 inch wide belt) which is very handy although it has a tendency to burn wood (I should replace the belt, I guess). its got a small enough table which I thought would make a good surface for sanding very small discs.

I think I'm quite pleased with the result. Had to drill three holes into the table, but it works a treat.

The thin steel rod on the left is the pivot for the dark wood support, which holds shaft around which the wheel is mounted. I've since added a second hold for a smaller shaft. The bolt on the right is hand turned to brace the support closer to the sand belt. I have to hold the brace against the bolt, but that seems to work fine. I was able to get decently circular parts quite quickly with this.

So the pile of parts is starting to grow:

.


However (hence the title) I was having BIG problems with the shoulder joint. I thought it was quite an important bit so I used some well seasoned and quite hard Sycamore - left over from my welsh dressed I made some 15 years ago.

The problem was that I was drilling a thin hole through the part - about 30mm long hole, and a 5/32 drill bit. I'm using a pillar drill, and although I can start in the right place (using a centre hole) I can't seem to get it to emerge within 1mm of where I want it to on the far side (30mm away). What seems to be happening is that the drill bit (which is not a spur/point) drifts a little on entry, and then is pushed down at an angle - bending the drill bit.

Anyone else have problems like that will smaller drill bits.

I made 12 before I had 2 which I thought were acceptable. very annoying. I don't think its the pillar drill (I have two pillar drills) - maybe the bits aren't sharp enough. In the end what seemed to work best was to start the hole with a spured 4mm bit, and then change to the 5/32 (virtually the same size). Also to drill from each ends and then push a solid rod through the middle (getting rid of any problem in the middle. Having done that the brass tubing which needed to be located in there seemed to go in without any problem with kinking (and takes a 1/8th inch rod through the tubing - freely turning - which is the aim of the thing.

Not a happy experience.

Some rejects...:

And the two survivors (with the brass tubes inset into the reasonably central holes):

Having made quite a few parts, I've reconsidered, and I'm now cutting out pieces just when i need them for the assembly sequence. That way I can adjust as I go.

So, I've now done 8 of 53 assemblies (page 2 of 30).

The road is long.

Oh - a thought for the day (and plagiarized from my wife's quilting group).

When I die, I fear that my wife will sell all my woodwork stuff based on the price I said I paid for it - not the cost of them.

Ignorance is bliss.

BYE !

 

[Wildman]

Damn I was being such a good boy today, now I have to go and pour a glass of Merlot, cheers everyone.