New Project "The Politician"

[xpro]

Greetings to all, with the hope that no one has been affected by the virus which seems to lurk around every corner.

A politician, standing as they do in front of flags carefully arranged, an expensive fituout, and a suitably
large, imposing lectern, is holding forth. As they do. The figure will be 800mm tall. The work began with the head, which will eventually have eyes which move side to side and up /down, will turn and nod, the arms will gesticulate, and the body will turn and bow. That is, IF I can figure out how to do all that !
The head began as a 90mm sq block of Huon Pine, was 28 hours in the carving vice.


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The interior is carved out to receive the eye movement mechanism

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The mechanism for the moving eyes follows, probably as a prototype, unless I get lucky with construction.

Thanks for looking,

Regards,
Gus

[crowie]

The eyes will have to be shofty Gus for a politician. :o

[xpro]

Guess so Peter ! Looking this way and the other, down mostly ? :C

[Keith_1]

Looking forward to this Gus. The head looks fantastic :2tsup:

Regards

Keith

[xpro]

The eye mechanism is complete, bar some final adjustments, 55 hours including three rejects, all learning experiments.
The front view476255
Mechanism,476256
The rear, showing the cables and connecting bar476257
Installed inside the head,476258

A short video of how it works, not cam controlled yet, just by hand. The eyes need a bit of adjustment, the character is a little cross eyed. Maybe I leave them, there are a few cross eyed politicians..

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Thanks for looking,

Regards,
Gus

[Keith_1]

Top work Gus.

Soon you will be making androids for sci-fi shows:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

Regards

Keith

[xpro]

Thanks Keith ! Sometimes when walking around the workshop, I notice it looking wordlessly, it is a surprise.
By the way, that gold from Dulux is good news, the Knight brand looked good for a while, but soon looked like old brass, thank you for finding it.
Regards,
Gus

[xpro]

The body frame, and its control mechanisms is mostly complete. All work as they should, although moved only by hand yet, the cams which will eventually control everything are to follow. Next is making a "skeleton" which will fill out the body so the clothing will be supported.



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The controls on the front,

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Controls on the rear,

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Another view of the front and rear,

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Skeleton work follows,

Thanks for viewing,
Regards,
Gus

[Keith_1]

Intricate , clever work Gus.

You are a master at Automata.:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

Great Stuff

Regards

Keith

[xpro]

Thank you Keith ! Please confirm if my information is true or false. Turning brass, is a back angle not neccessary on high speed tooling ?

Regards,
Gus

[Keith_1]

Gus,

Found this on - line for you. I don't turn brass. I cheat - I turn aluminium and then paint it as brass - cheaper as well. I use normal rake angle on TC tip tool.

Trouble turning brass by a very inexperienced engineer | Model Engineer (https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=39934)

Regards

Keith

[xpro]

Thanks very much Keith, there is a wealth of information, just in that short discussion on the subject.

Regards,
Gus

[xpro]

A friend's wife has kindly offered to sew a suit for the character. Phew ! Dodged that bullet ! To flesh out the body so it can be fitted with a tailor made outfit, a series of ply bones have been attached over the frame and the mechanicals. For now, that means a pause while the sewing is completed, however long that will be.

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Thanks for viewing,

Regards,
Gus

I wish our Victorian friends on the forum safety from the marauder !

[Keith_1]

Looks great Gus.:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

Unfortunately some outbreaks in NSW now. All please keep safe.

Regards

Keith

[xpro]

Having decided that the automaton must be in fully working condition prior to handing it over for dressing, I have continued with the build.
The crankshaft since the photo was taken has been replaced by a larger dia brass tube. The previous 6mm couldn't handle the torsion applied by the motor. I mark and cut the cams in pairs, one each side of the centre support. As the load increased with each two addition, it also became obvious that the motor struggled. At six cams, the need for more power became clear. A very supportive member, Poundy, kindly offered some motors he had to experiment with, an offer "too good to refuse". Due to cataract operation, I have yet to progress with that.

This photo shows the blank cams and the motor. A set of worm gears reduce the RPM from 55 to 68 seconds, perfect speed for what I imagine is ideal for the sequence. That, of course, is subject to revision, once the right motor is found.

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The "engine". Cams, motor housing and the cam followers. The whole assembly can be removed in one piece, the cam followers can be removed individually, and the cable attachments are adjustable for fine tension alterations. A new motor will probably require scrapping this whole "engine". But, that is the nature of making automata, and are for me the most satisfying aspects. Must be a personality flaw....

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Thanks for watching,

Regards,
Gus

Be Safe !

[poundy]

oh I forgot about this build, now I understand the potential for size/power requirements much more !
Still happy to dump a selection in the mail if you want

[poundy]

Motor thought. What about a stepper motor? ( I have some steppers, but don't think I have an operable controller, but I'll have a dig)

Are you going to be power limited (for example, does this need to be battery operated, or would a power lead be ok?) as that also has an impact on motor choice.

[xpro]

There are two purposes for the mechanism, the cams which operate the figure, and a separate, but entirely dependant upon the main, which operate the front section. The main gear for the latter meshes with a gear on the camshaft and activates a Scotch Yoke with pause. An inline pin gear meshes with an actuator arrangement to move another figure in front.
This completes the automaton mechanicals, 300 very enjoyable hours over four months. Now begins the refinement work to remove stresses becoming evident, and improve the motion created by the cams, which usually require modifications. The motor drive also.

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A very kind person has undertaken the sewing of the suit, which will take some time I think.

Thanks for watching,

Regards,
Gus

Be Safe !

[crowie]

Gus, The mp4’s aren’t working sir. Sorry. Cheers Peter

[xpro]

Thanks Peter,
Just tried playing them, they worked, can't imagine why not on your computer. Did the double click ?
Cheers
Gus

[Bernmc]

they work for me :2tsup:

[xpro]

Hi Brett, thank you very much, and apologies for the late reply, saw your post only yesterday. Stepper motors, foreign to me, as are DC motors really. I don't want a power cord trailing on the floor, so battery operated it must be. Have had a success of sorts with a motor purchased on ebay, but it does struggle. Maybe I can relieve some of that stress by altering cam angles. Gearing is not that easy either, but that is the nature of automata building. Eventually it all falls in place.
Thanks for your support,
Regards,
Gus

[Keith_1]

Hi Gus,

Top workmanship by you with those mechanisms.

I love your work and ingenuity.

Keep up the top work :2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

Regards

Keith