Escapements are fascinating. Escapements add interest and movement to a clockworks since the escapement is the most active part of any clock. And there are such a variety of ways that people have invented to allow the catch-and-release of the power that is being transmitted through a clock's train of gears. But sometimes we don't need to build an entire clock to appreciate the movement of an escapement. Escapements can be kinetic sculptures in themselves, and especially fun when they are anthropomorphized, or made to represent some beast. Here are a couple of examples.
In this first short video, called "Tasty Fingers", the creature, with its teeth bared, is trying to take a bite from each of the fingers as they come around. But the creature misses every time, which causes his hat to raise in surprise. He is thinking, "Maybe the next finger will be the tasty one."
This is a video of the "Sipping Flowers" escapement in which a bird is sitting balanced atop a flower that is rocking with the pendulum. And each time the flower rocks, the bird sticks his beak into the other flower (the escape wheel) to take a sip.
A wide variety of interesting escapements can be seen throughout the clock and kinetic sculpture plans shown on my main page. Compare the escapement of Solaris with that of Simplicity or Bird of Paradise or Harmonic Oscillator. They are all so different and wonderful.
