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4th April 2017, 09:51 AM #1Senior Member
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New Project - Working Title "Mouse Wheel"
The idea for this automaton has been fermenting in the brain for some time. Until I acquired a mini lathe/mill, attempting it was looking like a distant prospect. Now, the steep learning curve of the machine presents interesting challenges, raising the possibility of doing it. It opens up the world of brass and plastics which present many possibilities previously unavailable. That, remains to be seen......
A man is trapped inside a mouse wheel, running towards distant rewards, shimmering, tempting, unattainable. A mouse,
bemused, looks on.
A crude sketch,
Sketch.jpg
Gus
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4th April 2017 09:51 AM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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6th April 2017, 10:52 AM #2Senior Member
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WIP - Leg Mechanism
The attached short video is a test prototype to see which leg is more realistic. The right leg, nearest to camera, is a fixed shape, the other has a moveable knee joint. I am not convinced that it is better than the fixed. And, I don't think that the knee movement is correct yet. I intend to build the character using brass which is harder to modify than a carved one. The constant moving of the parts will have a wear factor which may be short, so the movement must be accurate prior to brassworks.
Leg prototype.mp4
Meanwhile the wheel is under construction.
Wheel plan.jpg
The template, generated in Illustrator is glued to two pieces of ply,
Cutout.jpg
Drilled for rods, and cutout on scrollsaw
Wheel parts.jpg
Assembly follows.
Thanks for looking,
Gus
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6th April 2017, 07:40 PM #3GOLD MEMBER
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Good one Gus
Looking forward to seeing more of your excellent work
All the Best
Keith
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8th April 2017, 10:16 AM #4Senior Member
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WIP - Wheel
The wheel is complete, and installed for testing.
Wheel complete.jpg
To imply that the character is trapped in a mechanical life, the wheel's rotating gears and the leg and arm movement cams and controls will be left exposed behind the wheel, the first parts of which are seen in this video.
Wheel installed.mp4
Thanks for looking,
Gus
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8th April 2017, 12:56 PM #5GOLD MEMBER
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Top work Gus
The video shows it off well
regards
Keith
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12th April 2017, 03:20 AM #6Banned
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nice work.
JimLast edited by James_; 12th April 2017 at 03:34 AM. Reason: change post
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12th April 2017, 11:35 AM #7
Apologies Gus, I somehow missed this Work In Progress...
Your ingenuity and engineering along with the craftsmanship is brilliant sir...
I too appreciate the videos on the "How It Works", Thank You..
Cheers, Peter
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13th April 2017, 01:08 AM #8Banned
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Gus,
I am curious, are you going to use a cam to oscillate the movement of "his" legs ? If you have a tab that pushes back then his leg could move forward before going down again.
Jim
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13th April 2017, 05:33 PM #9Senior Member
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Thanks very much Peter !
Gus
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13th April 2017, 05:45 PM #10Senior Member
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Hi Jim,
The leg movement at the knees is what I think you are referring to. I am using a combination of internal and external cables and spring wire. As the leg rotates to the rear, the knee is bent by a cable attached to the torso. As it rotates to the front, a spring wire straightens the leg before the next cycle. The arm above is connected inside the torso to the leg by cable and a small return spring. The leg "front to back" movement will be via a piston governing reciprocal arms, driven by a pulley which also drives the wheel.
I hope that answers the question, and thanks for the interest,
Gus
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13th April 2017, 06:04 PM #11Senior Member
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WIP - The skeleton
The body will require better than timber moving elements, so it is made of brass, which will be clad with carved timber.
Telescoping tubes with the legs soldered to them go through the large tube to the rear where the mechanisms operating them will be located. The knees are hinges used by aero modellers to actuate wing flaps. Not sure they will stand the test of time however. At the top is for the arms, and the head.
Skeleton.JPG
Installed temporarily in the cage,
Skeleton inside wheel.JPG
Looks a bit lost....
Next is the timber bodyworks and the actuating cables, springs bith internal and external. Stainless steel fishing cable, spring steel and springs will be the "veins" which hopefully will result in realistic movements.
Thanks for looking,
Gus
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14th April 2017, 07:57 AM #12
Pulling up a chair to watch this one.
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15th April 2017, 01:03 AM #13Banned
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Hi Gus,
I know getting the movements to work in synchronicity will take some trial and error. This morning I was thinking of the movie Running Man only in this instance it's like the daily grind. The attached image shows one way the upper leg might be lifted and rotated. It's just the basic idea. I hope you don't mind. With some of what you're doing this might help you to keep the movements isolated to different parts of your man in the cage.
Jim
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16th April 2017, 04:38 AM #14Banned
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Gus,
There is something you might consider, if my project works then it could power your mouse wheel.
The outside diameters should be close so Bessler's Wheel would be like a water wheel at a mill. And I do believe what I posted in my thread is simple enough to wprk.
Besides I know a lot of people are interested in seeing your mouse wheel work.
Jim
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18th April 2017, 12:31 AM #15Banned
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Gus,
I know what I've suggested is unusual. And it might be that a basic demonstration of perpetual motion would be a let down because of how it's been hyped and considered impossible. Yet with something like what you're working on people might find the whole thing more interesting. With me I do plan on having a wood shop to work on different projects but need to get there first.
With the mechanics you're working with, I'm not sure how you'd feel about it but some of the people in here might be interested in helping with some of the research and development. I know with what I've worked on in the past that working out the mechanics and what I like is, we had one inventor who said 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration and you've had the inspiration and have started the perspiration.
I'll explain the math of the motor in my thread so you can consider it.
Jim
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