The Institut du Monde Arabe ( Arab World Institute )
Uses something like this for a Facade system,
they don't all work anymore.
Hi Chris,
I think you understood my question because you gave me the answer i was seeking but sometimes i have to ask a question twice before i understand the answer so here goes.
This pic is a section of your gears. I have drawn a 1/16th circle to represent a bit. Even at 1/16th it won't be able, because the bit is round, to go cut a sharp square edge.
Because of that, and now you say a 1/8th" bit will work, the intersections will be rounded instead of square. Will that have an effect on the meshing of the gears?
I have not cut gears flat on the table so my lack of understanding has me wanting to understand before i go cut something and screw it up.
Heya Chris. I loved reading through this thread and watching the development of this project. Collaboration between creative people is always a fascinating process to observe.
I was curious how this iris mechanism would function at a much smaller scale, so I made a special laminate from some central american cocobolo wood veneers that I had laying around. The laminate ended up being about .125" thick and features two "cross grain laminated" layers to make it very strong and resistant to cracking or splitting.
I downloaded one of the dfx files that you guys shared in this thread, and I spent some time optimizing it for a much smaller scale. Like some other people had mentioned, I ended up going through and standardizing every single bolt hole in all of the parts for some microscopic brass pins that hold it all together.
My cocobolo laminate cut very clean and sharp using a .313" two flute cutter from precisebits.com. I actually used little dots of super glue to "tack weld" the laminate to my table surface. Due to the micro level of work I was doing with this project, I did a fresh table surfacing pass right before I tacked down the laminate. I knew I was working with tolerances of less than a thousandth, so I wanted the table fresh and perfectly flat for this job.
The end product is something I plan on using in several upcoming projects, but here is a pic of the first prototype. The light-colored "drive gear" in the upper right part of the pic is about the size of a dime. The entire size of this assembled iris is less than three inches wide, it easily fits in the palm of your hand!
Last edited by gabrielleigh; 07-21-2012 at 11:21 PM. Reason: left out a pic
Ok gabriel so where your picture? To add a picture scroll down to "additional options" before posting a message, then go to "manage attachments" click that and go find the picture you want to post....that should get you going.
you figured it out....
Last edited by myxpykalix; 07-21-2012 at 11:27 PM. Reason: figured it out while i was typing
Very Cool. May I ask it's intended purpose?
I seem to be going in the exact opposite direction.
I got a call from the props dept of the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting) needing an Iris made 4' wide. Aparantly going to be on the set of some Sci-Fi show they are shooting in Saskatchewan.
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
Chris i've always been told that "Bigger is Better" so i like your iris. What did you make it out of? How long did it take?
Is this just an enlarged version of the files that have already been posted?
I also like gabe's because you could use that as a fancy opener for a jewelry box, both are cool.
Jack, It's just ply (baltic birch 3/4" for the base and 1/2' for the parts)
Only took me a few hours as it is just a blow up of the smaller unit and so much quicker to cut out of wood than brass. Took me longer to make a run to the hardware store and shop for properly sized bolts and such than it did to cut. Good thing too as this was for film. Money is no object, time is absoulutely critical.
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
I build lots of strange things in my shop. By trade, I am a cuesmith. I build and repair pool cues for customers all around the world. My father is a luthier, so the benefits of having a Bot were pretty obvious for both of our businesses. I was able to finally get one last year after slobbering over the website for the last ten years or so.
I spend about half my time building parts for my father's business and my pool cue work, the other half of my time gets invested into some pretty insane projects. One of the things I am very passionate about is using the Bot to do micro-scale machinework. When I first got the Bot, I was pretty confident that it could work on a small scale, but it took me a while to get a good selection of microbits and collets that would do the work I wanted to do. I also had to develop my understanding of how to do multi-sided machine work, since many of the projects I wanted to tackle were machined from several sides.
When I saw your mechanical iris project last year, I thought about how cool it would be to incorporate intricate wooden mechanisms like that into everyday mundane objects. Then when I saw how you were incorporating it into the door you built, I knew I had to have a Bot so I could try to build some of the ideas I had in the back of my mind.
I picked up a copy of Google Sketchup Pro, and discovered the unbelievable collection of 3D models in the Google Warehouse. Millions upon millions of three-dimensionally modeled things at my fingertips. Almost all of them can be downloaded and disassembled in Sketchup.
For the last seven months or so, I have been using the Bot to build hundreds of unique things. Pool cue parts, vintage guitar parts, inlaid cutting boards, cooking utensils, jewelry, walking canes (I am disabled), porch swings, exotic wood pens and pencils, and many other things. I also make the simple stuff that Bots were designed to make like signs and stuff.
But nothing grabs my attention more than the cool mechanical things that people come up with like your mechanical iris. The other stuff I make usually just gives me a fleeting bit of satisfaction, but the Rube Goldberg mechanical gadgetry that I have been making with the Bot usually causes me to run outside my shop screaming and pounding my chest like a gorilla when I get it finished.
Your iris design is something I hope to incorporate into quite a few projects in the near future. One of the most unique projects is one I am nearing completion on now. I have been commissioned to produce a series of steampunk-style mechanical tobacco pipes. I knew the moment I was asked to build them that your iris would be the perfect mechanism to install on the pipe. Your iris design will sit atop the bowl of the pipe, and the smoker will rotate a small knob to open the iris, insert the tobacco, and smoke away in mechanical bliss.
I have the prototype almost done, today I will be cutting out a set of mechanical iris parts that are intricately adorned with micro v-carved Celtic knotwork. The photo below shows part of the main body of the pipe, and the prototype iris mechanism I made to test out the function of the design at this small of a scale. The completed pipe will be heavily engraved with Celtic designs. You can see from the photo how your iris design will sit on top of the pipe body
Gabe,
Not being a smoker i'm wondering if adjusting the the size of the opening thru which you draw your air would have any advantage? Or is it more a decorative feature?
I definitely think you would have to have your bot dialed in extremely well to do that small of work accurately and it looks fantastic.
I too have always been fascinated by "Rube Goldberg-ish" type devices having grown up in the Chicago area and frequenting the Museum of Science and Industry i was always awed by some of the stuff i saw there.
I'd love to see some of the things you have made. I'd even like to maybe collaborate on some types of projects like that. You should do a search on youtube for "kenetic sculptures" Here's a good one:
http://www.youtube.com/user/mechanic...e=results_main
keep up the cool stuff!