The Automata / Automaton Blog

Miniature Singing Bird Box Automaton on eBay

2008-07-24T06:07:00.000-04:00

This is a handsome miniature singing bird automaton. It is small -- measuring just 4 1/4 x 2 1/2 x 1 3/4 inches! When you slide a lever, the lid opens, the bird pops up and begins singing. The...

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

Three More Hand-Cranked Animated Cards

2008-07-23T07:22:00.000-04:00

Hallmark (or the Shoebox division, rather) must be testing their excellent new line of hand-cranked animated greeting cards in different markets. The three shown below were not offered among the...

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

Player Piano Drawings, Rolls, Ads, and Music

2008-07-23T06:41:00.000-04:00

Here is a nice video montage giving us a glimpse into the world of player pianos. The video shows various advertisements, punched rolls, and mechanical drawings of player piano mechanisms. The...

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

Tin toys, Wind-up Toys, and Music Boxes Store

2008-07-22T07:00:00.003-04:00

The Wound & Wound Toy Company has tons of great wind-up toys, tin toys, and music boxes. They have a very extensive product line, including the classic the string-climbing monkey for about $16...

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

Self-Stabilizing Indoor Flying Saucer Toy

2008-07-21T07:07:00.002-04:00

This remote-controlled UFO has four propellers that generate enough thrust to send the device into the air without needing to hand-launch it. It has built-in gyroscopic sensors that counterbalance...

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

Annotated Video of Mechanical Music Machines

2008-07-20T07:10:00.000-04:00

This video features a number of mechanical music devices from the London Musical Museum. The video uses YouTube's annotations function, which points out various facts and features of the machines,...

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

German Clock-Maker Matthias Naeschke

2008-07-19T06:55:00.002-04:00

If the sight of polished brass gears drives you insane (is it just me?), then you must to pay a visit to the web site of German clock maker Matthias Naeschke. I don't know how to read German, but I...

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

10 Crazy Mechanical Burglar Alarm Devices of Old

2008-07-18T07:37:00.003-04:00

You may not have caught the post about this on Boing Boing Gadgets earlier this week. This is a link to a collection of 10 interesting mechanical burglar alarms. Some of them are very...

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

Video Tour of Clayton Boyer Wooden Gear Clocks

2008-07-18T07:12:00.000-04:00

In this video, wooden clock designer Clayton Boyer takes you on a tour of his wild and beautiful assortment of clock designs. See all of his designs at Clayton Boyer Clock Designs.

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

Canoeing Man Wood Automaton

2008-07-18T06:47:00.003-04:00

Here is a wood automaton of a man in a canoe by Stuart Chalmers. You can see that the mechanism is made up of just a crank shaft. It's hard to make out, but the crank arms are shaped like fish. I...

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

Pocket Watch Contains a Functioning Gun Inside

2008-07-17T22:40:00.002-04:00

In case you missed this over at BoingBoing.net blog today, follow the link below to find about more. Here's the post about the Antique railroad pocket watch with hidden gun.

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

Video of Clever Mechanical Matchstick Lighter

2008-07-17T07:17:00.000-04:00

While not as complex as this match-lighting alarm clock, check out this simple, but effective little device for lighting a wooden match.

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

Video of Internal Mechanism of Animated Card

2008-07-16T07:10:00.001-04:00

I posted recently about a the internal mechanism of a Hallmark animated greeting card. Here is a (very) short video of the card internal mechanism in action.

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

Simon Schaffer on the History of Mechancial Clocks

2008-07-16T06:59:00.002-04:00

Standing beside a reconstructed wooden clock, historian Simon Schaffer discusses the development of the first purely mechanical clocks in Europe in the late 1200s and early 1300s. The clocks in...

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

New pieces from Gina Kamentsky on Display

2008-07-15T07:06:00.000-04:00

Today, Tuesday July 15th 2008, Gina Kamentsky will be installing 3 new pieces in her Fuller Craft Museum show entitled Mechanical Confections, which runs through November 9th, 2008. Gina Kamentsky...

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

Hallmark Hand-Cranked Animated Card Dissected

2008-07-14T06:40:00.002-04:00

Not long ago, I posted about Hallmark's new line of animated greeting cards. I bought a few, but didn't have the heart to dissect them. Fortunately for us, master papercraft artist and Retroscope...

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

Air Powered and Air Flight Mechanical Toys

2008-07-14T06:01:00.001-04:00

Can you believe it? Another new section for the The Automata / Automaton Store. The new section features air-powered toys and various flying toys. Some of the neat items include: * X2 Power Flyer...

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

Brad Litwin, Kinetic Sculpture Talk in Philadelphia

2008-07-13T06:02:00.000-04:00

Kinetic sculptor and automaton artist Brad Litwin, who I posted about here and here, will be speaking about his kinetic sculptures on Sunday, July 13th in Philadelphia at The University of the Arts,...

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

Beautiful Karl Griesbaum Singing Bird Automaton

2008-07-12T07:15:00.001-04:00

This is a very nice example of a singing bird automaton by German maker Karl Griesbaum from the 1920s or 1930s. From the eBay listing: "Domed brass cage on a circular drum base with original gold...

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

Working Rack-and-Pinion Paper Model

2008-07-11T07:25:00.000-04:00

Yet another cool mechanical paper model from the good folks at Flying-Pig Animation Kits. Shown here is the brand new Rack-and-Pinion model. The is a downloadable kit that you cut out and make....

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

Animated Movie Praxinoscope Replica Kit

2008-07-11T06:52:00.001-04:00

Somebody forgot to tell me, but I guess it's Mechanical Animation Week here at The Automata / Automaton Blog. Following yesterday's post about the Retroscope and Thaumatrope machines, we've stumbled...

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

Build This Motorized Paper Horse Automaton

2008-07-10T07:46:00.000-04:00

Head on over to the MAKE magazine blog to get all the details for building this animated running paper horse automaton. The Kinetic Horse is available in kit form which can purchased the on the...

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

Retroscope: Hand-cranked Paper Movies

2008-07-10T07:05:00.001-04:00

Retroscopes are hand-cranked looped flip books. When you turn the crank, the pages are flipped rapidly and you see the series of still images spring to life. The reels are removable so you can get...

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

Marble Track Toys from in AutomataStore.com

2008-07-09T06:51:00.001-04:00

Another new section in The Automata / Automaton Store is yours for the viewing. The new section features every kind of marble-track rolling ball toy that Amazon.com sells. I couldn't believe how...

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.

Documentary about Animatronic Band

2008-07-08T06:50:00.000-04:00

Here is a video trailer about a documentary (or perhaps 'rockumentary') about the life and times of an animatronic band. As far as I can tell, this is for real. It looks genuinely interesting. To...

The Automata / Automaton Blog is for people who find mechanical automata fascinating. You will find information about tools, techniques, automata artists, exhibits, and the history of automata.