Greetings...My current project is The Electric Chair. Slow progress. Lots of little details. This build includes what I call the Drive Frame. The drive frame sits below the automata and powers the aut

I'm finally ready to show my creation after several months of development. I thought it would be easier, but the next one will. Here is a link to a video.

Greetings... It would be interesting to know which of you own a metal lathe. If so my questions would be... Do you appreciate owning it? Practically speaking...does it help you? What size/brand is it?

My vote is Yes. I ran into this on YouTube a while ago...probably years ago. It was not until the last month or so that I equated Miniatur Wunderland to automata. Here is a link to their YouTube chann

A few years ago I was using SketchUp to do renderings for me. I found it to be both easy and difficult. And then one day I opened my eyes and realized that I had not used it for about a year. I went b

I was browsing 507 Mechanical Movements last night and this one caught my eye <http://507movements.com/mm_125.html>. It's a way of creating random linear motion. I think very interesting...and a mecha

I'm in the process of connecting the cams to the parts of the automata that need motion. I've been using polyurethane belting for about four years now. I've been using it only to "drive" things. I sou

Greetings all... The automata that I am currently working on calls for 6 cams. As I contemplated the build I realized that if I "built these things in" that it would be a difficult build...and that ma

I thought this was interesting. https://www.thevintagenews.com/2020/01/02/mechanical-insect/ -Randy

As Jim suggested it will be easier to follow the progress of projects if we post a separate topic for each of them. The last few days have been bitter sweet for me. Saturday, my CNC went bonkers on a

I hope all of your 2020's are filled with lots of great automata! Mike Wooden Curiosities

Over the years, I've seen a lot of automata and videos of automata and a thought has been slowly forming about what makes a piece interesting and engaging. And it comes down to speed. To my eye, an au

I was wondering about the pros and cons of mixing media within the mechanics of our autuomata. For example could I use a brass, aluminum or steel rod in place of a wooden dowel rod, but then have wood

My Grand daughter's 13th birthday presented a difficulty. What on earth can you present her for this very important (so I was told) day ? Besides, she seems to have everything else........The decision

The top portion of the Electric Chair is completed in terms of all of the items that will move have been installed. Still lots to do, of course, but at this time I have started working on the drive fr

I’ve been contemplating an automaton that would require eyeballs that could move in pretty much any direction. There are several examples of this in Ellen Rixford’s excellent book, Figures in the Four

Good afternoon everyone. I just had a subscriber ask me "how do I post a new thread, how do I add photos and video, and where is the list of topics?" I feel that if one person has this question there

Good evening... I ran across this video a couple of days ago. Before posting this link I've watched it several more times to ensure that I continued to see the value of posting the link. To me, more t

Hi all... A question for those of you using Cranky Crab wood gears. What are you using to lubricate? And a side thought...what wood species do you prefer? Thanks -Jim Coffee- enjoying the 'sport' of a

Good evening all... I was on the Cranky Crab website this morning and notice this neat little Spiral Drive...it's like a spiral worm gear. This little item would make a good 'point of interest' on an