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nealaron
6th November 2019, 03:07 PM
Hi All. I'm Neal and this is my first post.
I'm pretty new at making automata - been doing it for a couple years, but not consistently. I'd like to share a piece I recently submitted to Automata Magazine that I called Birds. Two adult birds stand near a young bird. The adults flap their wings and open and close their mouths while the young one hops and spins erratically. The mechanics are very simple, couple of cranks and a couple of cams. It is geared so the cam axle moves at twice the speed of the main axle. I liked the mechanism that I've seen online that powers the clapping hands automata and I wanted to use it in a different way. That led to the flapping wings. I used fabric to cover the wings and head, because I couldn't figure out what to use for hinges that wouldn't be too bulky. I hope you like it.

A short video can be found at: http://automatamagazine. com/videos/birds/

Thanks for the interest!
463903463904

botesmj1
6th November 2019, 03:32 PM
Thats pretty cool. Would like to see a short video of the movement.

graham.murfett
6th November 2019, 05:58 PM
That is fantastic.

How much do you sell that for?

crowie
6th November 2019, 08:28 PM
Looks great Neal.
Question please; do you have a short video of it working???
Cheers crowie

nealaron
7th November 2019, 03:11 AM
That is fantastic.

How much do you sell that for?

I'm glad you like it. I am in the fortunate position of not needing to sell me work. I've made few enough automata that I am keeping them for now. I always found that making things for money made me enjoy the process less. That goes double for automata where days are spent problem solving, assembling and disassembling - you can't possibly make a decent "wage". Do you sell your pieces? How do you decide how much to charge?
That said, I have been thinking about making a batch of something simple like a flying pig. I usually only make something once, so the end product is less refined than something made a bunch of times. I could also upgrade the box to include dovetails and other flourishes.

nealaron
7th November 2019, 03:15 AM
Looks great Neal.
Question please; do you have a short video of it working???
Cheers crowie

Thanks Crowie!
I do have some video. There's a clip posted on Automata Magazine's site for anyone subscribed to it. Is there an area to post video on the forum or should I establish a YouTube channel?

crowie
7th November 2019, 08:03 AM
Thanks Crowie!
I do have some video. There's a clip posted on Automata Magazine's site for anyone subscribed to it. Is there an area to post video on the forum or should I establish a YouTube channel?

Just add the link to the Automata Magazine site

nealaron
7th November 2019, 08:58 AM
You can now view the video here:

https://youtu.be/efl5yZmKY_o

crowie
7th November 2019, 03:16 PM
Yes, the link isn't working...thank you for the effort, Cheers

poundy
7th November 2019, 08:43 PM
here is the link (http://automatamagazine.com/videos/birds/) to the videos page only, as was posted above (I'm not a subscriber so can't prove it works)

nealaron
8th November 2019, 02:43 AM
Thanks for your patience on the video. I just started a youtube channel. You can view it here: YouTube (https://youtu.be/efl5yZmKY_o)

botesmj1
8th November 2019, 05:43 AM
Love it [emoji16]

xpro
27th November 2019, 05:32 PM
Neil,
This forum allows videos to be posted, unlike the Automata forum. There is a limit 7mb I think.
Gus