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The Late Bird, a new project.
This time, I wanted to try using plywood to create an automata and
produce a kit of parts for others to make. Being a new material,
I was faced with new challenges. In particular, I needed to develop
a new approach to prototyping.
Making models from plywood is a time consuming process,
The cutting out is both harder and less accurate than with cardboard.
At the Frankfurt bookfair I was introduced to a new (to me) material;
foamboard. It consists of a thin sheet of foam sandwiched between
two layers of heavy paper and comes in thicknesses ranging from
3mm upwards.
The clear advantage this material gives me over
the use of plywood is that it is so easy to work with. It cuts easily
with a scalpel and can be drawn on with a pencil. After the first
stages of prototyping I found that I could use the computer to design
and print parts, spray mount the parts onto the foam board and then
cut them out.
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I
went through various stages of development before settling on the
above model. Initially, it didn't actually work: The worm failed
to return into his hole. I hoped that this was because the foamboard
lacked the weight of plywood. I also found that the gears refused
to mesh correctly. Again I hoped that this was because of the 'give'
in the foamboard. I was wrong...