New Project "Immortality"

[xpro]

The Egyptians believed in an afterlife. The Pharaos built massive edifices to house their mortal remains, furnished by everything they may need in the new life. That is the inspiration for this automata project. A casket which will be 430mm high will have a carved lid of a king, with the casket under, which will contain a mummy. The lid will open, to reveal the mummy, and as the actuating handle is turned, an action takes place. I can't give away what that will be for two reasons, one the surprise element would be lost, and if I can't get the thing to do what I envisage, I will need to invent an excuse.....or a revised intention :B

The drawing,

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Blank of the lid, made from Jellutong.

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The carving of the lid, and to fabricate the casket begins the project. Thanks for looking, hope it will be interesting to follow.

Gus

[crowie]

Okay I'm in, thank you Gus...cheers, crowie

[xpro]

The lid and casket now carved, so far 22 hours. Next the mummy body, and the mechanicals inside its head.
Thanks for looking,
Gus

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The Faraoh's casket with lid

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Head detail. Don't like the snake, looks more like a bird.... have to recarve that !

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The casket which will contain the mummy and its mechanisms

[NCArcher]

Move over Crowie. I'll be pulling up a seat for this one as well.

[xpro]

The main drive gears determine how well the scene moves, so they are important to the work for smoothness, speed and strength. The process is :

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Paper templates are glued to the ply blanks.

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The bottom of each tooth is drilled, and teeth cut close to the lines on the scrollsaw, spokes are removed.

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Sanded to final diameter, and each tooth is sanded to the line of the template.

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Sanded to 320 grit and clear lacquered. The four gears took 2.5 hours to complete.
Thanks for looking,
Gus

[Christos]

Very late to pull up a chair on this one but I love the ones you come up with.

[xpro]

There will be three cams which contain the information to activate various parts of the scene. The blanks are cut in conjunction with the elements above to create the desired movement. The the way I do this is attach a cable to the part which it controls (or levers if that is what will do the job). Then to the arm below, which has a bearing to follow the cam edge, mark the cam at the points to create the desired movement. Usually this is a long trial and error procedure, marking, cutting, sanding, reinstall, test, remark, cut etc etc etc. Sometimes requiring a new cam altogether if I get it completely wrong. As each cam is completed, the next is cut, and rotated on the camshaft to time it with the previous.

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The three blanks

The first one moves the lid to reveal the mummy inside. The video shows the revisions made to get it right

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The cable is threaded to the lid of the casket and pulls it open. A spring closes it when the cable is released by the cam

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The result is,

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The other cams will be cut to move the mummy's parts, that is the next job.

Apologies for the video quality, and thanks for looking,
Gus

[crowie]

That so clever Gus.....

[xpro]

That so clever Gus.....
Thanks for the comment Peter, and for your continuing interest in these projects !
Gus

[xpro]

The two final cams operate the mummy's movements. Surprisingly quick to cut with few modification/revisions, ( a matter of luck) this finishes the mechanical aspects of the work. Time so far, to completion of the prototype is 57 hours, of which the carving was 22. Not counting the "middle of the night" awakenings which often solve a previous day's problem......
The two videos attached show the three cams operating, and the levers they control.
Next is the fabrication of the final revised, modified and actual mechanisms, preparation for painting and decoration of the piece and reassembly.
Thanks for following the project so far,
Gus

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[Keith_1]

WOW Gus - you are ingenious :2tsup:

I love it.

Brilliant Work :clap:

Regards

Keith

[xpro]

Painted and assembled here is the final look of the automaton. The video should follow shortly, along with the previous works, "Grandpa" and "Anniversary Dinner"
Thank you to Master Keith for the advice re the gold finish !
Thanks for watching,
Gus

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[crowie]

Now Gus, which museum has put in a bib for this masterpiece....looks so real sir....you are so clever to with all the mechanics and the finish is superb....very well done. Cheers, Peter

PS - Where's the finish video please??

[Keith_1]

That is top notch work Gus :2tsup:

Regards

Keith

[xpro]

Video of the automata doin' its thang,
Thanks to all who followed it,

Gus


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[Christos]

That is just so brilliant. You have lighten up my day.

[crowie]

Video of the automata doin' its thang,
Thanks to all who followed it,

Gus


Now that was one big surprise.... Make sure to have a look at Gus's video....

[Keith_1]

Brilliant Gus :2tsup::clap::clap:

TOP WORK

Regards

Keith

[xpro]

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Thanks very much for the comments, much appreciated ! I unfortunately posted an earlier version of the video, don't know why....
Here is version 4, better I think. Just learning about video photography and editing, steep it is !

Gus

[Keith_1]

Top work. Really nice paintwork too Gus:2tsup:

Regards

Keith

[xpro]

Top work. Really nice paintwork too Gus:2tsup:

Regards

Keith

Thank you Keith ! That Gold is a really good product, you were a great help with using it,
Regards,
Gus

[htl]

Really nice project!!!:oo::2tsup:

[nealaron]

Being new to the forum, I just read through your thread. Wow, what great work! I am truly impressed and inspired. This automaton embodies what drew me to automata making; original ideas, careful and precise craftsmanship, engineering and problem-solving and a good sense of humor.
When I first started which was only a couple years ago, I was afraid that I wouldn't have enough ideas. Once I started playing with the gears and mechanisms the ideas started flowing. I have so many more ideas than I have time to execute them.

Thanks for the inspiration,
Neal

[xpro]

Thanks very much Neal, and welcome to the forum ! I would like to see some of your work, especially videos.
Regards,
Gus