What's in a Name

The Flying Pig download shop is powered by e-junkie and the payment system is PayPal. I was in conversation with someone recently who was thinking of selling product on line in the same way that I do - they'll be selling pdf documents. So straight away I recommend the E-Junkie / PayPal mix I use. I find it works well. I've tried various systems and this seems to be the best, but I got to thinking about the names. PayPal. It doesn't sound very serious - like someone you might go out for a drink with. A pal, a friend. But someone who you trust with your money? The same goes for E-Junkie. Don't get me wrong, the E-Junkie framework is fab! Its just the name. Would a download controller by any other name smell as sweet? Financial services should have solid - reliable names. Name you can trust.
Northern Rock anybody?

Waft waft ye wings.

I'm working on a new model. It is a flying creature - not sure what yet. I wanted to do an update of the mechanism that was used in Die Fledermaus. In the Maus the arms flap up and down four times for each rotation of the handle. I only need two flaps with this model. I also wanted to change the design slightly so that the cam follower can be weighted for a more positive wing movement. The Maus model uses a small coin as a weight but the cam follower can tend to bind if not built accurately. Hopefully this dragged cam follower will work better.
To work out the dimensions of the box I made an axle hole in the centre of a piece of card, dropped the mechanism into place as in the picture, left, then drew out a box to enclose a full rotation. This almost worked - had to be resized slightly. I now have a completed working base mechanism ready to add flying creature.

I'm going to London on Monday giving a small talk at Imperial College. I'm part of the presentation "Improbable Research: Imperial & Otherwise" with Marc Abrahams - originator of the Ig Nobel prize and co-founder of Annals of Improbable Research. Should be fun!

Thanks to all the people who came the Design Technology Show last week. I had a fantastic - if somewhat fraught, time. It was really nice to meet people in the flesh!

Counting Sheep

A new downloadable model for you to download, print out and make. Counting Sheep uses a ratchet and pawl drive to count the number of leaping sheep.
Turn the handle, count the sheep, fall asleep. Perfect.

Design Technology Show

I'll be at the Design + Technology with ICT Education Show 2007 for the rest of the week. Birmingham (UK) NEC Hall 10 Stand A33.
I always dread shows - the thought of standing there being ignored for three days is horrid. Please, come along to stand A33 and say hello!
More details here...

Tactile

I bought this book after seeing it on Paper Forest. It's a 200+ page hardback of 3D art, much of which is paper based. The book is divided into section such as "Type & Poster" example and photographs of font based art and , er, posters. The chapter, "Objects, Scenes & Paper Works " has all kinds of fun and weird paper based 3D art work, a fantastic source of inspiration and amusement!
I've really really enjoyed flicking through this book looking at the strange ideas and quirky constructions. Well worth a look.

Nearly there.

As is often the way I've drifted off from the model I was designing to something else. So, now we have "Counting Sheep", turn the handle and and the ratchet / pawl drive increments the counter.
No more insomnia for me, count the sheep - fall to sleep. Simple.
I still have a few small changes to make but basically I think the model is done. New downloadable soon.

Structural Packing Design

I've had this book for a while and keep dipping back into it. Structural Packaging Design is a collection of hundreds of designs of paper boxes, packages, envelopes and product packs. All sort of ideas are illustrated with simple line drawings. Each package is shown as a completed box as well as a layout of the net.
A fascinating collection which can be used as a starting point for a weekend paper project.
The book is small - 15cm x 15cm but the 368 pages make it thick. It's a great book to have on your shelf to dip into for inspiration.

IM 2

This is a ratchet and pawl drive. It seems to work well, needs a bit of tweaking here and there. I need to add pieces on the side of the pawl to stop it sliding off the gear and perhaps some kind of leaf spring to keep the pawl in place if the box is inverted. It has overcome most of the problems with the toothed drive. The wheel turns exactly one tenth of a turn for each turn of the handle and doesn't move when it's not supposed to. (It's held in place by friction of the washers onto the box sides though it could be held with a second pawl.)

Problem is, I'm trying to use it is a counter, I need an output after ten turns so that I can increment the next stage counter. Hmmm. Back to the drawing board, though to be fair I think this mech will come in handy for something!