Cams with springs!

Here's the latest condition of the archer. I have managed to find some nice little expansion springs for cheap at CT of all places. As you can see I've attached them on the outside of the main body of the machine. They are working just fine. Next step is to wax up the parts and re-attach the strings from the figure. By next post I'll be able to claim success or not!
Fingers crossed!

The joys of an ipad2 and sketchbook pro

This is my first post from my new tablet!
Recently I've finally been able to purchase a ipad2, which I figured in the long run would enable to sketch out ideas while on the run. Since a lot of design these days seems to cross between various programs like photoshop/illustrator and various cad programs, it made sence to me to have a way to digitally sketch ideas out and easily import into whatever program I'd like to use to finalize ideas.
By far Sketchbook Pro is the best sketching app for the iPad. For more detailed measured design I've found iDesign, which enables you to make Illustrator like drawings using accurate and editable unit lengths, for eg. in inches or centimeters. These finalized drawing can be printed out to a wireless printer if you have access to one with little issues. So in other words you can travel, surf and research, come up with a sketch idea, finalize it and with luck print out your automata ideas from one little tablet. It's great!!
Here's an example of a quick one afternoon project I sketched out in 10 minutes.

Tomorrow I'm in the shop again, more work on the cam arrangement for the Kyudo archer. Inching forward!

Finally time in the dungeon!

It's been a couple months but I have finally found some time to work on the Kyudo Archer.
I have started to replace the drive train with a design spotted in a new video about Karakuri.
It involves using large disks to separate the cams, with the the levers that follow the cams placed under the cams, with some sort of reverse force applied. ( I think counter acting cams or weights. Not too sure just yet.)
Here's the current state:

It doesn't look much different from the original cam design I made, but these slight modifications will help the levers follow the cams much easier. I hope!

You can see here that the strings that follow the outside of the arms look a little untidy. This is a prototype, so in the next version, IF I can get this to work, I plan to hide the strings in carefully carved grooves in the arms. That's still a few months away.

In other news, my friends Carol and Russ brought back a small gift from their most recent auction trip to Japan to buy antiques for their business here in Vancouver. They were nice enough to visit a doll store and purchase a small sample of traditional doll heads. Thanks Russ and Carol @ Kikori Japanese Antiques!!!

More next week! Hopefully...

Oh those darn eyeballs!

So I am gearing up for a considerable re-design of the drive chain based on some recent vids posted on the net. However at home last night I was able to attempt to make my first eyeballs from scratch. 

This site http://www.nonidolls.com/eye.html had instructions on making 'glass' eyeballs from scratch. I had to make 4 mm eyes for my archer, so I gave it a go. It's a bit difficult, and only a few out of a few dozen seemed to work. BUT the downer came in the form of air bubbles that formed on the surface of my little eyes. I used my wife's clear nail polish, and I think there was a bit  of a chemical reaction between the Fimo and the polish. The glaze looked great going on, but overnight something messed. I have resorted to carefully painting on the pupils and re-coating the two chosen eyes once again. It works, but not as precise.
If you give these eye a go, beware, it'll probably take a few attempts to pull it off. 
Off to a full day in the dungeon/workshop!

Adding Hair - the not-so-perfect way.

Not much time this week for work on the archer doll, but I did manage to add some hair to the doll's head and fine tune a few of the joints.
Here's a photo- I've used the 'poor mans' method where I purchased a fake beard, took it apart carefully, and epoxied the hair down in strips. This is NOT the typical method for adding hair to the dolls in the traditional sense, but until I meet a master who would be generous enough to teach me properly, this way will work for now. I the end it didn't look too bad. Could have been a little tidier but overall the results are good. This is, after all, a prototype!
Next on the to-do list is re-make the supports for the drive train. It is currently slipping. I may have to come up with a better balanced system to move the arms up and down, which at the moment are proving to be the most difficult to move. Looking at the photos of the original older mechanisms, it appears that there are some counter-weights that might help matters. I should assume that some sort of gravity assisted mechanisms is involved. I really wished I had seen that original archer moving up close and personal! 

'might add some sideburns after I polish the face up a bit  more...

Quick update

Thought I'd post a few photos related to my current attempts.

I was going though my Japan trip photos and came across a display at the Karakuri Museum in Nagoya. These show the process of designing and constructing an archer karakuri as done by the current master of karakuri, Shobei Tamaya IX,  The only disappointing thing to note is that I failed to get a clear photo of the center of the display that showed the cams in detail! Oh Man!

 And finally here is a shot of a classic example of Karakuri at it's height. This wonderful piece is in the Toyota Museum of Industry collection in Nagoya.

Cams and Grommets...

Hi again!
I had a three or four hour stint in the little corner basement workshop this week. Nothing too dramatic was achieved, but I did manage to start to add the grommets for the strings to follow - you can see them here... You can see in this photo the 'stops' built into the arms so that when the bow arm is in tension, it should straighten out completely.
Also I added the third smaller gear to the 'drive' of the doll. This has slowed the potential action of the doll when it is cranked, just in case any quick motion might have damaged the mechanisms. This has allowed me to move the handle slightly up. Might save some knuckle skin in the long run.


Tonight I've started to break down the cycle of the movements and made a primitive drawing of the possible cam shapes. I have five cams designed into the base, four are now accounted for. One for the up and down motion of the shoulders, moving both the arms up. The next one straightens the bow arm, while the other arm cam bends the forearm of the string arm forward. The fourth cam should pull the upper part of the string arm in the opposite direction as the bow is drawn.

I'm thinking now, as I type this, that the fifth cam could be used to activate the trigger hand to release the bow string - but that might be a tougher done than said.
Here's my very rough drawing of the cam designs based on breaking the time down into 360 degrees. As I've said before, this Kyudo doll won't do every movement precisely, just mimic most of them. I found a video online of a gal putting on quite a performance, and basically decided to time the motions so that the up and down movements of the arms would be the point where the doll would 'cycle' to it's beginning stance. Unfortunately my skills are not up to snuff so much to include the relaxed pose of the archer at the end of the shot. You can see the video that inspired me here.
I'll have to wait another week before I can string this doll up -- sigh. 
Before I go, one more online treat is an old black and white film of Kyudo archers in full armor practicing their combat skills. This is quite amazing, and I think that armor design has given me a few ideas on how to decorate my archer.


Here's something to make your mind buzz for now...