I make small kinetic sculptures by buying old electric alarm clocks,
electric can openers, and other small motorized kitchen appliances at the
Goodwill, removing the motors, and mounting them into welded boxes with
long, bent rods brazed onto the motor shafts. I braze small copper figures
like animals, birds, fish, etc. onto the other end of the rods, and plug
them in, making sharks that swim in circles, for instance.

I now want to add cams, so these objects move in more complex patterns than
just around in circles. Not as complex as automatons, but leading in that
direction.

My question is where to source the cams and followers? Either as parts in
cheap appliances, or more likely, as stand alone parts ?? I would be happy
to fabricate them, but my experiments with 1/8" plexi have not been too
successful - any better ideas??

Thanx!

__
"All it took was all I had..."

Emmo wrote:

I make small kinetic sculptures by buying old electric alarm clocks,
electric can openers, and other small motorized kitchen appliances at the
Goodwill, removing the motors, and mounting them into welded boxes with
long, bent rods brazed onto the motor shafts. I braze small copper figures
like animals, birds, fish, etc. onto the other end of the rods, and plug
them in, making sharks that swim in circles, for instance.

I now want to add cams, so these objects move in more complex patterns than
just around in circles. Not as complex as automatons, but leading in that
direction.

My question is where to source the cams and followers? Either as parts in
cheap appliances, or more likely, as stand alone parts ?? I would be happy
to fabricate them, but my experiments with 1/8" plexi have not been too
successful - any better ideas??

Thanx!

__
"All it took was all I had..."

One thing that comes to mind is to use the same gears, etc. that you
are using, and make eccentrics to actuate the actions via pushrod or
pull-pull cables in tubes.

Thinking like soldering a pin off axis on the face of a gear. (Does
that make any sense?)

Gearing a couple sets of gears together like spirograph can get some
pretty complicated motions going too.

Cheers
Trevor Jones

Emmo wrote:

I make small kinetic sculptures by buying old electric alarm clocks,
electric can openers, and other small motorized kitchen appliances at the
Goodwill, removing the motors, and mounting them into welded boxes with
long, bent rods brazed onto the motor shafts. I braze small copper figures
like animals, birds, fish, etc. onto the other end of the rods, and plug
them in, making sharks that swim in circles, for instance.

I now want to add cams, so these objects move in more complex patterns than
just around in circles. Not as complex as automatons, but leading in that
direction.

My question is where to source the cams and followers? Either as parts in
cheap appliances, or more likely, as stand alone parts ?? I would be happy
to fabricate them, but my experiments with 1/8" plexi have not been too
successful - any better ideas??

Bend up a cam out of 1/8 rod and weld or braze it to the shaft; use a
lightweight follower. As long as you actuate _really_ lightweight stuff
with it and dress any welds on the working surface carefully it ought to
stand up pretty well.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Don't bother to make the parts yourself. Scavange them from old
copiers and laser printers. They're loaded with cams and drive
mechanisms.

Emmo wrote:
I make small kinetic sculptures by buying old electric alarm clocks,
electric can openers, and other small motorized kitchen appliances at the
Goodwill, removing the motors, and mounting them into welded boxes with
long, bent rods brazed onto the motor shafts. I braze small copper figures
like animals, birds, fish, etc. onto the other end of the rods, and plug
them in, making sharks that swim in circles, for instance.

I now want to add cams, so these objects move in more complex patterns than
just around in circles. Not as complex as automatons, but leading in that
direction.

My question is where to source the cams and followers? Either as parts in
cheap appliances, or more likely, as stand alone parts ?? I would be happy
to fabricate them, but my experiments with 1/8" plexi have not been too
successful - any better ideas??

Thanx!

__
"All it took was all I had..."

Oooooooooo! Me want pictures! :-)

--
"Steamboat Ed" Haas : Whatever happened
Hacking the Trailing Edge! : to Tom Nelson?
http://www.nmpproducts.com/intro.htm
---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---

I now want to add cams, so these objects move in more complex patterns than
just around in circles. Not as complex as automatons, but leading in that
direction.

Go to http://www.arthurganson.com/ and buy his DVD. You will see
tons of ideas on how to arrange linkages, etc. Most are brazed from
wire. Fascinating stuff, and incidentally, a great way to keep
visiting
nephews rivetted to the couch and out of trouble...
--Glenn Lyford

Thanx to you and the other respondents. I didn't know there were cams in
copiers and laser printers, so that is a good pointer. I don't have any
pictures right now, but I will post some soon...

wrote in message
oups.com...
I now want to add cams, so these objects move in more complex patterns
than
just around in circles. Not as complex as automatons, but leading in
that
direction.

Go to http://www.arthurganson.com/ and buy his DVD. You will see
tons of ideas on how to arrange linkages, etc. Most are brazed from
wire. Fascinating stuff, and incidentally, a great way to keep
visiting
nephews rivetted to the couch and out of trouble...
--Glenn Lyford

In that event, keep experimenting.
JR
Dweller in the cellar

Emmo wrote:

I would be happy
to fabricate them, but my experiments with 1/8" plexi have not been too
successful - any better ideas??

Thanx!

__
"All it took was all I had..."




--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth
If you're not the lead dog, the view never changes
Doubt yourself, and the real world will eat you alive
The world doesn't revolve around you, it revolves around me
No skeletons in the closet; just decomposing corpses
--------------------------------------------------------------
Dependence is Vulnerability:
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Open the Pod Bay Doors please, Hal"
"I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.."

Emmo wrote:


My question is where to source the cams and followers? Either as parts in
cheap appliances, or more likely, as stand alone parts ?? I would be happy
to fabricate them, but my experiments with 1/8" plexi have not been too
successful - any better ideas??


Dunno if it'll help ya but ask an appliance repair store for a couple of
defective washing machine timers. If you can get enough covers off of
one, you will find cams stacked as much as 6 high.


technomaNge

Emmo:
I was just at a very large copier repair facility the other day looking
for bearing and rod asssemblies. . They had several large copiers that
were slated for the junk pile. Most of the parts are unfortunately,
linear in nature. Actuators, slides...that kind of thing. I own
several of these large copiers in my business. I have one in fact, that
cost me over 40K 7 years ago, is out of service and is in storage
because it costs more to move it or dispose of than it is worth. Weird.

Anyway, these types of machines, have motors, rack and pinions, air
pumps, air tanks, cylinders, valves...all interesting stuff, but not a
lot of cams and followers. Hope that info will save you some time.
-Mike

Steve:
Why not take a short piece of round stock, drill a hole off-center, and
braze a rod or shaft into it. I guess this is an eccentric rather than
a cam, but the resulting action is the same.

--
Gary Brady
Austin, TX
www.powdercoatoven.4t.com




Emmo wrote:
I make small kinetic sculptures by buying old electric alarm clocks,
electric can openers, and other small motorized kitchen appliances at the
Goodwill, removing the motors, and mounting them into welded boxes with
long, bent rods brazed onto the motor shafts. I braze small copper figures
like animals, birds, fish, etc. onto the other end of the rods, and plug
them in, making sharks that swim in circles, for instance.

I now want to add cams, so these objects move in more complex patterns than
just around in circles. Not as complex as automatons, but leading in that
direction.

My question is where to source the cams and followers? Either as parts in
cheap appliances, or more likely, as stand alone parts ?? I would be happy
to fabricate them, but my experiments with 1/8" plexi have not been too
successful - any better ideas??

Thanx!

__
"All it took was all I had..."

This makes really good sense, and would be very easy to do - great
suggestion !! A huge benefit is that I can easily make them any size that I
might need - I have both 1/2" and 5" aluminum rounds that I picked up off
the floor at Westbrook Metals. I also think that the followers or tappets
would ride easier on rounds than on actual cams, especially if I were to use
something like slot car wheels. My mental gears are turning...

Thanx!

"Gary Brady" wrote in message
. net...

Steve:
Why not take a short piece of round stock, drill a hole off-center, and
braze a rod or shaft into it. I guess this is an eccentric rather than a
cam, but the resulting action is the same.

--
Gary Brady
Austin, TX
www.powdercoatoven.4t.com




Emmo wrote:
I make small kinetic sculptures by buying old electric alarm clocks,
electric can openers, and other small motorized kitchen appliances at the
Goodwill, removing the motors, and mounting them into welded boxes with
long, bent rods brazed onto the motor shafts. I braze small copper
figures like animals, birds, fish, etc. onto the other end of the rods,
and plug them in, making sharks that swim in circles, for instance.

I now want to add cams, so these objects move in more complex patterns
than just around in circles. Not as complex as automatons, but leading
in that direction.

My question is where to source the cams and followers? Either as parts
in cheap appliances, or more likely, as stand alone parts ?? I would be
happy to fabricate them, but my experiments with 1/8" plexi have not been
too successful - any better ideas??

Thanx!

__
"All it took was all I had..."

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 04:35:16 GMT, "Emmo" wrote:

This makes really good sense, and would be very easy to do - great
suggestion !! A huge benefit is that I can easily make them any size that I
might need - I have both 1/2" and 5" aluminum rounds that I picked up off
the floor at Westbrook Metals. I also think that the followers or tappets
would ride easier on rounds than on actual cams, especially if I were to use
something like slot car wheels. My mental gears are turning...


Only problem with eccentrics is you have a much longer "activation
phase" because the ramps are shallow. A cam gives a good "kick" to
activate, then de-activates quickly. An eccentric slowly activates,
then slowly de-activates (relative to the action of a cam)

Thanx!

"Gary Brady" wrote in message
.net...

Steve:
Why not take a short piece of round stock, drill a hole off-center, and
braze a rod or shaft into it. I guess this is an eccentric rather than a
cam, but the resulting action is the same.

--
Gary Brady
Austin, TX
www.powdercoatoven.4t.com




Emmo wrote:
I make small kinetic sculptures by buying old electric alarm clocks,
electric can openers, and other small motorized kitchen appliances at the
Goodwill, removing the motors, and mounting them into welded boxes with
long, bent rods brazed onto the motor shafts. I braze small copper
figures like animals, birds, fish, etc. onto the other end of the rods,
and plug them in, making sharks that swim in circles, for instance.

I now want to add cams, so these objects move in more complex patterns
than just around in circles. Not as complex as automatons, but leading
in that direction.

My question is where to source the cams and followers? Either as parts
in cheap appliances, or more likely, as stand alone parts ?? I would be
happy to fabricate them, but my experiments with 1/8" plexi have not been
too successful - any better ideas??

Thanx!

__
"All it took was all I had..."