AM - MA .19s PDF

Paul Spooner’s
The Last Judgement
1/2—Mar/Apr 2019
AUTOMATA MAGAZINE • Volume 1, Number 2
March • April 2019
CONTENTS
COVER: Paul Spooner’s

FEATURES The Last Judgement. See page 6 DEPARTMENTS
6 The Last Judgement by Paul Spooner 3 Editorial
An alarming view of the afterlife
11 Moose’s chariot by Eric Schade 4 News & events
11 An animal-powered engine?
16 My world of toys and automata by John Cervenka 5 Letters
How an automatist came to be
21 Gallery
22 Cabaret Mechanical Theatre—a history by Sarah Alexander
Part 2: Covent Garden 55 Automata for
16 29 Automata making in Prague by Kim Booth beginners
An account of the Mechanical Object workshop by Sarah Reast
38 This Turk plays naughts and crosses by Martin Edwards
A new twist on an old automaton 59 Reviews
43 Automata in the classroom by Colleen McGuire
38 9th graders learn mechanics
Automata Magazine is published six times a year by
47 Making pinwheel gears by Marc Horovitz Sidestreet Bannerworks, Denver Colorado, USA
Different methods for successful gearing: part 2 Editor and Publisher: Marc Horovitz
Copy Editor: Barbara Horovitz
50 Laudator Temporis Acti by Wade Warman Website: http://www.automatamagazine.com
Addressing the human condition E-mail: automatamag@comcast.net
43 This publication and its contents ©2019
by Sidestreet Bannerworks
AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 2 March • April 2019

Editorial
What is an automaton?
by Marc Horovitz
W
hen the early mak- And how about things that do not vise versa. We need to keep enough material in each to be of
ers of automata, represent living beings but are our minds open but, given the interest to all of AM’s subscrib-
all the way back to still replicas of commonly seen things I’ve seen already and the ers. So please don’t hesitate to
Leonardo da Vinci and before, objects—are these also automa- people with whom I’ve been send your articles, or ideas for
built their marvelous devices, ta? Or what about the elephant communicating, I don’t foresee stories that we can discuss.
it was their intent to replicate and sea creatures featured in that as a problem. I’ve immensely enjoyed meet-
man—both his motions and his David Soulsby’s story about his • ing you through these virtual
capabilities. Their machines were visit to L’ile de Nantes in the last The first issue of Automata means and also talking over
astonishing in their complexity. issue? Are these automata? Magazine was gratifyingly well your projects and learning a
The writing automata built by the Given all of the above, “au- received. I sincerely thank you little about you as individuals. I
Jaquet-Droz family in France in tomaton” seems more difficult to all for making it so. I hope that must say, automata people are
the 1700s almost defy belief, not define today than ever before. you’ll like this issue just as much. a fascinating group.
only in their intricacy but in the Perhaps it all comes down to per- I am also most grateful to all This will be the last free issue
fact that they worked so well. sonal preference—you must come of you who have sent in material of Automata Magazine. We’re
Fast forward to today. We up with your own definition of for publication in future issues. still putting the finishing touches
now have everything from what an automaton is. For myself I’ve received a wonderful variety on the subscription page and
simple hand-cranked wooden and the purposes of this maga- of stories from collectors, mak- will send you an email soon to
figures made to do everyday zine, I would consider most of the ers, teachers, and others. I think let you know that it’s ready.
tasks (i.e., chopping wood), above to be automata. you’ll find the upcoming issues Until next time.A
to amazing robotic creatures There is, however (in my of AM entertaining, educational,
controlled by computers, com- mind), a difference between and stimulating.
plex circuitry, stepper motors, automata and kinetic sculpture, This doesn’t mean, of course,
and industrial-quality mechanics, although there is admittedly a that I won’t come begging again
that will do just about anything sizable gray area between the for more material. A magazine
asked of them. All of these might two, especially when it comes can never have a large enough
be considered automata by to mechanisms and materials backlog. Having an ample sup-
today’s broadening definition. and how they are used. I think ply of stories on file allows me
What about nonrepresenta- that automatists could learn a much more leeway when bal-
tional kinetic sculpture, though? lot from kinetic sculptors, and ancing an issue so that there’s
AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 3 Back to Contents pg. March • April 2019

news Puke Ariki Museum, New The second installment of a
Plymouth, New Zealand, No- four-year exhibition explores In the next issue of
vember 2019 to April 2020. the theme of steampunk art,
incorporating the aesthetics of
Marvellous Machines features 19th-century industrial design
automata, hands-on interactives, and steam-engine machinery.
workshops, and a series of art- These imaginative creations
ists events. Ipswich Art Gallery, exhibit marvels of design,
High Street, Ipswich, UK. engineering, storytelling, and
July 20-October 31 2019. fantasy that demonstrate the
ingenuity of steampunk art.
The Fantastic Fairground Fac- https://morrismuseum.org
tory is a new CMT Touring Exhi-
bition. Peek into the Mechanical call for entries
Cabaret Mechanical Theatre Marvels behind the Scenes at the Morris Museum
(https://cabaret.co.uk/) has Fair. Debut venue: Tullie House A Cache of Kinetic Art: • Chomick + Meder dis-
four new miniature automata Museum and Art Gallery, Carl- Tiny Intricacies: March 13-July cuss the construction of
from the St. Legers. Lucky Cat isle, UK. July-October 2019. 12, 2020 their monkey automata
waves his arm and Harlequin Timeless Movements: March
hides in a box. See them here. Neugierige Maschinen features 12-July 11, 2021 • Tim LaGanke describes
Also at Cabaret is a new Ap- automata, with a focus on ex- Our multi-year juried exhibition
plause Machine from Martin tended workshop activities and series, A Cache of Kinetic Art, The Cleveland Grandma,
Smith and Treaty of Tordesillas, tinkering opportunities. phaeno, showcases contemporary autom- a well known coin-op
a paper cutout automaton from Wolfsburg, Germany. November ata and their inventive creators. fortune-telling automaton
Andre Pimenta. 2019 to February 2020. For artists, the prospectus and
entry forms for the 2020 and • Lee Hutchinson shows
events Paul Spooner—New Works 2021 exhibitions can be viewed
how to make a clothes-peg
Cabaret Mechanical Theatre 2019. Rodic Davidson Archi- at https://morrismuseum.org/
(CMT) has announced the fol- tects, London, UK. Dates TBA. mechanical-musical-instruments- fencer automaton
lowing touring exhibits: More info: https://cabaret. automataA
co.uk/exhibitions/current/ • Sarah Alexander wraps
The Mechanical Circus is a • Send your news items, new- up her history of Cabaret
collaboration between CMT and Morris Museum product information, and
events to us at:
Mechanical Theatre
Rijksmuseum Boerhaave, Nether- A Cache of Kinetic Art: Simply
lands. Banbury Museum, Ban- Steampunk: March 15-August automatamag@comcast.net • And much more!
bury, UK, May-Sept. 2019. 11, 2019.

letters automata. Any ideas? —Brian
Questions Dunn, Nipomo, California, USA.
I have a couple of questions/ Brian.Dunn@qsc.com
topics on which maybe your read-
ers can provide some insight: Boyer Museum
Juta and Jim McCord (Mouse- Thank you for your article
works, Canada) seem to have about the Boyer Museum in the
disappeared. Back in 2007 I last issue of AM! It is amazing
ordered one of their terrific kits how certain automata makers,
and Contemporary Automata despite their impressive capabili-
book which, to this day, is one ties and the fact that they have
of the best educational books been busy for decades, have
I’ve ever seen. But in 2008 their not been noticed by the greater
website and email went dark. public. Paul Boyer belongs to
Does anyone know what hap- a generation whose work has
pened to them? gained only regional fame due
to the limited media outreach of
those times. Also, his machines
were probably never classified
as art but just “funny toys.”
What many people do not cult or impossible in Europe if
know is that a few works by 110V/60-hertz motors are used.
Paul have been sold and are In Europe, 220V/50 hertz are
privately owned. Here are common. It was not foreseeable,
pictures of two of these. The though, that these two pieces
details are lovingly designed would travel so far away from
and painted, and the char- Belleville, Kansas. Nevertheless,
acters are humorous and do these have a unique beauty that
The above image is from not correspond to commercial is worth preserving. —Sergio
a scrap of wallpaper Renato ideals of beauty. Somehow the Pinese, SwitzerlandA
Boaretto had on his now dead woman at the barrel has also
website. I couldn’t get a response lost a leg, like Paul, but her Send your letters, tips, likes,
from him concerning from which shoe is still there. dislikes, ideas, etc. to:
book this was taken, and am The use of motorized Ameri-
still looking for a book that deals can automata, such as these automatamag@comcast.net
with these “higher functioning” two examples, may be diffi-

An alarming
by Paul Spooner
Stithians, UK
view of the
Photos by the author, except as noted afterlife
S
ometimes I raid the oeu- In the beginning
vres of better artists to get The business plan was to make
ideas for my own work. In a coin-operated machine to be
the case of The Last Judgement installed in the window of Caba-
(photo 1) I went straight to the ret, Sue Jackson’s shop in Fal-
top and appropriated a painting mouth, in time for the Tall Ships
by Jan van Eyck (photo 2). It’s race in 1982. I don’t remember
in the Metropolitan Museum of Sue suggesting a subject but I
Art in New York and I’ve never am sure it wasn’t this one. Nor
seen it. All I’d seen was a little was it finished until well after
illustration in black and white the ships, the visitors, and their
but that was enough to set me money had all departed.
off making a skeleton, with the I made the chains of little
bodies of the damned spilling figures first, then fitted them into
out of its insides. It’s pretty tame a frame with a ratcheting drum
compared to the original but that lowers them, four abreast,
one has to simplify in order to at the front of the rib cage, then
make mechanical things. This is recycles them behind. The fig-
an account of the building of this
piece (to the best of my recollec- 1. The Last Judgement was the author’s wittily
tion) and its subsequent fortunes. macabre entry point to Cabaret for years.

ures are made of lime wood,
shaped with a fretsaw, roughly
carved, then pivoted with cock-
tail sticks.
I’ve still got the templates for
the figures, which were made of
aluminium and Formica (photo
3). That’s a man’s body shape
on top, distinguishable by his
scrotum, of which more later.
The only photograph I have of
the work in progress is of the
beginnings of the rib-cage con-
struction (photo 4).
I’m not a religious person;
my feeling is that all accounts
of God, Heaven, Hell, and the
rules for leading a holy life are
too various and smudged with
the fingerprints of mortal man to 2. The original Jan van Eyck painting is gruesome in the extreme. 4. The skeleton’s rib cage under construction.
merit credibility. You can sense
that scepticism in the two zones return to the spot for the player
that top and tail the rib cage. to hit them again. There is a
spaghetti eater, another demon
The lower chamber saws at his steak, one stabs at
After the machine has run for the last pea on the plate, and
a few seconds, the doors to the another reads while stirring her
lower chamber swing open, coffee. Behind the counter a
revealing a scene of demons demon cook shakes a basket of
relaxing in their canteen (photo chips. All of this was enjoyable
5). They are taking part in lei- to make.
sure activities; two of them are Actions are transmitted mostly
playing billiards, one taking a by means of wooden pulleys,
shot while the other chalks his and rubber belts removed from
cue. The billiard table is slightly VHS players or drive bands
dished so that the balls usually 3. Templates for carving the multitudinous figures of the damned. made for model steam engines.

There are also the gearboxes
from two Black & Decker electric
drills in there. The motor was a
Fracmo, taken from a scrapped
cash register. Mechanical cash
registers and typewriters were
being dumped wholesale at the
time. I should have gotten more.
I also had fun making the little
bottles of HP Sauce and the TV,
which, like all TVs in Hell (and
mine on earth), has a fuzzy
black-and-white picture that rolls
round and round because the
horizontal-hold doesn’t work.
The rationale for this scene
was humane; the demons should
be entitled, like all workers, to
time off in congenial conditions.
The skull
When the onlooker has had
a chance to inspect these ac-
tivities, the doors close and the
skull, which had been looking
down on the lower chamber,
raises its eyes. The top of the
head lifts to uncover rows of
pews, in which are seated six
worshippers singing lustily (but 5. Demons enjoying their leisure time off work.
silently—I didn’t have the sound
technology and, anyway, it was At the time, I told people that drops and the motor stops. with a chute that led coins into a
behind thick glass—photo 6). these worshippers were Method- I remember installing the ma- small, corrugated-cardboard box
The skull’s mouthparts, driven by ists but I prefer now to think that chine in Sue’s shop. I had to cut that had once held a light bulb.
the congregation’s mechanism, their fervor is more evangelical a hole in the window frame and There was no control over the
joins in the singing. in nature. The skull’s lid then fit a slotted brass plate (photo 7) denomination of coin—as long

as it fitted the slot, it worked was seen by more people,
the machine but, because I’d notably when a video came out
stamped “10p” on the brass (https://www.youtube.com/
plate, that’s what most people watch?v=8WWGN_4tNes) in
put in. After the installation we which Rush, the legendary rock
went to the pub and, on return- band, performed to the accom-
ing, found that the skeleton’s paniment of visuals that included
takings had paid for the drinks. The Last Judgement and The
When Cabaret became Dream, (the latter now to be
Cabaret Mechanical Theatre experienced at London’s home
and moved to Covent Garden of coin-slot euphoria, Novelty
in London, the skeleton was put Automation in Holborn: www.
into a case made by Jonathan novelty-automation.com/).
Craig. It was heavy and painted
shiny black. The back panel had After Cabaret
been part of the wind chest of a When Cabaret gave up the
church organ. It was a piece of premises in Covent Garden,
mahogany, planed flat, drilled to the skeleton shared in the vicis-
coincide with the pipes, grooved situdes of that era, which is the
to stop one pipe’s wind reaching subject of Sarah Alexander’s
the next’s, and rubbed all over 7. The money slot, article in this issue. The Last
with graphite. It was a beautiful which would actual- Judgement ended up at Marvin
piece of wood that looked as if ly accept any coin Yagoda’s Marvellous Mechani-
its grooves and holes contained that would fit. cal Museum in Detroit, USA.
a message in an unknown Marvin was a good friend and
alphabet. I got it for nothing has been sorely missed since his
from Russell Richards, who had death on the first day of 2017.
a second-hand timber yard, then He’d bought the skeleton in a
in the middle of Stithians, now 6. The virtuous raise their voices in song. The skull sings in time with the move that contributed a great
gentrified out of existence. music (even though there is no sound). deal to the rescue of Cabaret’s
You can see the panel in the business when its American
lower left corner of photo 8. The photo, I’m painting the sign that at the time. adventure went sour.
picture was taken late at night, orders passers-by to put money Because Cabaret was now in Marvin had the skeleton on
when all shop fitting and instal- in the slot because it will be a big city, The Last Judgement show at his museum but he
lations at the market in Covent good for them to pay their way. got a lot more notice than it received a certain amount of
Garden had to be done. In the Mrs. Thatcher was on the throne did in Falmouth. The skeleton criticism; people didn’t like the

nudity and they felt that it was their jobs and who require rest
theologically unsound. When rooms and other comforts to
such objections arose in this make their off-duty hours as
country, I could get away with tolerable as possible. As an
added protection, there are
explaining, for instance, that the
labour laws that prescribe their
little chaps’ willies were made
conditions of employment.
from cocktail sticks and only Here we see a well-stocked
1.6mm ( / ”) in diameter and
1
16
restaurant, with leisure facilities
their scrota (see above) were in which the demons can relax
only as big as dried peas. Over and unwind between shifts.
here, we don’t consider this to
be threatening. The skull
The theological argument The uppermost section of this
didn’t arise at all in this country display is fitted out with pews in
but Marvin had to put up with which The Righteous throng to
celebrate their good luck. From
a lot of it in Detroit, where the
them flows all wisdom concern-
subject is evidently studied with
ing The Life Hereafter and The
greater intensity. He asked me Wages of Sin. The management
to produce a notice that he greatly appreciates their assis-
could put up on the wall next to tance in checking the veracity of
the machine, that would satisfy this commentary.
those with moral objections. I •
sent him the one below, which Since Marvin’s death, I’ve
seemed to hold off the criticism heard that The Last Judgement is
for a while: no longer displayed at the Mar-
• vellous Mechanical Museum.
THE LAST JUDGEMENT I’m sorry about that. Perhaps if
It’s not easy to find out the a visitor could prove a genuine
truth about The Afterlife. 8. The author installing The Last Judgement at night, at Cabaret Mechanical Theatre in Covent scholarly interest and was not
All we can say with certainty
Garden in London. likely to sustain moral injury,
is that The Wicked shall suffer for-
evermore and The Righteous shall those who chose the paths of evil The rest area they might be allowed a peek.
be there to watch. in their lives. Making sure that the tor- And I hope the moral objectors
They are going down to a ments run smoothly and con- don’t find out about the Metro-
The rib cage place where there is no one to tinuously is a team of dedi- politan Museum of Art in New
The figures you see descend- hear their agonised cries—no cated operatives, blameless York; there’s some bloody awful
ing here are the earthly bodies of one who cares, anyway. individuals who are just doing stuff in there.A

Of course, anyone can have a
Moose’s horse working for them. I had

read a book to my boys called If
chariot
You Give a Moose a Muffin by
Laura J. Numeroff, illustrated by
Felicia Bond, which stars a very
smart moose who always wants
more. So a moose it was! Some
old timers may recall squirrel
and moose cartoon stars, so my
moose has a friendly squirrel
helping out.
Moose’s chariot rides As per the Challenge instruc-
the rails on a cold, tions, I made a sketch on the
snowy, January day in back of a napkin (photo 1) that
Maine. shows the moose on his tread-
mill, powering a crude railway
car pulling a log car. Now you
might say that the moose would
be better off just pulling the log
car, but the snow and ice be-
tween the rails hurt his feet, so
An animal-powered he needed a better way. The
napkin sketch was detailed just
engine? enough that I could figure out
what I needed to do, but not
how to do it.
by Eric Schade • Phippsburg, Maine, USA • Photos by the I had a blown-down tree and
author some pine logs that I could use
T
his automaton project had try something new and creative. to use the car as a jumping-off for material. Using my bandsaw
several varying inspira- This particular year, the chal- point for a unique creation. and table saw, I could convert a
tions. It all started with a lenge was to build something I had seen photos of horse- rough log into useful wood for
“My Large Scale” online chal- based on a simple wooden flat powered treadmills that were the project. This kept the price
lenge. This garden-railroading car, the size of which was given. used to power agricultural down, of course, and kept the
forum has an annual challenge The amount of money one could equipment. I thought that some- wood from going to waste. I
that encourages participants to spend was limited. The goal was thing like that might be fun. sawed out some strips of various

sizes to make the car (photo 2)
and set aside a good chunk to
be carved into the moose.
Construction
I started the project by carving
a moose out of the pine (photo
3). Its legs had to be movable,
so he could walk. I used a Forst-
ner drill bit to cut out sockets 1. This project started with a pencil sketch on 2. Materials were sawn from a pine log, using 3. Moose himself was freed from a piece of
in his body, into which would a napkin, watched over by a plastic moose. a bandsaw. pine, using the bandsaw, then carved to shape
fit carved legs, held in place with chisels and a sharp knife.
with little wood screws. It took a
couple of tries to get the legs to
look right and to have the neces-
sary freedom of movement. The
ears were separate pieces glued
in; they would have been too
delicate to carve from the block
of pine (photo 4).
A proper moose needs ant-
lers, at least if he’s a he and 4. Legs were fitted into sockets in the body 5. Moose’s antlers were made from bits of 2” 6. The antlers were then reheated to make a
the season is right. Real moose and loosely screwed into place so they could PVC pipe, softened with a heat gun to flatten proper moose rack.
lose their antlers in the fall and move freely. Ears are separate pieces. the material, then sawn and filed to shape.
the Challenge was in winter,
but what is a boy moose without antler shapes from the PVC (photo 7), cut them to length,
out antlers anyhow? I wanted plastic and formed them a little and drilled holes through them.
the antlers to stand up to some with a file (photo 5). Finally, I I then strung them together with
abuse, so carved pine was reheated the plastic and bent the nylon sailmaker’s thread, mak-
out. I had some scraps of PVC antlers to shape. Moose seemed ing a flexible walkway (photo
plumbing pipe that might just quite pleased with the results 8). I tied the ends of the string
work. I sawed a short length of (photo 6). together to form a loop of the
2” pipe in half, then heated it wooden walkway belt.
with a heat gun (as used to strip The treadmill A roller at each end of the
paint) to soften the plastic until I To make the treadmill, I sawed strung-plank loop spread the 7. The treadmill was made of pine slats, with
could flatten in out. I then sawed a bunch of slats from the pine walkway into a proper tread- holes accurately drilled.

mill. I added some metal axle
rods on which the rollers rotated
(photo 9), and some gears to
transfer all Moose’s energy to
the wheels (photo 10). Bits of
wood were added in a work-
manlike manner to flesh out the
chariot body. Fencing keeps
Moose onboard his chariot 8. The slats were threaded onto loops of sail- 9. Two rollers with metal axles were added to 10. Gears transmit Moose’s energy from the
while it totters down the rough maker’s thread. stretch out the treadmill. treadmill to the wheels.
track. I used a wash of India
ink and isopropyl alcohol to
weather the wood, giving it an
old-time look (photo 11).
I thought Moose would appre-
ciate a nice fur coat to keep him
warm in the winter air. For this, I
used acrylic craft paints (photo
12). Rather than using just a
single color, I mixed several col- 11. Details were added to give the chariot 12. Moose was brush painted with acrylic 13. Moose ascends the treadmill.
ors with the brush as I worked. character. A fence helps keep Moose in place. craft-shop paints.
Photo 13 shows him ready to
Head movement linkage
go to work.
Leg
Making the legs work pivots
To make Moose’s legs move
properly, I used some thin wire to
link the legs together—right front
to left rear, and left front to right
rear (photo 14, figure 1)—
so that the diagonally opposed 14. Wire links connect opposite legs to give 15. Motion is from a crank axle geared to the Right front
& left rear
legs would move together as he Moose a proper gait. treadmill and wheels, and wired to the legs.
leg linked
walks. A second wire from each
set was run forward to a crank the treadmill and wheels so that For power, I tried a micro-gear Left front
axle in front of the moose (pho- his legs would work as the tread- motor but found it too weak to & right rear
to 15). This axle was geared to mill goes around. propel the chariot. I ended up Figure 1—Linkages leg linked

using an R/C servo that I modi-
fied to spin endlessly. To do this,
I removed all of the electronics
from the servo and soldered
wires directly to the little motor
inside. I also had to carve off
the “stop” on the plastic output
gear. To control the motor, I used
a hand wheel in front of the hu-
man operator. I soldered a tab 16. This homemade switch, operated by a 17. Power to the reworked R/C servo is sup- 18. A driver, squirrel friend, and muffin
onto the base of the wheel’s staff brake wheel, turns the chariot on and off. plied by four AA-cell batteries under the floor. encouragement were made from oven-baked
that would contact a screw to Sculpey clay.
make or break the electrical con-
tact to the motor (photo 16).
Four AA batteries hidden under
the treadmill power the motor
(photo 17).
Moose is strong but needs
help managing the chariot.
A driver in a wool cap keeps
things running smoothly by ap-
plying the brake when going
downhill. He also encourages 19. A drum of Moxie and some crates of wine 20. In order to make Moose’s head waggle, it
Moose with a blueberry muffin and spirits are scale-related bits. had to be amputated and reattached. A brass
on a stick. Squirrel keeps a stock rod nesting in a tube allows a rocking motion.
of muffins at the ready, in case
Moose actually catches one and muffins I sculpted from oven- ticle provided the impetus, and
or requires more enticement to bake polymer clay, then painted I took my little Japanese saw to
exert (photo 18). When things with acrylic craft paints. The his neck. Yep, it was as bad as
get really slow, a barrel of Mox- barrel and laser-cut crates came it sounds, but I was able to reat- 21. A linkage between the front leg and the
ie is available to give him the from my junk box. tach his head using a brass rod head keep the head rocking in time.
strength to do what needs doing I had thought about cutting (photo 20). I slipped a bit of
(photo 19). There are also a off Moose’s head (horrors!) and tubing over one end of the rod See Moose in action here:
couple of cases of the “good remounting it so that it would and peened over the end of the https://youtu.be/wuDo-
stuff” for the driver, too, should rock back and forth a bit as he rod to prevent the tubing (and aXrb5p8
the need arise. The characters walks. Having to write this ar- thus the head) from pulling out.

With the proper holes drilled
and the rod inserted, Moose
was back in fighting trim.
I decided the motion would be
right if I used one leg to control
the head’s action. I used copper
wire to make a simple linkage
between his left front leg and his
neck (photo 21, figure 1).
When the leg reaches forward
his head tilts to the right. He
looks great with his head rock-
ing as he saunters down the
track. A little touch-up with some
brown paint might be in order,
but that is for another day.
With new batteries, Moose‘s
chariot toddles along pretty well.
Sometimes the treadmill sticks
for some reason but Moose
keeps trying and almost always
succeeds in getting the works
moving again. The crank axle
and linkages give Moose’s legs
a pretty convincing walking mo-
tion (photo 22).
Kids of all ages get a kick out
of seeing Moose ride the rails at
train shows. The addition of his
waggling noggin may turn more
heads than just his! This project
was something new for me and
was fun to share online.A
22. Moose’s chariot turns heads when it is

seen sashaying down the track.

My world of
John Cervenka’s very first customer was the
late Malcolm Forbes, who purchased a toy pas-
senger liner. Over the years John has built
toys and
many toy boats, ships, battleships, and ocean
liners, always striving to create an impression
of the real thing in the viewer’s imagination.
automata This battleship represents a naïve impression of

a steam man-of-war toy, just as early toys were
representations of new, unfamiliar inven-
tions—locomotives, automobiles, and planes.
How an automatist The ship is a working automaton. It has a rock-
ing motion in a tinplate sea, while the gun tur-
came to be rets turn, the propeller turns, the soldier on
watch turns, and the captain turns. Simply
everything is turning, turning….
by John Cervenka
Sydney, Australia
Photos by the author

A
n email appeared in
my inbox some time
ago. I do not normally
open emails from unknown
senders but the title was tempt-
ing—“Automata Magazine.” I
couldn’t resist, I being not only
an enthusiastic toy collector but
also an artist, making toys and
working automata in tinplate.
The message was to announce
the creation of a new maga-
zine dealing with the subject
of automata, by its American
publisher, Marc Horovitz.
This was a hit up my avenue.
I consider toys and automata
as objets d’art, where so much
imagination and technical know-
how is involved in their creation.
I’m a long-time admirer of au-
tomata and their magic—those
legendary, expensive toys for
adults, locked away and only
taken out on special occasions
to entertain friends and visitors.
They are, in my opinion, the
ultimate in toy creations and I
occasionally create my own. But
let’s begin at the beginning of
how it all started for me. The clown on a motorcycle and the whale, both made of metal and powered by clockwork, were two of the toys that sparked the author’s interest
and later led him to become a maker of tinplate automata.
My world of toys and
automata yesterday when I bought my first a trash market that we frequent- cycle—which I couldn’t resist. I
It began one day, a long time toy. Sitting there on the ground, ed on Sundays, was a beautiful was fascinated by this toy. The
ago, but it seems like it was only among other unwanted things at tin toy—a clown on a motor- next Sunday I looked for another

toy and found both a clockwork century around 1860 and
whale and a car. It is said that ended by 1914.
when you have three of some- I wanted those toys and au-
thing, you have a collection. tomata but soon realized they
I was hooked. At weekends were beyond my means. Then
we attended garage sales and an idea struck me—could I make
as many trash-and-treasure toys like that myself ? Easy to
markets as we could find. The say, harder to do. But, after all,
pickings were rich and, also why not?
calling on toy shops and going In my profession as a theater
to auctions, I kept adding to my stage designer (scenographer),
growing collection. This was besides designing sets, cos-
also helped by my wife Vera, tumes, and props, it is custom-
who shared my enthusiasm. ary to make models of the sets to
Sometimes repairs to the toys provide the management, direc-
were required, but missing parts tors, scenery workshops, and so
were hard to find unless one forth, with a vision of the up-
had another of the same item. coming stage production. These
There are no spare-parts shops models, special props, etc., are
for toys. Recycling parts, bits usually made from card, balsa
and pieces, and useful shapes wood, and anything else that
from broken toys proved to be is handy. So, if I could build a
a good source of supply for detailed, colored model of the
spares, which I recommend. Do scenery using these other materi-
not throw anything away! als, suppose I used tinplate? I
Wanting to know more about should be able to make a toy in
these toys, I acquired various tin (correctly called tinplate)—
books on the subject, discover- something of my own design.
ing a world of fantastic toys of
times past heretofore unknown Building my own
to me; a world of highly elabo- Food cans are made from
rate automata and wonderfully tinplate. I started rummaging for
beautiful toys; a world of toys
called by collectors and experts LEFT: The author’s first automaton. As the
“toys from the golden age of music box plays, the violinist bows and keeps
toys,“ which began in the 19th time with his foot, while the dog dances below.

The face of the violinist. The author paints his automata in the A black poodle dances at the musician’s feet. The dog is A music-box mechanism similar to the one used in the violin-
same style, and using the same color palette, as toys from the attached to the same vertical shaft that controls the musician’s ist. The works are clearly visible in the photo. The power take-
Golden Age. The artistic treatment of the features brings the bowing arm. The figure stands on a base made from an off shaft is at the lower right. The winder is on the side away
figure to life. inverted food can. from the camera.
empty cans—cleaning, cutting, single pieces for my wife and attire from the belle epoque. He axle. This disc is fitted with a pin
and flattening them. Cutting myself. However, seeing interest plays a violin and has a poodle that transmits movement to two
the tinplate isn’t difficult. Good from other collectors, I also be- dancing at his feet. The piece is levers and wires, one for hori-
strong scissors will do the job. gan making a few more for sale. musical, with three actions: the zontal rotating movement (violin
That is the easy part. To make a That’s how an artist toy maker man plays the violin, he taps playing, dancing dog), and the
toy or an automaton is another came to be. I enjoy working his foot to the music, and the second for up-and-down motion
story. There is the designing, the with tinplate. There are so many dog dances. The automaton is (foot tapping in tempo).
making of a model, templates, possibilities in creating wonder- powered by a wind-up cylinder As you can see in the photos,
and preparing the tinplate ful toys and automata. music-box mechanism. I used a food can, bottom-side
parts, besides determining the I can only attempt to describe up. The musical mechanism is
visual look, solving mechanical- Automata the automaton’s function. Once attached to the underside of the
movement problems, action, etc. My first automaton toy was a made, I cannot dismantle it to can’s bottom, with the winder
Learning to solder well is also street musician, which I made in show its innards. Once it’s done, on the lower side. Tinplate legs
quite important. 1984 in an edition of two. It is it’s done. If it goes, don’t touch are soldered to the sides of the
Being self taught, I gradually my design #44, sequence num- it—leave it alone. can so that the automaton stands
became proficient in working bers 73, 74 (since 1980). The How it works: A power disc is a little off the table, while the
with tinplate. I originally created street musician is in an artist’s attached to the musical-cylinder figure is fixed to the top. In this

LEFT: A poster
designed by the
author to promote
a gallery show of
A view of the underside. The music box is wound from the bottom. A large disc has a peg that his toys and
actuates the automaton’s motion via two levers. automata.
way, everything forms a self- The golden rule in automata de- elements with the visual, making
contained unit and all of the sign is that mechanical simplicity the actions work as planned, But wait—there’s more!
mechanisms and levers are hid- is always the best approach. and finally seeing the automaton • A video of the author’s violinist
den safely from view. Of course, when bringing fully assembled and working. in action can be found here.
I do not mind if the wires your dream automaton to visual The creation of an automaton • John Cervenka’s website is
controlling the movement on the and mechanical reality, there gives one immense pleasure in www.toysbycervenka.com
upper side are visible. That’s just are necessarily many problems the achievement, before disas- • To learn more about working
part of the fun. The simplicity of to be solved in its construction: sembling it (again) for painting with tinplate, visit Tinplate Girl:
the action adds to the charm. how to blend the mechanical and final finishing.A www.tinplategirl.com

GALLERY
Galloping Horse Birds
by Marek Jeczalik by Neal Aronson • Santa Cruz, California, USA
Norwich, UK Photos by the author
Photo by the author
This automaton depicts

two proud and anxious par-
ents watching their toddler.
The gear ratio makes the
I was asked to make an eques- adult birds open their
trian-themed automaton for a mouths and flap their
surprise forthcoming 30th birth- wings more slowly than the
day present. I’d always wanted to baby, which moves about
make a galloping-horse automa- three times faster.
ton, so I immediately set about I tried several different
finding a clockwork drive I could methods of providing verti-
gear down for this purpose. cal motion to animate the
The horse is made from hand-cut adults, finally settling on the
brass, with extremely fine gold- crank-and-lever arrange-
plated wire for the mane and tail. ment to minimize lateral
The whole project was finished movement. The baby bird
with a glass cloche for protection. spins back and forth while
I love to make one-off projects hopping up and down fre-
in my spare time, using more tra- netically. I glued suede on
ditional materials, and hope they the head and wings of the
will eventually become heirlooms. adult birds as hinges and to
provide contrast.
mjfineautomata@hotmail.com
See the birds in action:
Video: https://www.youtube. http://automatamagazine.
com/watch?v=MmrUlAVKj7E com/videos/birds/

Cabaret Mechanical Theatre—a history
Part 2: Covent Garden
by Sarah Alexander • London, UK • Photos by CMT, except where noted
JUSTIN LYCETT
1. The foyer and entrance to CMT was dark 2. Part of the Covent Garden exhibit. Automa-
and cavelike, with walls painted black. ta are actuated by pressing the red buttons.
RIGHT: 3. Gambolling Dog by Matt Smith.
The small retail area of the new

Cabaret Mechanical Theatre in Covent Garden, London. venue opened in December
1984 and, by March 1985, the
F
ive years after open- tory in the Jan-Feb 2019 issue relocated permanent exhibition
ing her small Cornwall of AM.) The new location was was ready to receive its first in-
crafts shop, called simply in the vaults of the former fruit- trigued visitors. There were 52
Cabaret, Sue Jackson moved and-vegetable market, and the motorized automata, examples
the business to London’s Cov- interior was dark and cavelike of which are shown in photos
ent Garden, calling it Cabaret (photo 1). Sue painted all the 2-6. Cabaret Mechanical The-
HEINI SCHNEEBELI
Mechanical Theatre or CMT. walls black, which worked well atre would remain in Covent
(See the first part of CMT’s his- with the brightly lit automata. Garden until 2000.

HEINI SCHNEEBELI
HEINI SCHNEEBELI
4. Sue Jackson and Paul Spooner by Paul 5. Sheep Shearing Man by Ron Fuller.
Spooner.
At the beginning, five coin-op-
erated machines were positioned
at the entrance to entice visitors.
Paul Spooner’s Last Judgement
(see page 5) was placed outside,
despite some initial misgivings on
the subject matter by the Covent
Garden Market management
HEINI SCHNEEBELI
team. Paul had also completed

The Dream (photo 7) in 1984.
This piece is based on Fuseli’s
6. New Guinea Proechidna by Paul Spooner. painting The Nightmare, and is 7. The Dream by Paul Spooner.
operated by bellows and com-
During CMT’s first years, it pressed air. Once the coin is window. A snake-like monster monster and the horse have
became a cult destination for dropped into the slot, the bel- then appears from the ward- disappeared. The Dream is still
those in the know. It was always lows start pumping, the window robe and the woman, who was on exhibit and can currently be
difficult to explain exactly what it opens, and the “night mare,” or sleeping in her bed, wakes seen at Tim Hunkin’s arcade,
was without seeing it firsthand. white horse, looks through the up and looks around but the Novelty Automation, in London

(http://www.novelty-automa-
tion.com/).
Tim Hunkin had written to
Sue while Cabaret was still in
Falmouth, suggesting that she
might like to house some of
his handmade machines. Sue
was delighted to welcome Tim
onboard. He brought along
some of his existing machines,
including The Oracle, a fortune-
telling machine that delivered
its answer in sand (Y, N, or ?)
onto the back of your hand, and
The Barman, which was placed
inside the CMT exhibition and
was operated by a coin.
The barman appeared to pour ABOVE: 8. Tim Hunkin’s Barman, inside CMT.
a glass of whisky. Then, after a
pregnant pause, he delivered RIGHT: 9. Tim Hunkin’s Doctor listens to your heart and writes an illegible prescription.
it at full pelt along the shiny
bar top, which was usually a
great surprise to the visitors. The
glasses had to be wrapped in
sticky tape, as they periodically
fell off the bar and smashed.
Peter Markey painted the back-
ground of the bar to complete
the scene (photo 8). Tim went
TIM HUNKIN
on to create more coin-operated
arcade machines especially for 10. Stirring Lady by Lucy Casson. 11. Beastie by Michael Howard.
Cabaret; those included The
Doctor (photo 9), which appar- More artists her clever tin-and-wire pieces Howard (photo 11), and later,
ently listened to your heart via The move to London brought in 1986, (photo 10). Other Martin Smith brought in his first
a stethoscope, then wrote and more artists and makers to CMT. early contributors included Applause Machine (photo 12)
dispensed a paper prescription. Lucy Casson came in, with Tony Mann, Jan Zalud, Michael and other exquisite mechanical

figures made from beautifully
carved wood and wire.
The number of automata col-
lectors grew and the makers
could barely keep up with the
demand for smaller items for the
shop. Peter Markey’s Wave Ma-
chine was always popular (pho-
to 13). Because of the demand
for automata, The Fourteen Balls 13. Sailing Boats
Toy Company was formed as a Wave Machine by
partnership between Matt Smith Peter Markey was
and Paul Spooner, so that larger part of CMT’s
editions of Paul’s work could be effort to keep up
HEINI SCHNEEBELI
built by Matt and his wife Sarah. with the demand
MARTIN SMITH
CMT’s mail-order catalogs from automata
kept tourists in touch after they collectors.
went home, and many collec- 12. Martin Smith’s Self-Applauding Machine.
tors keenly awaited news of the
latest designs by post. Several tity, avoid marriages outside its
editions were created each own communities. English aristo-
year. The Mill Girl and the Toff crats, believing thick ankles to be
(photo 14), designed by Paul a trait exclusive to working-class
Spooner, with an edition made girls, prefer to breed from their
by Matt Smith, was among own stock, too. Of course, neither
the favorites. In this piece, a of the above groups has anything
young man offers his girlfriend to do with the middle class, with
a diamond ring on bended their Rover cars, pork-pie hats,
knee, whilst their ancestors turn and collections of automata.”
in their coffins below—one be- Keith Newstead started cre-
ing made of fine wood with a ating automata in the early
HEINI SCHNEEBELI
crown, the other of a cheaper 1990s Among his first pieces

material. The caption is typical- was Junkas Giles Agriplane
STEVE TANNER
ly witty, with a hint of sarcasm: (photo 15), inspired by Rowland
“The English working class, 14. The Mill Girl and the Toff. Design by Paul Emett’s household machines of
jealous of its unique cultural iden- Spooner, built by the Fourteen Balls Toy Co. 15. Junkas Giles Agriplane by Keith Newstead. the 1950s. In this, a farmer sets

out in a clever flying machine, visits. The teachers were keen
which transports his livestock to learn how to teach automata
and dries his socks. making in the classroom, as it
Keith’s coin-operated machine, was a perfect medium for learn-
The Great Chophandoff, joined ing basics for Craft Design and
The Last Judgement outside. Technology (CDT). Schools’ cur-
Customers were invited to put riculums changed over the years
their hand inside the machine and automata making became a
and, after stern announcements firm favorite in both primary and
from Chophandoff (recorded on secondary schools. The demand
a telephone-answering machine) for teaching materials led to
and much whirring, a “blade” our book Cabaret Mechanical
was brought down across the Movement, various automata-
visitor’s wrist and fake blood making design kits, and the
spurted out from the sides. This How to Make Automata video
HEINI SCHNEEBELI
was an instant hit. with Keith Newstead. We also
My brother Will Jackson developed a small touring exhi-
started creating large-scale bition that we sent out to edu-
machines after making a replica 16. Hotline to the King by Will Jackson 17. Winners of the Designing Automata cational institutions and science
of Tim Hunkin’s Test Your Nerve schools competition. fairs, and launched the national
machine (or Rabid Dog) for our Designing Automata competition
first international touring exhibi- runs Engineered Arts, a success- their coats on and pretend to be for schools and colleges (photo
tion in Japan in 1993. CMT then ful robotics company in the UK. customers, saying things like, 17). We realized that learning
became home to many of Will’s Despite the popularity of the “Ooh, that looks interesting— how to make automata was as
humanoid coin-operated cre- arcade machines in the foyer, two adults please.” Hesitant popular as collecting them.
ations, including Crankenstein, there was often still a reluctance visitors in the foyer area would Stephen Guy arrived at Caba-
which was brought to life by the on the part of visitors to pay soon buy tickets and follow ret in the early 1990s. He imme-
turn of a handle; the Brain Wash to go into the exhibition. Ron them into the exhibition. diately started trying out card-
Machine, where your friends Fuller’s Stamping Man, which board and wooden automata
could witness the inside of your stamped your entrance ticket, Schools and education designs for workshops, as well
head being cleaned; and Hot- helped, as did the addition of Some of the first visitors to the as mechanical paper cutouts
line to the King (photo 16), an the noisy musical nickelodeon exhibition were lecturers from for the shop. Stephen continues
underwater Elvis who could be in the museum. Sue also de- the nearby St. Martin’s School of to develop and run popular
reached by telephone. Will went vised another way of solving Art, as well as numerous school automata workshops, inspiring
on to create the acting robot, Ro- the problem. She would ar- teachers, who often brought further generations of makers
boThespian. He now owns and range for staff members to put their students to CMT on school and engineers.

Large-scale projects
CMT was involved in two
exciting large-scale projects dur-
ing the Covent Garden years.
Unfortunately, only one saw the
light of day.
The Ride of Life (1988-1990)
was an ambitious project com-
missioned for 25,000 square
feet in a new shopping cen-
ter—Meadowhall in Sheffield,
UK. The idea behind this was a
ride, in which you would set off,
relaxed in your sofa, on a wild
MAX ALEXANDER
adventure through a series of
animated scenes from everyday
modern life created by 15 differ-
ent artists. The ride would have 18. Paul Spooner’s Heaven from The Ride of 19. Ron Fuller’s Adam and Eve Bar from the Ride of Life is the only surviving relic of the ride.
lasted 15 minutes, starting in Life was featured on the cover of the July-
Tim Hunkin’s Sitting Room, trav- August 1990 issue of Crafts magazine.
eling through Andy Hazell and
Lucy Casson’s Tea Room, Paul mechanical mannequins that cluded shows that traveled to
Spooner’s Airplane, and many showed off new Louis Vuitton Scotland, France, several venues
more, ending up with the rider handbags designed by Monolo in Japan, the Experimentarium in
leaving the sofa and choosing to Blahnik, Romeo Gigli, and Vivi- Copenhagen, and Technorama
go through Hell or Paul Spoon- enne Westwood, among others in Zurich, Switzerland.
er’s Heaven (photo 18). The Ride (photo 20). In the meantime, the rent,
was nearly completed but was The exhibition was launched rates, and service charges in
canceled by Meadowhall at the at a lavish party at the banquet- Covent Garden continued to
last moment. Ron Fuller’s Adam ing house of Whitehall Palace rise, which meant that keep-
and Eve Bar (photo 19) is the in London early in 1996. It then ing the exhibition open was a
only surviving scene. continued on a worldwide tour constant challenge. Keith New-
For the Louis Vuitton Centen- to celebrate the centenary of the stead’s response to the ongoing
nial Project (1995-1996), Paul famous LV Monogram.
Spooner, Matt Smith, and Will CMT continued to develop 20. The Louis Vuitton project involved the use
Jackson created seven life-sized touring exhibitions. These in- of seven full-size mechanical mannequins.

financial constraints of running a photographs of his work to exhibition had fallen. Toward
permanent exhibition in a prime show Sue. Sue fell in love with the end of 1999 it became clear
London retail space was to cre- the pieces and Carlos began that CMT could no longer sur-
ate The Economic Cycle (photo working in the shop in Covent vive in London. In March 2000,
21) The politician and Chancel- Garden while creating small Cabaret Mechanical Theatre left
lor of the Exchequer were the pieces at home in his spare Covent Garden and set off for
blind leading blind, whilst the time (photo 22). The Kursaal, Southend-on-Sea,
bank manager dangled pound Despite the continued popular- UK. That story will be told in
notes from a fishing rod, just out ity of CMT worldwide, visitor part 3, in the May-June issue of
of reach of Sue and Keith travel- numbers to the Covent Garden Automata Magazine.A
ing in the circus cart behind.
One of the last automata
HEINI SCHNEEBELI
makers to arrive at CMT during
the Covent Garden years was
Colombian artist Carlos Zapa-
21. Keith Newstead’s The Economic Cycle. ta, who in 1998 brought some
Sarah Alexander (L)

HEINI SCHNEEBELI
and Sue Jackson on

the cover of In and
Around Covent Gar-
22. Early work of Carlos Zapata. den, June 1993.

Automata making in
Prague
An account
of the
Mechanical
Object
Workshop
The author’s initial sketch of the magician.
T
he Czech Republic and Modern Prague also has a
by Kim Booth Prague are well known well-regarded film-animation
for puppetry. In the days scene, resulting in a good sup-
Berlin, Germany
of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, ply of experts in puppet, arma-
Photos by the author conventional theatres had to per- ture, and model making. Master
except where noted form in German, so small travel- craftsman Miroslav Trejtnar
ing companies of puppeteers, and his team have also taught
who were allowed to perform hundreds of students how to
in Czech, offered more than just make puppets at his Puppets in
entertainment for children. Even Prague workshops (http://www.
now, 100 years after the end of puppetsinprague.eu). When he
that empire, puppet shows for announced a brand new Me-
adults are still to be found and, chanical Object Workshop (No-
from the couple that I saw, they vember 5-11, 2018), I thought it
seem to be much appreciated. was time to pay Prague a visit.
LEFT: The author’s project, a magician, completed at home after the end of the workshop.

Preparations
To apply for a place, I sent a few details of things that I had Some of the team
made. Once I was accepted, Mirek asked for an idea of what sort
of mechanical model I would like to build, so I sent him a drawing, Miroslav (Mirek) Trejtnar graduated with high
with a rough outline of the movements I’d like to include. We ex- honors from the puppet-design department of the
changed a couple of emails and he said, yes, we can make that. Prague Academy of Performing Arts. He has
Mirek’s American wife Leah Gaffen dealt with all of the organi- trained with Institut UNIMA in Charleville–
zation—booked accommodation and a puppet show just before the Mezieres in France. In 1989 he started the KID
course started, as well as an evening at the circus; sent a pocket Company, designing and producing wooden
map of Prague. She even included some tickets for Prague’s public- puppets, toys, and sculpture. Mirek’s art has been
transport system, which was great when I first arrived, confused by exhibited around the world, including at several UNIMA festivals.
the unfamiliar surroundings. A schedule for the course and loads of He has designed puppets for numerous productions, including The
tips about Prague were added, and we were all set. Baroque Opera by the Forman Brothers. He has also produced
Via the social-media page set up for the course, I was pleased to puppets for the Jiri Trnka animated film studio in Prague. Mirek has
see that three of the five students were repeat offenders. That was a taught hundreds of students at Puppets in Prague workshops. He
concrete statement about the quality of the previous workshops. has also taught for the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, St.
Martin’s College of Design in London, New York University in
Fundamentals Prague, Chapito Circus Academy in Lisbon, Portugal, and in
The six-day course, eight hours Macao and Hong Kong.
a day (with a day off in the
middle), was basically in four Zdar Sorm worked for the Trnka animated-film stu-
parts: dio at Barrandov studio in Prague for 20 years and
• Workshop fundamentals is now a freelance puppet designer of film anima-
about machines, tools, and tion and theater, as well as a graphic- and furniture
materials designer. He is a leading expert in the technologi-
• Various mechanisms to make cal designs for animated films.
things move
• Maquettes to test the move-
ments for your own project Leah Gaffen, an American who has lived in the
• Building your project Czech Republic for over 15 years, founded the
Puppets in Prague workshops with Mirek Trejtnar
and has worked with him as a producer for the
course since then. She has also done production
One tidy workbench for each student, ready to and translation work for the Prague Theatre Acad-
get started. emy and numerous theater-education projects.

Types of material and Chisels: sizes, shapes, and their care. Using a chisel.
their quality.
The lathe, ready to turn

some wooden wheels.
Tapping a hole.
How to properly use a bandsaw.

Basics of brazing. Cutting threads.

Mechanisms
There is nothing better to aid
in understanding a mechanism
than to pick it up, make it work,
and inspect it from all angles.
Mirek has a collection of mecha-
nisms—some complete models
from other artists and some
basic mechanisms that he pro-
duced himself to illustrate how
cams and levers can be used. Examples for inspiration and understanding the basic mechanisms.
These included Mirek’s own
push-along cyclist, one of which
is now included in the collec-
tion of the prestigious Victoria &
Albert Museum in London.
The Horse and the Runner,
made by Peter Markey, use
fascinating mechanisms. I spent
quite a while handling them
to see exactly how the move-
ment is produced. Man and
Fly, by Robert Race, uses a
simple mechanism but is quite
entertaining and shows that it
doesn’t have to be complicated
to be successful. Mirek’s own
animated, carved face produc- ABOVE: Mirek, with some small friends hanging around behind him and some online inspiration.
es a really striking effect, just
from a set of cams. LEFT: Mechanisms—theory and practice.

Mirek made plenty of base kits so that we could try out the mechanisms ourselves. Templates for three cams. Click here for a video of the three cams in action.
Making a maquette This is a fascinating intermedi- of my magician figure stand- I cut out the cardstock arm and
With an understanding of ate stage of the process, which ing on a box with seven levers, tried it on the maquette, to see
what mechanisms we could use shows whether your great idea ready to do whatever I planned if it worked. Is it the right size?
in our own projects, we then can work or not. for the finished object. Does it hinge in the right place?
moved on to trying out our ideas From this point on there was a Once I had screwed together With a sharp pair of scissors,
on a sort of working model or flurry of activity, as Mirek, Zdar, the parts that Zdar made for me, this took no time at all, and a
maquette. This meant drawing and the team took our more- I could start the process of add- second or third attempt allowed
our ideas with enough detail detailed drawings and conjured ing movement. This first meant me to get it just right. When I
that we could see how the work- up just enough of a starting creating a full-size pencil draw- was happy with the paper ver-
ing parts move together, which point for us to work on the move- ing of something that moved, sion, I traced around it onto a
bits are hinged, or which parts ments. In my case, this meant a like one of my magician’s arms. piece of plywood and cut it out
sit on an axle or rest on a cam. strange centimeter-wide outline When I was satisfied with that, on the bandsaw.

A “technical” drawing of the project.
LEFT: The basic magician maquette, with seven levers and a simple
outline of the figure.
ABOVE: Cut-out parts in card. If they were okay, they were then cut
in plywood.
RIGHT: With its seven movements, the maquette is finished enough

to get ready for the real thing.

Making the real thing
Having proved the principles on Cutting the left arm on the bandsaw from the The left arm, as finished on the bandsaw. Same treatment for the right arm.
the maquette, I was now ready maquette.
to start on the real thing. To make
the most of the time available, I
dismantled the maquette so that
we could use the pieces as rough
templates. It didn’t take too long
for the real craftsmen to cut lime-
wood pieces roughly to shape,
which I could then carve and
prepare for assembly.
My magician also needed a
hat. It was again wonderful to
see how experienced model The head’s a bit more complicated…. The head after carving. Zdar making a hat from two layers of felt
makers go about that. Once we soaked in glue.
had decided that it didn’t need to
be made of wood (I mean, who
wears a wooden hat?), two lay-
ers of felt were soaked in diluted
wood glue, then clamped into an
improvised hat mold. After letting
it dry over night, I used a flat iron
to smooth the brim, then trimmed
it to shape with a pair of scissors.
I added a bit of wire reinforce-
ment where the hand holds it, A new base of the right size, with holes in the New levers made from nice wood. The hat, removed from its mold and the rim
and ta-raaa…a hat! right places. ironed flat.

The glued-together, blocked-up body, which dried overnight, being trimmed roughly to shape. The head has been joined to the body.
The magician’s jaw has been added to the head. The assembled base has been painted.

How did I like the course?
Although there wasn’t enough maintain my momentum and en-
time to completely finish him, my thusiasm. The deliberate process
magician was finished enough, of making a maquette to quickly
and I was confident of being test out ideas really impressed
able to complete him at home. I me. In my days as a working
snaffled a few pieces of welding engineer I would have called
rod and some fishing line and that “fast prototyping.” Seeing it
set off for home, quite aston- used for mechanical models was
ished at what we had achieved a surprise for me, although it
in one week. Once the magician shouldn’t have been. That’s why
was set up on my desk at home, you go on courses, I suppose.
I was quite proud of him! The accommodation was
The other participants in the reasonably priced and close by.
course came from a diverse The local high street was full of
range of backgrounds and all places to grab a bite of lunch.
were quite supportive. The at- Leah organized an amazing
mosphere in the workshop was cultural program, which, for
a happy and positive experi- me, included a puppet show, a
ence. The course was held in music show, a modern circus, a
English, and sometimes some of trip to see the biggest mechani-
the tutors struggled a bit to find cal nativity scene on the planet,
just the right words. That didn’t and a very special visit to see
actually matter, as actions speak one of Mirek’s old tutors. Fortu-
so much louder than words, and nately, I arrived in Prague a little
we all communicated just fine. early and had a chance to do
I also enjoyed seeing ma- some conventional sightseeing in
chines and tools, which I don’t advance of the course.
have at home, in action. More All in all I had a great time,
or less the first thing that I did learned a lot, and now I under-
on returning home was to order stand why three out of the five
The head has been screwed to the body, which has been screwed to the base, and the mecha- a set of chisels and a few other students had returned to Puppets
nisms are starting to be fitted. Here, Zdar holds the author’s automaton in its nearly complete bits and pieces that I had found in Prague, having attended a
state at the end of the course. The piece was finished by the author after returning home. particularly useful, in order to previous course.A

This Turk plays A new twist on
an old
noughts and crosses automaton
by Martin Edwards • London, UK

Photos by the author
I
n the spring of 1770, Aus- Responding to von Kempelen’s
trian Empress Maria Theresa call for a volunteer, one Count
witnessed a new sensation. von Cobenzl stepped forward
Before the empress and her and moved a chess piece to
astonished court, Wolfgang begin the game. To gasps from
von Kempelen, a Hungarian the audience, the contraption
nobleman, unveiled a life-size whirred into life, the Turk moved
wooden mannequin dressed as its eyes and head to survey the
an ancient Turkish magician. He board, reached for a piece, and
was seated behind a cabinet made his move. The Turk proved
that bore a chessboard. One to be a strong player and quick-
side of the cabinet was occu- ly demolished his opponent.
pied by clockwork machinery, Known as The Chess-Playing
including a music-box-type pin Turk, The Mechanical Turk, or
cylinder. The other was hidden simply The Turk, the machine
by doors, which von Kempelen became a sensation, traveling
opened to demonstrate that the across Europe and America,
space behind was empty, save challenging—and usually de-
for a few brass discs and wires feating—the strongest players.
(photo 1). Hundreds of articles and pam-
phlets suggested how it might
The author’s game-playing Turk is based on a work; speculation ranged from
legendary automaton from the 18th century. a trained monkey or a Prussian

The modern Turk
The story of von Kempelen’s
creation is probably familiar to
most readers of this magazine,
and there have been numerous
replicas, homages, and refer-
ences to The Turk in the work of
modern automaton builders, but
I couldn’t resist building another!
I wanted my machine to play
a real game, but chess—quite
apart from the challenge to my
mechanical and programming
skills—would take far too long
to play. What if von Kempelen
had built a prototype, though—a
noughts-and-crosses (tic-tac-toe)
2. The author’s Turk plays noughts and playing Turk? Well, he didn’t,
crosses (tic-tac-toe). Playing pieces are bits but we can imagine… (photo 2).
of curtain rod with brass X’s or O’s glued on Spoiler alert: if you haven’t
1. This old engraving illustrates the famous Chess-Playing Turk, originally shown in 1770 by top. The board is a picture frame with a ply- watched the video (https://
Wolfgang von Kempelen. wood insert, trimmed in brass. youtu.be/4mVtcGDpuy8), you
might like to do so, as I am
cavalry officer who had lost The Turk met its end in 1854 had heard the Turk pathetically about to describe the operation
his legs in combat concealed when the Philadelphia museum wheeze “Echec! Echec!” as if of my noughts-and-crosses Turk,
inside the cabinet, to von Kem- in which it then resided caught calling for help as it succumbed and there’s a reveal that I am
pelen influencing the machine fire. One of its syndicate of own- to the fire. Mitchell subsequently about to ruin!
himself with magnets or invis- ers rushed into the burning build- published a couple of articles The human player triggers the
ible wires. Others considered ing in an attempt to rescue the explaining the secret of the game by placing an O counter
that the machine was, indeed, machine but was driven back by chess-playing Turk’s operation; it (human plays O, Turk plays X)
autonomously playing chess, a the flames. A later modification was a conjuring trick that in- on the empty board. The mecha-
concept that apparently inspired had given The Turk the ability volved a false drawer, a sliding nism starts to rotate and clank,
the mathematician, inventor, and to croak “Echec” (check) when seat, and sliding machinery that the Turk raises his head, moves
computer pioneer Charles Bab- it placed its opponent in check, enabled the cabinet—contrary his eyes from side to side, looks
bage to consider the possibilities and the failed rescuer, Dr. Silas to appearances—to conceal a at the board, then at his play-
of thinking machines. Weir Mitchell, claimed that he full-size operator. ing piece. He then reaches for a

piece with his right hand, picks Kempelen would weep.
it up, and places it in position If you’re unfamiliar with contin-
on the board. uous-rotation servos, they’re an
As the game continues, the easy way of controlling the rota-
Turk’s movement is interrupted tion of a small, geared motor.
on his second move by a sneeze Like a conventional digital R/C
(on one occasion, a player (radio control) servo, they’re
challenging the original Turk did controlled by timed pulses, in
claim to have heard a sneeze this case from an Arduino pro-
from inside the cabinet, some- cessor board. The servo will
thing of a potential giveaway) rotate forward or backward with
and, on the third move, by a variable speed, or stop, depend-
clang and a “malfunction,” ing on the pulse width. Addi-
when the cabinet doors fly open tional continuous-rotation servos
to reveal a diminutive operator drive gears and wheels behind
watching the action through a the cylinder. Some spectators
periscope, and turning a handle 4. A commercial mannequin head became the have commented that the mecha-
to operate the machinery. This Turk’s noggin. nism is noisy; of course it is—
operator stops, turns his head that’s deliberate! The original
to look at the human player, I added a vertical divider, a Turk must have sounded like a
takes a couple of drags on his drawer, and a pair of doors for box of nails falling down stairs!
cigarette, then continues. On the right-hand section (see the
the final turn, during the Turk’s lead photo). The Turk
move, the machine stops with a 3. The impressive-looking mechanical works Like von Kempelen’s original, I am no sculptor and, although
clanking, grinding sound. The do absolutely nothing. my brass moving mechanics are I have cheerfully attempted rath-
little operator shakes his head, purely for show and don’t actu- er crude papier-mache heads for
then kicks the control panel with on the street outside. My cabi- ally do anything at all. A music- creations in the past, I wanted
a resounding series of clangs, net appeared on the pavement box cylinder was a must. This I my Turk to look as handsome
which eventually frees the mech- outside my house—tatty, crudely made from a sheet of 0.3mm- and inscrutable as the original.
anism and play resumes. painted, missing its doors, thick brass and used 3mm brass To this end, I bought a man-
unloved, and abandoned. It’s bolts for the pins (photo 3). The nequin head (photo 4) from the
Design considerations smaller than the original Turk’s rotation is driven by a contin- ever-reliable (well, usually) eBay.
Readers will be familiar with cabinet but well proportioned, uous-rotation servo concealed It’s a bald, plastic head intended
the design constraints imposed and it responded well to a inside the cylinder. Yes, the for modeling hats and scarves in
by using what’s cheap/lying few sessions with paint strip- entire construction is electronic a shop, and its rather effeminate
around in the garage/dumped per, wood stain, and varnish. and electromechanical; von features have led some specta-

some spectators to insist that my procedure to cut away the hand
Turk is a woman. He isn’t, and section, mount it to the end of
the addition of a long party mus- the forearm, and arrange an-
tache does help provide some other servo at the elbow to pull
masculine credibility (photo 5). the wire and close the fingers.
Unfortunately, his head was This is why the Turk uses his right
filled with expanded polysty- hand (von Kempelen’s played
rene, which took half a day to with his left)—it appears they
chisel out. I cut out his eyes and only make right-handed robot-
mounted eyeballs on miniature hand toys!
servos inside. (It’s possible to The robot hand, covered by
buy spookily realistic dolls’ a glove, also dictated the size
eyeballs. It took me a while to of the playing pieces. These I
find just the right color, so I now 5. Fully dressed and moustached, the Turk 6. The “body” is little more than an aluminum cut from sections of curtain pole
have a fine, if macabre, collec- looks omniscient and inscrutable. plate and a mechanical arm. and glued a brass X or O to the
tion.) I sawed through the neck, top of each. The playing board
just below the jaw, and attached I made from a picture frame, a
the head section to a vertically- stained-and-varnished piece of
mounted servo so that he could ply, and four strips of thin brass,
nod forward and back. Then I which look good and are quite
mounted this whole assembly cheap, as they are sold as off-
on another servo, horizontally cuts (photo 2).
mounted, to provide rotation. Nine reed switches glued onto
The Turk’s body is rather basic. the underside of the board, one
It’s made from sheet aluminium under each small square, act
and plastic, bolted onto the cabi- as sensors. The reed will switch
net (photo 6). The fancy-dress 7. Flexible wire-reinforced plastic tubing gives 8. Shoulder and elbow servos provide motion. when the human player places a
costume I used to clothe him just the Turk’s arm shape and form. The second elbow servo works the hand. piece, as these have magnets set
about manages to disguise this. into their bases. This is actually
His arms are made from lengths two in his shoulder for up/down caused von Kempelen some dif- similar to von Kempelen’s sys-
of Perspex (Plexiglas) covered movement and rotation, the ficulty. I decided it was easier to tem. Magnets in his chess pieces
by flexible plastic tubing to give other in his elbow (photo 8). cut my losses and use a child’s triggered the movement of flags
them shape (photo 7). Again, I did experiment with making toy—a plastic robot hand (photo underneath the board, allowing
the costume covers a multitude a functioning hand to grasp the 9). Squeezing the handle on the the hidden player to see which
of sins here. Only his right arm playing pieces. This was a de- toy pulls a wire that closes the square a piece had moved from
moves, thanks to three servos— sign aspect that apparently also fingers. It was a straightforward and to, and to replicate this on

his own board.
The cabinet doors I made
from interior grade tongue-
and-groove timber. The doors
are mounted on servos that
enable them to fly open when
the mechanism “malfunctions.”
For the little chap underneath,
I searched for a realistic doll of
the right size, and up popped
just the thing on eBay—a sec-
ondhand Mr. Bean doll. I built
a new skeleton from aluminium,
mounted his head and left arm
on servos, and dressed him in
his original clothes. Nothing
could go wrong, until it trans-
pired that children all immedi-
ately shrieked “Mr. Bean!!” as
soon as the reveal happened. I
had no idea Mr. Bean’s recogni-
tion factor was so high amongst
under-twelves—Rowan Atkinson 11. An inexpensive Arduino, along with the
should be proud. Hence, the author’s programming, provides the brains
little chap’s woolly hat (a baby’s 9. A plastic, toy, robotic hand grasps the game 10. The “secret” behind the action. A repur- behind the Turk’s motions. All wiring and elec-
knitted cap), which effectively pieces. It is disguised with a glove. posed Mr. Bean doll keeps the show running. tromechanical devices are concealed.
disguises him. His cigarette is
an e-cigarette with the nicotine the control (photo 11), with a and-crosses myself, reasoning tion. He immediately did. A
nonsense removed and the LED piggybacked sound card provid- that it’s a simple and logical stern talking-to for my Turk and a
at the tip wired to the Arduino ing sound effects, which include game—how hard could it be to couple of lines of code to antici-
so that it appears to glow when the sneeze during the second devise an effective algorithm? pate the corner trap, rendered
he draws on it. turn and the clangs when the This turned out to be hubris, the Turk (I think) invulnerable.
mechanism “malfunctions” or the when I confidently offered a To my shame, though, I didn’t
The electronics little operator mannequin kicks young challenger a thousand cough up but merely offered the
A single Arduino mega-micro- his control panel. I programmed pounds if he could beat the Turk challenger double or quits. He
processor board handles all of the logic for playing noughts- when it was nearing comple- hasn’t taken up the offer yet.A

Automata in
the Classroom
9th graders learn mechanics
I
told them they needed to use at home, where my husband
tools—maybe even power had left a table saw, a miter
by Colleen McGuire • Berlin, Maryland, USA • Photos by the author tools. Some nodded in glee; saw, and a drill press to gather
some mumbled, “Please don’t dust. Between starting to use
make me use tools.” Others small microprocessors and robot-
were still stuck on, “What the ics in class, and messing with
heck is an automaton?” It may small woodworking projects on
have been a shock to their sys- my own, I became enamored of
tems, but my 9th-grade physical the idea of allowing the kids to
science classes have risen to the experience the same joys and
challenge of building automata. frustrations I was having in these
Please bear in mind that I’ve new pursuits.
only learned to “tinker” my-
self within the past few years. Background
I have degrees in chemistry I’ve always taught a unit on
and English, and have been simple machines and mecha-
teaching chemistry and physi- nisms, as part of the physical-
cal science for 20+ years at science curriculum. We love to
Worcester Preparatory School do hands-on projects, and kids
in Berlin, Maryland. In the last have built mousetrap cars and
few years, I’ve begun teaching Rube Goldberg machines in
a computer-science program- the past. For the last two years,
ming class and have been using however, I have let the kids get
Arduinos and Raspberry Pi’s to a little more creative and try to
build robots and other devices. build their own automata. The
The author put together a sample project with which the kids (ages 14-15) could interact before Over the same time period, I rules specified that there had
making their own automata in this innovative class. started to play in the workshop to be at least three mechanisms

Armeen learned about the challenges of get- Graham had fun laser cutting some of his
ting all the cams drilled and the followers barnyard characters.
lined up on her automaton.
and two objects needed to Ava and Meredith couldn’t let pass the opportunity to add bling! and would probably be happy to
have different types of motion help make some of these pre-
(up-down vs. rotation vs. slid- plan for his/her own device and laser cutter and CNC machine. shaped pieces, if asked.
ing, etc.). include a parts list. These come in handy when try-
Because my students have little Although recycled materials ing to build cams and gears as The experience
mechanical experience, I first such as cardboard and cartons needed. I try to have a selection When we finally settled down
had groups work with cardstock would work, I wanted the stu- of precut cams and gears avail- to work, it may have looked
with pre-printed parts to build dents to get a little shop experi- able for the kids to use, and they like chaos in my classroom, but
simple mechanisms to see how ence, so they scrounged around typically build around these, students were earnest in their
they worked. We also watched for recycled wood or old toy which help to determine the size efforts and honest about their
some fun examples on You- parts from which to construct of their devices. It might be worth frustrations. My classes typically
Tube, and I showed them a few their projects. I’m fortunate to mentioning that local maker- have 16 to 20 students. Because
samples of my own. Afterward, now run a small makerspace in spaces are always looking for I have a limited number of tools
I had each student draw up a our school, and we have a small community-outreach opportunities and I required a majority of the

Waverly made a “tea-rrific” automaton, with Chipper decided to add 3D-printed parts to his Hanna incorporated sound and light in her Joseph found that LEGO gears worked well.
a spinning cup and pouring teapot. automaton. detailed backyard scene.
project to be done in the class- have not used any type of pow- bench tops! (Um…I do have a and explain their mechanisms
room (so that I could be sure it er tool so this is always excit- few new holes in the workbench- and talk about the struggles
was hands-on for the student, ing. They learn the difference es—oops!) they encountered and overcame
not the parent), there was usual- between forward and reverse The designs the students select- while creating them. All the
ly wait time, as students vied for on the drill—literally everyone ed for their automata were often automata were then placed on
access to the drills or laser cut- makes this mistake at least once. similar to images found on the display in the dining hall for the
ter. This was not always a bad They also learn the importance internet, like the barking dog or younger students to interact with,
thing, I found, since it caused of clamping a workpiece in the cat and mouse. However, it’s under the supervision of my 9th
students to stop and watch what place, especially if it’s a small always fun to see some of their graders. After this, the pieces
their classmates were doing, cam they are drilling! Addition- original thoughts, like the golfer were on a one-month display in
and they could learn from the ally, they learn that a waste and the dog or a Christmas the school library.
mistakes of others. board, or spoil board, is a good scene in April. For this year’s classes, I’d like
The most popular tool by far thing to put under their work so As the final activity in the as- to build a set of demo mecha-
has been the drill. Most students that we don’t drill holes into the signment, students had to show nisms that can be disassembled

Lessons learned
In no particular order, these • Friction is both your friend and
are some of the lessons your enemy.
learned by the kids while • Energy is conserved but not
building their automata. We always in the way you expect.
discuss the concepts at the • Small wood blocks are handy
outset, but they have to be when attaching two thin surfac-
lived to be appreciated. es at right angles.
• The artwork matters but not as
• Drills work better when set on much as the functioning parts.
“forward.” • Wait your turn; offer and
• Driver bits are not the same as accept help.
drill bits. • 3D printing is slow but Thingi-
• Goggles count. verse has tons of stuff ready to
• The bandsaw is teacher territo- print.
ry unless you are anointed by • Laser cutting is fun but it’s better
the teacher for its use. when you know how to use
• Spoil boards are important. Adobe Illustrator.
Carly, Caroline, and Maddy definitely “rocked the boat.” • Clamping your work is neces- • Mistakes will be made…make
sary, especially for drilling time to adjust and modify.
and explored by the students. The outcome small cams. • Measure, measure, measure.
The paper models were a bit The students were all intimidat- • Gorilla glue is the devil—hot • Documenting your work is not
tedious and small to really illus- ed, frustrated, and disappointed glue is an angel. nearly as much fun as creating
trate the concepts to them. I like at times, throughout the project. • Wood glue requires clamps. it but, when you get selected
the idea of disassembly so that Some were disappointed with • Short push rods are better than as a highlighted “Instructable,”
the kids can get a better sense their results but assured us that, long ones. it can be awesome!
of the order of operations when with more time, they could have
building their devices. For ex- fixed their machines. Most were
ample, let’s not glue the cam in pleasantly surprised at their suc- I’m so glad to have the re- learning about mechanical
place on the axle, build the box, cess and how cool it is to make sources and the support to be things but at least we have
and then try to put them togeth- something that “works.” I think able to bring these lessons and demystified and gained an
er! This will also allow the kids they were impressed with their experiences to my students. I appreciation for all the great
to select the right mechanism for projects and proud of what they don’t know how many of them engineering we experience in
their designs and vision. had accomplished. will be inspired to continue our everyday lives.A

Making pinwheel gears
to work more smoothly.
Planning gears with metal
pins follows the same proce-
dure as outlined in part 1 for
planning wooden-pin gears.
Different methods for The smaller the pin, though, the
successful gearing: part 2 more accuracy in construction is

required. I use a gear pitch of
1/4" (6mm) or 3/16" (4.8mm) in my
by Marc Horovitz • Denver, Colorado, USA • Photos by the author automata, with 3/32" (2.4mm) or
1/16" (1.6mm) pins, respectively.
Both look good (to my eye) but if
I
n the first part of this series, I I want more strength, I’ll use the
discussed how to make pin- larger combination.
wheel gears of wood. In this
part I’ll talk about using metal The tool
pins and a way to make the Since I expected to be making
gears relatively quickly. automata for the foreseeable
Wooden gears, while perfectly future, I wanted to find a way
functional, must necessarily be that would speed up wheel pro-
made of larger components duction. What I came up with
due to the relative weakness of were the tools seen in photo 21.
wood when compared to metal, These look like dividing plates
either steel or brass. Metal pins and, indeed, they function in a
offer a couple of advantages. similar manner. The brass plate
Because they are stronger, the
gears can be made to smaller
pitches, which means they’ll take
up less space. Often, the whole
mechanism can be scaled down
somewhat. Also, in my experi-
ence, gears with metal pins tend
With some tooling that you can make your-

self, pinwheel gears can be fabricated both 21. Tools like these can make drilling holes in
quickly and accurately. pinwheels painless, quick, and accurate.

(on the left in the photo) is for any of the numerous free CAD pin should be the same diam-
Top ring one Outside diameter
the 1/16" pins, while the steel one (computer-aided design) pro- eter as the pins in your finished size larger same as shaft
is for 3/32" pins. The brass one grams online, then export the pinwheels. One end is pointed, than shaft
dia.
will yield wheels with 6, 9, 12, drawing in a file that is compat- which can be easily done by
18, 24, and 30 pins. The steel ible with a laser cutter. I suggest twirling the pin while holding
plate offers 6, 9, 12, 15, and that you make all of the holes it against a belt or disc sander. Inside diameter
18 pins. Thus, from either of the slightly undersize, then drill them Better yet, if you have a Dremel same as pins
tools, a wide variety of gear out yourself when you get them or other rotary hand tool, mount Apply soft solder or
reductions is available. back from the cutter. That way the pin in that, then turn it on thin CA cement
To make the wheels, I first you know they will be the cor- while holding the pin against the
Figure 6—Center plug
calculated the pitch diameters rect diameter. Also, include the sander to make the point. The
of the circles for the number of actual circles on which the pins other end of the pin is bent over
holes in each, making a little lie in your drawing, and have 90°, mostly to keep it from fall-
chart of the results. I then cut the them etched into the surface of ing through the plate when you
blank on my lathe and mounted the wood. This will avoid confu- don’t want it to.
it on a rotary table on my milling sion when drilling your wheels, I turned the center plugs on
machine. From there I was able as you can just follow the circle. my lathe. However, plugs could
to drill the holes quite accurately. Most lower-end laser cutters just as easily be built up from
The holes are the same size as will not cut steel. The go-to mate- telescoping brass tubing, avail-
the pins in the wheels the plates rial seems to be Baltic birch or able at craft and hobby stores.
will make. The center hole is the furniture-grade plywood. This The inside diameter of the small-
same size as the shaft on which should be fine for a while. With est tube should be the same size 22. The three parts of the tool: the plate, the
the wheel will be mounted. care, you should be able to as your pin diameter, while the center plug, and the pointed pin.
make many pinwheel bodies outside diameter of the largest
An alternative before your wooden tool starts tube should be the same size as of plywood the thickness of a
I know that most people don’t to show wear (and becomes in- your shaft diameter (figure 6). pinwheel and drill a hole in it
have lathes, milling machines, accurate). The simple solution to Solder or glue all of the pieces (photo 23). The diameter of the
and rotary tables. However, that is just to have several identi- together, then trim it to length— hole should be the same as the
most people reading this will cal tools made at the same time, about twice the thickness of the shaft on which the wheel will
have a computer and access from the same drawing, and plate. Add an additional ring at be mounted (as well as that of
to a laser cutter (your local keep them on hand to replace one end to prevent the plug from the center plug). Put the plug
library?) or someone who has the one that is wearing out. falling through the plate. through the plate, into the hole.
one. Worst case, there are com- The tool consists of three parts: This will hold the plate in posi-
panies online who offer laser the drilled plate, the pin, and the Using the tool tion on the plywood.
cutting commercially. center plug (photo 22). The plate Once you have the tool, us- Choose the ring of holes that
You can do the drawing in has already been discussed. The ing it is simple. Take a piece will result in the desired pin-

23. A hole the size of the center plug is drilled 24. The plug is put into the hole and the plate 25. The scribed line is the edge of the wheel. 26. After the first pin hole is drilled, the pin is
into the wood. is spun with the pin, scribing the wood. placed in it and the rest are drilled.
27. All of the holes are drilled and the wheel 28. Cutting the pins with a pin gauge.
is ready to be cut out.
RIGHT: 29. The finished wheel.
wheel. Then put the sharpened the chosen circle. Then place the pins into place. Once all of the be mounted on the shaft in the
pin in a hole of the next larger pin through the plate into that holes are drilled, cut the wheel same way as described in part
circle. Using the pin as a han- hole. This will prevent the plate out and finish it up. 1 (photo 39).
dle, spin the plate around the from rotating while you drill the I like to cut my pins with a I hope that this will give you
center plug, scratching the wood remaining holes (photo 26). jeweler’s saw and a gauge enough information to make
underneath with the pointed end Then just go around the plate, similar to that mentioned in part some pinwheel gears of your
of the pin (photo 24). This will drilling holes, until you’ve drilled 1 (photo 28). When all the pins own, if this is something you’ve
indicate the outside-diameter of all of the holes in the circle have been cut, I chamfer their been wanting to do. If you have
the finished wheel (photo 25). (photo 27). If you use a drill one ends on the sander. The pins any questions or comments,
Remove the pin and drill a pin size smaller than the pins, you can then be pressed into the please send them to me at au-
hole through one of the holes in should be able to just press the wheel. The finished wheel can tomatamag@comcast.netA

Laudator
Temporis Acti
Addressing the human
condition Conceptually, Laudator Tem-
poris Acti preceded many other
works that more fully embrace
my artistic inquiry of how autom-
by Wade Warman ata and kinetic sculpture can use
Raleigh, North Carolina, USA humor to examine aspects of the
Photos by the author human condition. Technically,
for a first automaton design, I
felt that Laudator Temporis Acti
I
n 2015 I began was quite successful, since I
researching the had previously only fabricated
history and design one mechanical item—a simple
of automata. As a cam-and-lever action. With this
point of origin for my piece, I set out to incorporate
research, the website specific traditional sculpting
of Cabaret Mechanical The- linkages, etc., to get a better ponents and a narrative perfor- techniques and digital fabrica-
atre (CMT) allowed me to view idea of how certain kinds of mance. The viewer is presented tion methods, including the
works by many artists, including movements could be created. with an old, cantankerous-look- manufacture of key components
Tom Haney, Dug North, Keith (The book Cabaret Mechani- ing man standing above a baby like the frame, figures, and pin-
Newstead, and Paul Spooner. cal Movement proved to be an lying on top of an open-sided wheel gears.
Through this research I was able indispensable volume and quite box. As the participant turns
to see a broad range of aesthet- the jump start for me!) the crank, the man kicks and Construction
ics and mechanics in their au- The result of my initial investi- the baby goes flying. When the The frame is a simple wooden
tomata. Taking my research and gation was the automaton Lau- participant finishes turning the box made from poplar sourced
exploration further, I also looked dator Temporis Acti. The piece crank, the baby and man’s leg at my local Home Depot. After
into many types of mechanical itself is a rather simple design, return to their respective posi- determining the overall dimen-
functions, such as gears, cams, with exposed mechanical com- tions, ready for another kick. sions of the piece, I ripped the

boards to width on a table saw, gram called Sculptris, I manipu-
then cut 45° mitered angles for lated a default object (a sphere)
the corner joints. The frame is as if it were a piece of digital
important from an aesthetic per- clay. My work was aided by a
spective; as with Paul Spooner’s few provided-example models
automata, the mechanical com- that users could work with, one
ponents are exposed to view. I of them being a human head.
wanted the viewers to see how The example head proved to be
the piece works and, by leaving essential. I was able to digitally
the front and back exposed, this mold it to not only reshape it but
was achieved (photo 1). also to create the facial expres-
The two figures, man and sion I was looking for with the
baby, have different and ap- 1. The frame is an open-sided box made of 2. Appropriate babies were procured online man figure.
propriate origins, according to stained hardwood. from eBay.
the roles that they perform. The 3D printing
baby is a plastic figure I found When I was satisfied with the
on eBay (photo 2) and decided model, I saved it and sent the
was the right fit. The man figure Wooden dowel file to my 3D printer, a Maker-
was more of a challenge, due through hip joint bot, which is an extrusion-type
to his movement and the expres- printer. For those unfamiliar with
sion he needed to embody. It this technology, imagine a high
was at this point I decided to tech, hot-glue gun. It melts plas-
incorporate both emerging tech- tic (like hot glue), which it depos-
nologies (3D printing and laser its in layers on the work surface
cutting) and more traditional in the shape of the object you
sculpting methods, so the man designed (photo 4). After the first
became a mixture of both. layer is done, it does another on
For his body, I cut out the 3. The man’s kicking leg was hinged at the hip 4. A head in the process of being 3D printed top of that, over and over and
arms, torso, and legs with a via a wooden dowel. in plastic. over again, until you have a
standard bandsaw. From individ- fully formed object (photo 5).
ual wooden pieces I was able to his kicking leg, I simply drilled wood. This proved frustrating, There are some serious draw-
make some rudimentary curves a hole in his hip and used a due to my lack of wood-carving backs to this process, in my
that were representational of the wooden dowel as a joint (photo skills: I just could not get the ex- opinion. In particular, it takes a
body, and that were more com- 3). His head, however, was not pression of misanthropy right. In- lot longer than one would imag-
plete when glued together. as straightforward. Initially, I stead, I turned to 3D modeling. ine to print an object (10-, 20-,
To achieve the movement of thought I might carve it out of Using a free 3D-modeling pro- and even 30-hour prints are not

uncommon) and the print often
fails numerous times before a Clay wall Plaster
good one is produced. What’s mold
more, with extruder-based print-
ers, the object has an unmistak-
able texture. It comes out with
“tool marks,” or ridges, where
each layer of melted plastic was
formed (photo 6). Some people
don’t mind this texture and look.
I do.
Thus, the 3D print for me was Sprue for slip casting,
merely a step in the overall to be removed after
plaster hardens
process, allowing me to use the
printed head as the “positive”
for making a two-part mold. The 5. The finished head still on the printer bed. 6. Visible tool marks left by the printing pro- 7. A two-part plaster mold was made to cast a
mold itself was made from plas- The support pieces underneath will be cess are circled in this picture. smooth head.
ter (photo 7), for ridged texture. trimmed away.
The head was cast in Flumo, a
water based, slip-casting materi-
al that allows the artist to smooth
out surface imperfections using
a green scrubbing pad. The
end result gave me exactly what
I was looking for—the man’s
head was not only smooth and
ready to paint but also had the
expression of a curmudgeonly
old man (photos 8 and 9).
Laser cutting
To fabricate the pinwheel 8. Heads cast in Flumo. 9. The finished, painted head.
gears, I wanted to employ a rap-
id iterative process that would nology proved to be perfect for light that can etch or cut through speed and intensity. An example
allow me to make and test gears this. Simply, a laser cutter works different materials, depend- of laser cutting, the crank handle
quickly. Utilizing laser-cutter tech- by focusing an intense beam of ing on the laser’s programmed for my automaton, can be seen

in photo 10.
To operate the laser, a user
must first create a design using
a computer-aided-design (CAD)
program. A CAD design works
like a digital blueprint operator.
I used a CAD program called
Rhino to design my gears. Using
this, I could quickly change the
dimensions if the gears were
too large or small, allowing the
remaking of a gear in mere min-
utes (photo 11).
This rapid experimentation
with gear size meant the tim-
ing of the automaton’s motions
were synced perfectly with each
other: the man kicks and, as he
does, the baby goes flying. For
me, this was the most important
technical aspect because, if the 10. Laser-cut crank handle. The dark, burned edges are characteristic 11. Pinwheel gears, precisely made on the laser cutter.
timing was off, malfunctioning of the process.
mechanics would have led to an
awkward performance. More piece for feedback, one critique mance? Would it have changed Analysis
importantly, if the timing of the in particular stood out to me as the humor’s dynamic, shifting it to As mentioned above, Laudator
components was off, the ele- quite interesting. My idea was a more blatant attempt at being Temporis Acti preceded my fo-
ment of humor could have easily to have perhaps added a spring funny and thus removing some of cused artistic research into how
weakened the performance of to the baby to increase its move- the subtlety? Of course, barring automata and kinetic sculpture
the piece as a whole. For me, ment. While I am not sure exactly the creation of another iteration might use humor as a way to
having the laser cutter as such how this might have been feasible of the piece, I will never know examine the human condition.
a fast and iterative fabrication on a technical level, it did provide the answer to these things. How- That said, I feel that an argu-
method meant the difference much food for thought as to the ever, questions related to exag- ment could be made that this
between success and failure. humor element. Would the extra gerated movements have served piece shows signs of first inquiry
movement resulting from a spring me in subsequent inquiries as a in its initial stages and, as such,
The humor element create enough exaggeration to way to add or increase humor to I think it is an informative and
Upon presenting the finished increase the humorous perfor- the performance. successful work.

The theme itself—kicking a behavior to be released—that humorous. They enjoyed and
baby—was the result of an
expression often used by a
they could participate in nega-
tive behaviors without the worry
found entertainment in this act
of transgression as long as it
Write
person I once knew, who would
say things like, “I’d kick a baby
of actually transgressing laws
and social morals. Others were
remained comfortably safe and
humorous through the actions of
an article!
for a cup of coffee.” I always amused by the mechanical ele- the automaton figures. Automata Magazine needs
thought this was an immensely ment and felt sympathy for the Despite these conceptual suc- writers. Everyone has a
dark and funny image and had baby and disdain for the old cesses, especially when looked unique story. Writing it down
wanted to use it in some way. In man. It is because of these dis- at as a precursor to my later and isn’t as difficult as you might
conversations with friends and senting views that I cannot say more focused artistic-research think. If you’re shy, we’ve
colleagues, I noted that the vast that it speaks directly to the uni- inquiry, I see weakness in the prepared some guidelines for
majority felt that the idea of kick- versality of the human condition naming convention Laudator you: http://automatamaga-
ing a baby was not only humor- or humor but it does reference Temporis Acti, which translates to zine.com/write/ There’s also
ous but also strangely cathartic. some elements. “in defense of the past.” Though a list there of the kinds of
This majority of opinion, When asked if the piece was I personally felt good about this stories we would like to see.
however affirming toward the funny to them, as stated before, title, most of the questions I was You could write about your
notion of humor it might have the vast majority responded affir- asked pertained to its meaning. projects, visits to places of
been, fell shy of speaking to the matively. In discussing the notion When I explained the title and automata interest, your col-
idea of the human condition. of humor, some of the follow-up the translation to people, they lection, problems you have
When asked why they felt the questions were, “Have you ever seemed to stare blankly at me, solved, or what-have-you. This
piece was humorous, people’s kicked a baby?” and “Would perhaps not understanding the fascinating field of endeavor
responses varied. Looking at the you ever kick a baby?” As one meaning behind it. encompasses all skill levels,
broad reaction as a group, the might imagine, 100% of the This gave rise to some and you don’t have to be an
majority noted that the piece answers to both questions were thoughts. If I have to explain the expert or fine craftsperson to
seemed to work effectively by resounding no’s. title, do I even need it? Will it write about your work. With
addressing the sense of frustra- Interestingly, this negative re- add anything? Or will it (as it automata, charm and con-
tion that all people experience action to the follow-up questions could be argued in this case) de- cept are often as important
at one point or another in their did not diminish the humor for tract from the overall piece? So, as craftsmanship (sometimes
lives, and allowing them to those who had found it funny. In as I have continued to move for- more so!).
figuratively kick a baby relieved fact, in asking them what made ward with my conceptual work, I And don’t forget our Gal-
some of this frustration. the piece humorous for them, contemplate and consider more lery. Please send photos and
There were, however, some it was the very idea of doing carefully the naming conventions descriptions of your projects
dissenting views. Some re- something so abhorrent that they and relationships that occur to be included.
sponded by implying that they found funny: they would never between the participant, the
felt empowered, to an extent, to kick a baby in real life but to do automaton’s performance, and automatamag@comcast.net
allow elements of misanthropic so in a pretend, safe way was the physical work.A

Automata for
beginners
I’m a bit biased about wood
by Sarah Reast • Llanbrynmair, Wales, UK • Photos by the author
T
his article is about deco-
rating your automata. At
Timberkits, we concern
ourselves mainly with automata
makers who are hobbyists, rath-
er than those engaged in profes-
sional practices or aiming for
gallery pieces, so our emphasis
is very much on having fun with
it. We also focus on characters
and creatures, though not exclu-
sively. Our aim is to give life to
the piece, not polish (photo 1).
Timberkits, as the name sug-
gests, are made of timber, so I
make no apology about this ma-
terial taking center stage. I am a
bit biased about wood. It is a re-
ally great material to work with:
Watch “How To Decorate

your Drummer” for a start-to-fin-
ish case study: https://tinyurl. 2. Harold the Drummer, of Cartoon Violence, 3. Harold the Drummer, immortalized as a
com/ybub327y 1. Happy Hands, painted and decorated. in real life. Timberkits automaton.

warm, soft, fragrant, varied, full
of character, and so on.
The best thing about wood in
the context of automata is how
easy it is to customize. With a
small amount of knowledge,
experience, a vast myriad of
materials, and the right glue,
there is no end of possibilities.
Plastic and metal are harder to
manipulate than wood, and tend
to need painting or attaching
with more noxious chemicals,
but there are lots of ways to use
them in applied detail. For the
sake of simplicity, I am going to
talk about decorating characters
here but the principles can apply
to any theme.
The most important tool is your
own observational skills. The 4. Never throw away broken jewelry and make a habit of raiding other people’s sewing boxes, shells from the beach, wire from old electrical
world is full of different textures gadgets, etc. Think magpie.
and surface treatments, so take
note. I often try to make models them (photos 2 and 3). bits. Or, as in my case, an office ple on the underground or in the
look like known people, either Your next most important tool full of boxes of bits that drive my shops, musing along the lines
by request or out of devilment. is your ability to collect mate- colleagues insane. of, Hmmmm, frizzy hair—wire
I like to find defining details or rials. You need a box of bits Marry these two tools and you wool; brand new tattoo—draw-
features that are quintessentially (photo 4)—or several boxes of will find yourself gazing at peo- ing pens; old faded tattoo—pen-

cil crayons; sleek hair—embroi- and UHU All Purpose Adhesive
dery thread; small dog—fluffy (spirit-based glue) for pretty
pom pom from bobble hat, trim much anything else, with an
to shape, add eyes…. I do this occasional spot of super glue
obsessively. I no longer see (CA cement) for tricky materials.
people as human beings, merely Double-sided sticky tape is useful
as assemblages of interesting for thin plastics or metal-shim
material equivalents. detail, but bear in mind that it
Here are some basic tech- tends to come off over time.
niques and guidelines: • When it comes to texture,
• If you are painting wooden you are only limited by your
components, do this before final willingness to experiment.
assembly. Be aware, though, I generally find that things
that your paint must not compro- become more alive with a good
mise surfaces that need to move mixture of different media and
smoothly against each other or layers. If you just stick to paint,
surfaces that will need gluing 5. Thin strips of paper made better piping 6. Real fabric tends to be a bit springy and it for example, the result will be
together. Wood glues depend than trying to paint neat lines. can be difficult to make it behave. Paper is a little flat. If you embellish with
on the material being porous so easier to manipulate at this scale. Here, silver some fuzz, some twinkle, some
won’t work on sealed surfaces. back after the first coat is dry, cord has been applied for piping. bumpy bits, and some scrumply
Acrylics are the best paints to then apply a second coat. bits, your piece will take on a
use but you can also try dyes. • Once the paint is dry, you makes great fabric effects but whole other dimension.
Enamel paints will only work on can always use other media requires gentle treatment to cre- Finding the right material for
sealed wood. Painting wood to add surface decoration or ate drapes rather than crumples the job is deeply satisfying, and
tends to raise the grain; the marks. Felt-tip pens, drawing (photo 6). finding the right detail to capture
fibers become plumped up and pens, pencils, little highlights of • I use PVA glue (white, water- the essence of your character is
make the surface look rough or varnish—try anything (photo 5). based glue, wood strength) for a joy. Take your time, indulge,
furry. To get the best finish, sand • Pre-painted tissue paper wood, card, paper, and fibers, and enjoy.A

Keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram pages for regular submis- Contacting Sarah
sions from our customers, who love to show off their fabulous creations, If you have questions or
like the ones presented here, for instance. comments for Sarah Reast
about this column, you may
write to her in care of Autom-
ata Magazine: automata-
mag@comcast.net Just put
“Message for Sarah” in the
subject line.
Sarah is the designer and
director of Timberkits Ltd.,
which creates wooden
mechanical models sold in kit
form. To learn more about
her company, visit https://
www.timberkits.com/

Reviews
BOOK REVIEW mechanisms, explaining the com-
Figures in the Fourth Di- plexities. She peels back the lay-
mension ers of each object and dissects the
by Ellen S. Rixford mechanisms with great attention
Published by the author : to detail, using exhaustive descrip-
https://tinyurl.com/rix tions and careful explanations.
ford The book encompasses rich
111/4 x 83/4", hardbound content, doesn’t skimp on de-
512 pp., profusely illus- tails, and uses generous visual
trated, all color aids. Ellen leads us through
Price: $80US + s&h tools, materials, and a huge
ISBN 978-0-578-15865-5 range of techniques, providing
inspiration to the aspiring build-
This beautiful, large, self- er as well as eye candy for the
published volume successfully appreciative viewer.
embraces a vast amount of prac- The content is a compilation
tical information, with beautiful of contributions provided by a
photographs, and technical wonderful assortment of some
diagrams related to the design physics and necessary tools for photographs that are filled with 30 noted artists, from the early
of puppets and automata. simple movements, to in-depth information on basics, prin- masters to contemporary experi-
No one publication has previ- explanations of some of the ciples, and mechanisms. These menters. Many of these artists
ously attempted to explain the most famous 18th- and 19th- include linkages, cams, gears, have been generous in revealing
mechanisms of animated works century works that are currently shafts, pulleys, and many more, their secrets, making the under-
of art from basic to advanced found in museums. with descriptions and illustra- standing of these mechanisms—
levels. The mechanics of the Quality was in the mind of the tions of how they are used. The from simple to more complex—
hundreds of artworks that are author from the outset in pro- book covers both puppets and much clearer.
featured in this volume are ducing this masterpiece. It is a automata, as these are closely This book is enriched by the
described by clear technical visual delight and a joy to read. related. They range from 17th- beautiful presentation of these
illustrations or photographs that The book weighs five pounds and 18th-century examples to puppets and automata. It offers
rarely need written explanation. and is an inch-and-a-half thick. more modern pieces. the enthusiast, amateur builder,
Over the course of 512 pag- Within its landscape format Author Ellen Rixford is an ac- student, and artist the scope to
es, the reader is gently guided are more than 1,000 high qual- complished mechanic. She cov- enjoy, utilize, and understand
through principles of basic ity, full-color illustrations and ers many detailed and intricate the content. —W.T. Ware

BOOK REVIEW Transportation Cabaret Mechanical Theatre’s
Automata & Mechanical models (car- success.) Our current standard
Toys—an illustrated history riages, railways, of hand-operated automata
by Mary Hillier automobiles), featuring visual puns was appar-
Jupiter Books, 1976 (first moving baby ently completely unknown to her,
ed., out of print) dolls, and the like and thus the world of automata
Bloomsbury Books, 1988 became popular represented in the book is con-
(second ed., out of print) and widespread. siderably different than the one
71/2 x 10" Those toys we know today.
200 pp., hardbound with from the 1860s Given the meticulous historical
color-printed dust jacket to the 1960s research and focus on clock-
ISBN 1-870630-27-0 occupy the work, this is a book for those
great majority who have interest in the long,
Mary Hillier’s Automata & Me- of Hillier’s book. interesting history of moving,
chanical Toys is a comprehensive It is heavily il- mechanical replicas of life. Col-
history of mechanical amuse- lustrated with lectors of automata should gain
ments, from jointed ancient- (exterior) photos great knowledge from it but
Egyptian dolls through a battery- of automata—al- those looking for automata from
powered NASA lunar-lander toy. most all in black- the past 40 years, or for inspi-
Her writing is conversational, and-white—or ration to build something them-
but extremely thorough. This is line drawings. selves, may not find much here
a history book with illustrations, ing birds, animated animals, While there are some cutaway to help them. —Vance BassA
rather than a how-to manual or and so forth. The goal was to or mechanical drawings, they
project book. emulate complex behavior with are mostly old patent illustra- Many books about autom-
The main focus is on clock- natural-looking movements. tions and not very useful to the ata, and of interest to autom-
work automata, starting in the Around the middle of the modern builder. atists, are now out of print.
14th century in Europe and the 1800s, the manufactured-toy in- Published in 1976, Hillier’s However, they are still valu-
16th century in Japan. For centu- dustry began to flourish in Ger- book predated the Cabaret able and most are available
ries, these were intricate, expen- many and England, giving rise Mechanical explosion of the through the used-book mar-
sive entertainments for wealthy to less sophisticated and less ex- early 1980s. (One suspects that ket. Given that, we’ll be
adults: for example, the writing pensive clockwork toys, as well the second edition, in 1988, reviewing more of these in
or drawing human figures, sing- as steam-driven mechanisms. may have been in response to upcoming issues of AM.

The End

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Paul Spooner’s

The Last Judgement

COVER: Paul Spooner’s

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 2 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 3 Back to Contents pg. March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 4 Back to Contents pg. March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 5 Back to Contents pg. March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 6 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 7 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 8 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 9 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 10 Back to Contents pg. March • April 2019

Moose’s horse working for them. I had

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 11 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 12 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 13 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 14 March • April 2019

22. Moose’s chariot turns heads when it is

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 15 Back to Contents pg. March • April 2019

automata This battleship represents a naïve impression of

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 16 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 17 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 18 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 19 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 20 Back to Contents pg. March • April 2019

This automaton depicts

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 21 Back to Contents pg. March • April 2019

RIGHT: 3. Gambolling Dog by Matt Smith.

The small retail area of the new

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 22 March • April 2019

team. Paul had also completed

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 23 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 24 March • April 2019

crown, the other of a cheaper 1990s Among his first pieces

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 25 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 26 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 27 March • April 2019

Sarah Alexander (L)

and Sue Jackson on

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 28 Back to Contents pg. March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 29 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 30 March • April 2019

The lathe, ready to turn

How to properly use a bandsaw.

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 31 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 32 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 33 March • April 2019

RIGHT: With its seven movements, the maquette is finished enough

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 34 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 35 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 36 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 37 Back to Contents pg. March • April 2019

by Martin Edwards • London, UK

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 38 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 39 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 40 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 41 March • April 2019

AUTOMATA MAGAZINE 42 Back to Contents pg. March • April 2019