Space Time Continuum by John Fast



Space Time Continuum by John Fast

John Fast emails:  "Hi Clayton,

 

I completed your Kinetic Sculpture design recently and thought you might be interested in seeing the results in these 10 photos. I followed your advice and constructed all the cogs, etc. from Baltic Birch ply. Except for the cogs, I veneered all the other parts to cover the ply layers. The main supports are of Purple Heart wood. I changed the design on the balance wheel a bit. I could not find any suitable marbles, so I made my own as well as the weights out of a piece of soapstone that I couldn't find any use for over the past 15 years. I also had to add the extra weight shown to keep it running. We don't have much humidity here in Winnipeg, Canada, so that isn't an issue for me. I'm really pleased with the result and while it may not be as perfect as your work, it looks great in our living room. Thanks for a great design.

 

Cheers,  John Fast"

 

Note:  Click on any of these pictures to enlarge: 

 

 

Clayton answers:  "Wow, John, you do magnificent work!

I hate to disagree with you, but your Space Time Continnum is way more perfect than mine! Yours is truly the art of a craftsman, and those soap stone counterbalances are beautiful art pieces in themselves. I'm glad you found a good home for them. I guess that's why they have been so patient for the last 15 years. They were just waiting for their place of signifigance in your sculpture.

Thanks for doing such a spectacular job on your Space Time Continuum. You have truly done that design proud.

Congratulations.  Aloha. Clayton"

The Space Time Continuum Kinetic Sculpture is Here!

Space Time Continuum Kinetic Sculpture by Clayton Boyer

Its beautiful Zen-like motion is shown below:

Details, descriptions, and ordering info for the STC are now available at http://www.lisaboyer.com/

Mwaa Ha Haaaaa! (Wouter Suspects His Simplicity...)

Wouter writes:  "Dear Clayton,

Love your new blog/Tocks

The movies about the Evil twin were funny; loved the reaction people had when the box exploded (some of these people where almost launched themselves into deep space ... )
 

Three or four of these evil twins around the garden/house... and no watch dog is needed anymore ! ;-) .

Makes you wonder if it's allowed to send the drawing around the world ?, did you get a permit for exporting these cunning/devious drawings/plans outside the USA ? :-) .

But one thing concerned me when watching the movie.... the "devious" mastermind behind the setup and filming the response ...

Makes me wonder... are it really clocks we have made ?, or does there come a day that all Dr Boyer clock-siblings over the world wake up and have a secondary function beside telling the time of day ?.

Looking at my wall.... I suspect my Simplicity the most .... , since there were two building variants in the drawings... so which is the evil twin ????

Nevertheless .... I also have interest in building the Space Time Continuum kinetic sculpture.  Could you tell me how i can buy/obtain the drawings of the STC ?.

Greetings from Amsterdam, 

Wouter Stoof"

Note from Lisa--Here's a still shot of the STC Wouter is requesting.  Observant viewers emailed us about it after seeing it moving in the background of the "Evil Twin" reaction video:

And Forrest's "Wheel" Variation:

Plans will be available as soon as we can take her "glamour" video and list her on our website.

An Observant Viewer

"Dear Clayton,

I enjoyed your "Evil Twin" video and watching the people's reactions. It reminds me of a time, while I was covering electricity with my physics students, the students wanted to see if a Layden jar could hold its charge over the weekend. So we charged one up, set it in the back of the classroom with a sign that read "Experiment in progress, do NOT touch". As luck would have it, my next were a group of freshmen and one boy saw the sign and, as is typical with curious minds and disregard to instructions, he touched it. There was a flash of light, a yelp, and he jumped back quite some distance with a tingling arm for part of the day. I think it would be neat to set your "Evil Twin" at some location (ie. on a counter at some store) with a sign that reads, "Do NOT touch the lever" and film people's reactions.

Also, while watching your video, I noticed a couple of things. I was interested in how you have your workshop setup. Any chance you could give us a "tour" of where you work your magic on your blog?

I also noticed some of the things hanging on your walls. Do you have a collection of David Roy's kinetic art pieces? There is one thing hanging on your wall that I haven't seen before. In the video from about 10 seconds to about 1 minute, and at the very end, there is a large dark circular wheel (with white segments arrayed around it) in the lower right (beside a clock and under 2 pieces that look similar to David Roy's designs). Is that a clock or a kinetic art piece? Any chance you could showcase that?

I'm really enjoying following your blog. I've been taking an computer design class this past week and have shown everyone in my class your website. I have a guy in my class, who just purchased a 5-axis CNC machine who has been generating some interesting designs...he's taken a strong interest in your website.

Keep up the good work. Next week, I may actually have some time to get in my basement and get some things done. :-)

Have a great day!
Dwight"

Aloha Dwight, you have a good eye. I was introduced to David Roy's work back in the 1970's, and have had some email communications with him. He is an absolute mechanical genius.

I try very hard not to step on David's toes which is why you only see a couple of my own unique kinetic scuplture plans offered on my site. He's a great guy and I wouldn't want to infringe upon his territory.

I do not follow his work because I don't want my designs to be influenced by what he has produced, but coming up with something that David has not already created is very close to impossible. I've designed a few mechanisms I thought were unique and then showed them to friends, only to get in response "That looks like David Roys (_______Insert name here___)". Dang!

The kinetic sculpture you see spinning on my wall next to the Simplicity Variant is called Zinnia. I thought it was unique until I showed it to my clockster buddies, and they were correct, the drive mechanism is not the same, but the display wheels could be nearly direct copies of one of David's sculptures (Dang!) - so I do not offer plans.

I do, however, have plans for the kinetic sculpture in the lower right, just below the one that looks like a giant monstera plant. The monstera plant sculpture is a variant of one of David's sent to me by a dear friend. It has a wonderful floating movement, but I don't have it running because it hits the sculpture below - bad planning on my part).

The kinetic sculpture below the monstera is an Original Clayton Boyer design - with a lot of help from Forrest who designed that particular display wheel.

That sculpture is simply waiting for its 'glamour' photos before being posted to my site. I call that sculpture the Space Time Continuum.

My STC has been running in that spot now for about six or seven months. It's actually running right now! It does not run a full day, but must be rewound about every 8 to 10 hours with the display wheel configuration I have on it right now. I wind it just before I go to bed and it's still running in the morning when I enter my shop, so I wind it again. The rewind is super simple; just pull down on the counterweight cord. It takes about two seconds.

The display wheel you see in the video is actually the optional display wheel that Forrest designed, but that wheel will be available in dxf format because it's so large. The display wheel that actually comes on the original STC is a beautifully weird design - from which the mechanism got its name.

The plans are complete for the Space Time Continuum, and if you'd like to order plans contact me again about it and I'll give you instructions on how to get the STC plans. This might be a fun CNC project because the large gear and three options for the display wheel are available in dxf format, PLUS it is a super simple and gratifying build. Like I said, mine has been running six or seven months, and I love watching its motion, and listening to its unique release mechanism. This mechanism does not tick each second like a regular clock but is released and impulses about every twenty seconds! Fun!

Enjoy.  Clayton

P.S.  from Lisa:  Dwight, we'll work on a blog post "tour" around Clayton's workspace soon.