End of year show

So the project came to an end and we had a show, a great fun all weekend very good show.

 

Finished

So after all the work and time this project is finally finished and presented, it has been a pretty fun one and I am happy with the outcome for the most part, a few tweaks are needed to get the Drawing Deck perfect for the next incarnation. Next up is our class final exhibition.

the drawings displayed on a roll next to the 7 days sculpture

Drawing machines in action!

Today was the day to do final tweaks and then put the machines to use... I am very pleased with the results, after a few little issues with the setting and gears moving ( still need to cap them off in the centre) I had them working and got some good results. I particularly like the varied output from the different configurations of the arms and using multiple pens at once.
1 First off the blocks was the machine formerly known as DM1... now known as Drawing Deck, partly because it kind of reminds me of a dj deck amd because it was partly inspired by the turntable drawing devices that have been kicking about..

The first tests were a success

  

 


I couldn't be much happier with this one to be honest, it is just what I was after.

Next, well, first techinically as I put this out first thing this morning and invited people to get in there and have a go with the camera pencils... people seemed eager and had fun doing it which was the entire point.. it created some lovely outcomes and people did a variety of different marks, this is an experiment I would like to replicate and scale up somehow. I do think that isolating each piece with a set of colours is the way forward.

Finally we have the Octo-sketch... in my opinion the weaker of the three but that may just mean that I need to rethink the concept, or the fact that I messed up the design a bit in that the centre holes in the long arms are not centred... but that's all in the past now... it does have an interesting dynamic and I am looking forward to seeing if it will indeed work with more than one person, it is not reliant on that so it can just be added to and can drag the other bits around... well, see for yourself...

Apologies for the rubbish video, I was holding it with one hand and trying to work the device and keep it from shifting...

 

It is basically a drunken compass... maybe that is what I should have named it!! Well, that's what I got up to today.

Assembling and testing final pieces

Over the past week I have been assembling and tweaking the finished pieces and I have to say I am mostly pleased with how they have turned out, there were one or two minor miscalculations but on the wole I think I nailed it.

I started off with this one and it was a really simple job that I actually overthought so once I stopped that and simplified it it was all smooth sailing, or should I say it ran like a well oiled machine! well... I say well oiled... I say machine...

So all I need to do is attach the broom head, varnish the cogs and strengthen the copper pins and set everything firmly in place and we're away. I call it 7 days and it's a sort of comment on the nature of work, spinning our wheels for 7 days pushing dust around and wondering what we are achieving at the end of it... the gears all turn but the device has no actual purpose other than to turn. So there's that.

apologies for the crap video. Anyway, earth shatteringly profound meaning aside, it is a fun piece that people can play with and hopefully it makes someone smile, someone other than me anyway.


Next... the drawing machines.
"Octo-Sketch" was the one that gave us trouble on the laser cutter, for some reason the machine was not down with drawing straight lines.. its own protest against man's inhumanity to man I suppose but I guess that's fair. after a few tries it was stopping time so I went back to the workshop.

laser doing its own thing

After cutting most of the straight pieces on the bandsaw and edging them up on the circular sander I glued each one together and then varnised the lot. A process that in total took a couple of days with the pieces of the other device as well so not too bad.

the original maquette I made for the octosketch device

I cut down the dowels with a knife so they'd fit and I really like the handmade look, it looks better than fluted dowels.

 The final piece with just a few of the arms attached, I am pretty happy with this one, except I accidentally misjudged the centre hole on the long arm parts and it is not perfectly centred which BUGS me but it does not affect the functionality and there is nothing I can do about it now so.. that's the deal there.

And finally the elliptical cog drawing device is nearing completion, I just need to figure the rivet arm attachments so they don't catch when it is turning and it will be done. That's this next week of activity. so I made a base for it and used thick copper wire to hold the gears in place, I am really excited about getting this one running smoothly and testing it out.

     just a bit of work left.

laying it out for a first look

centering

finished bases for both devices