April 16th 2007

The Kuru Kuru Heart

By Paul DIntino
(sambora500)

Plans for the Heart Locket from the movie The Illusionist

Intro About My Locket

Many people have been asking about the construction of these lockets, so I'll try and explain it. I didn't have time to sit down and actually draw up some plans so I thought Id better put something on paper before I forgot how I made it! The following document consists of early diagrams and photos of the finished product (before I glued it into place). The video can be seen on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0nOp39btu4

It took two weeks, but only because I had to hide it from my girlfriend, and work on it at strange hours! I used Jarrah because it is really strong (and I had some around the shed :D ) For the design, I crushed shells and mixed the white powder with woodglue to form a sort of 'shell-putty' then filled the engravings.

Intro About My Locket continued

The first pivot hinge can be done a number of ways... One way explained on one forum is to use a roto hinge (try google-ing the words "roto hinge" or try a place called WoodZone.com), however for this experiment I used a pop rivet. The nail section of the pop rivet spins freely in the metal sleeve. This means the nail 'tip' is glued into one section of the heart and the 'sleeve' of the rivet is glued into the other heart section. Leaving the nail to spin freely in the fixed sleeve. As far as the lid itself, I used 2 halves of a nail to make 1 complete circular pivot when the top pieces are aligned. Then I glued the half nail (tip piece) to the lid, and made a groove in the base so that the half of the nail head could pivot in the groove. The whole thing is held tightly by the first pivot hinge and 6 magnets (4 on the thicker section and 2 on the lids) Very primitive but it works! :D
PLEASE NOTE: This document assumes you already know how to cut, shape, carve, sand, file, and glue wood/metal, and I take no responsibility for any mishaps that might come of people not following safety procedures when working with these materials or my plans.

Please see the following steps for more information on some of the more tricky parts...

Step 1: Roto Hinge

This piviot hinget or Roto Hinge is designed so that part (a) of the Roto hinge is glued to section (1) and the nail head can move freely in section (1) while the nail tip is glued into section (2).
Section 1 Section 2 Magnets

Part (a)

Nail Head

Nail Tip

Actual picture of the locket cross section view

Building a Rivet Roto Hinge

Use a pop rivet to achieve this Roto hinge.
Remove the sheeth from the rivet and cut away the wider circular plate. Cut the nail part down to size Re-fit the nail part to the now cut sheeth. Glue the Nail part tip into one side of the heart. Glue the Sheeth to the other side of the heart and the Nail part will turn freely within the sheet.
Nail part tip Nail part

Finished Product

Sheeth

Circular plate

Rivet tip

Step 2: Creating the 1st Heart

This piviot hinget or Roto Hinge must be mounted in the center. This means that in the Heart shaped position or the Capsule shape, the 2 pieces will be level.

Step 3: Securing the Lid

Now that you have created the first pivot join, you need to create 4x exact copies of half of the heart shape (Section 1) out of thinner material. What youll end up with is something like Section 3. The false lids are to be glued to the main section to give the illusion that there is a seam completely through the heart. When the real lids line up in the heart shape, they can then slide freely, whilst the false lids are glued at the bottom.
Half false Seam Lid part1 Section 3

False lid part1

Lid part2

False lid part2

Step 3: Securing the Lid

The lid must utilise a split pin (see pin1) desinged to interlock as a full circular pin once the pendandt is in the Heart position. The I shape is necessary because the top and bottoms ensure the lid cannot be lifted or pulled out of the pendant in any position (i.e. heart or capsule) You can use 2 nails grinded down to half width which when aligned make a complete nail. Magnet Section 3

Above is a Nail cut in half used as an example

Pin 1

Pin 1
Actual picture of the locket - side view

Step 3: Securing the Lid the split pin mount

Drill or engrave the heart shape (section 1 & 2) all the way through towards the point end. One half of the pin at section (b) of pin1 will be glued to the lid The other half at section (a) of the pin1 will spin freely in an engraved cavity in Section 1..

Section 3 Side View Section 1 Section 2

Pin 1 Section (a)

Section (b)

Step 4: Securing magnets

Using an engraver, carve out a section for the placement of the magnets. Secure the magnets into place with glue and make sure not to engrave too much as you want a tight fit. And finally glue the Nail Tip into the hole in Part B shown below.

Part A

Part B

Actual picture of the 2 halves of the locket - side view

The End
I hope this has given some insight on how to make your own Heart Locket. Dont forget, The video can be seen on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0nOp39btu4