# Maple Strandbeest Rhino (Baileigh Contest Entry)



## bigben (Jul 21, 2012)

*May 1st Edit*: Here's my official submission video of the completed project in case you don't want to read the whole thread! If you do want to read the whole thread, don't watch the video yet, it happens to be full of spoilers.





 
-------Below this line is the original build thread in it's entirety! -------

As an engineer (day job) and full time nerd I've always admired Theo Jansen's "strandbeests" with his Rhino being my favorite. If you don't know who Theo Jansen is, I encourage you to google him and see some his fantastic and mystical kinetic sculptures.

His most well known machine is the Rhino, and he publishes some rather cryptic information on his website how he does it, including dimensions to make a full size beest over 15' tall. This isn't my picture but gives you an idea of what I'm trying to do:










Well that won't fit in a 18" cube so it's time to get creative. Here's the concept behind the inner workings, the legs and the joints that drive them. Again not my picture, but it helps to see what's happening inside...










OK from here down is my stuff....With a little help from Small Wonder in producing the driveshaft, I set off with my Ti-83 calculator and figured the dimensions for my diminutive strandbeest. Here's a shortened version of when I put the about 3 pages of calculations into CAD.





 
After much swearing and thinking, I've got my third prototype working. The other 2 met untimely deaths to a frustrated woodworkers hammer. Granted it's only 1/5 of the final project (it will have 10 legs) I thought it was enough to finally post this thread. It's rough, and the MDF 'ribs' will be replaced with walnut, but it's moving and after a very frustrating build I am pretty dang happy.

This project is a very dynamic one so instead of pictures I've taken a lot of video which I'll edit into an entire build process to post at the end, these two vids are just teasers since I can't resist posting this any longer. Stay tuned!

it's rough but - IT LIVES!


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*All I know is judging this contest will be a bear!*

Very intriguing! :thumbsup:


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## tc65 (Jan 9, 2012)

WOW I've never heard of him before, so first off thanks for the heads up on his work. I just finished watching his beasts walking the beach - both awe inspiring and creepy.

I'm really looking forward to your build, it is really thinking outside the box.:thumbsup:


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

OMG! (Sorry, I have a pre-teen daughter.) that is going to be awesome!


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## bigben (Jul 21, 2012)

Finished piece will have 60 wooden moving parts, here they are (plus some extras) waiting for a final sanding and assembly. 










Final piece won't need the drill either - it should be push (or wind) powered in trying to stay true to the original. We'll see how it works in the end though!


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Cool stuff, bigben. I've been aware of the guy's work for 5 or 6 years now and have always been intrigued by the clever designs and almost magical movements. Great work so far. :thumbsup:


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

I simply have got to watch this one! Never seen anything like that before except in as few low budget SciFi movies and those always had Aliens driving them. :laughing:


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## GROOVY (Apr 27, 2008)

geee


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## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

Giddy-up! This is freaking amazing! Super cool! 

I could go on and on. Can't wait to see how this plays out.


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## bigben (Jul 21, 2012)

A sneak peak at the inner workings (of my mock up) lots of moving pieces!



















Fabricated the last of the pieces last night out of walnut these will take the place of the MDF in the prototype. Final sanding and assembly is all that's left! 










Can't wait to put together the build video, lots of time lapse footage of the build


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

Itsy bitsy spider crawling up my leg......., is that it? hehehe. 

Nice,

Dale in Indy


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

I have a deep respect of you guys who can work for hours making the exact same teeny tiny parts by the hundreds one at a time. I'd have to figure out some way of making them in lots and cutting them apart.


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## JMartel (Nov 30, 2011)

As an engineer, I can really appreciate the work that goes into this. Definitely looking forward to the finished product. I remember seeing some of his "creatures" walking the beaches a few years ago through youtube.


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## gus1962 (Jan 9, 2013)

Well built! That is way too cool! That is truly fascinating, striking and interesting! Simply awesome.


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## srestrepo (Sep 28, 2012)

this is amazing the thought behind all of this is just awesome. i can't wait for a finished product.


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## bigben (Jul 21, 2012)

*Done!! My official entry video!*

Well, I'm finally finished. Spent a better part of this weekend finishing this little beast, and all afternoon editing a video together. The video shows the entire build, but stick around for the end, you'll be happy you did. Hope you enjoy!






I had a great time on this build, easily one of the most mentally difficult projects I've ever done in the wood shop. I had a number failed attempts along the way, including a full assembly only to find a hang on one of the internal parts and have to disassemble and start over - sheesh!

Here's a few detail photo's for good measure, but pictures don't do much for this build - you have to see this in motion so please check out the video:

1st - rules check. Longest dimension is under 12" :thumbsup:










and some closeup details:


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Very cool!!! Excellent project executed to perfection. Very nice video too :thumbsup:


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## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

Wow! That is so cool! I am in awe of how you put this together. What computer program did you use for the design?

I love how you had the clock in the time lapse for the sanding portion... that was a very nice touch.

Last of all, what powers this? Is there an internal motor, or is it a "Wind up" kind of deal?


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

Hey, TAKE A DEEP BREATH..........you have been working to fast......LOL

Very, Very, NICE.

It will be very hard to find a better project/presentation, FOR SURE. 

I love it when someone does well, and has fun along the way, FUN IS GOOD!

I wish you well,

Dale in Indy


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## bigben (Jul 21, 2012)

thegrgyle said:


> Wow! That is so cool! I am in awe of how you put this together. What computer program did you use for the design?
> 
> I love how you had the clock in the time lapse for the sanding portion... that was a very nice touch.
> 
> Last of all, what powers this? Is there an internal motor, or is it a "Wind up" kind of deal?


I did the design in Microstation. I'm a civil engineer and I do heavy highway/bridge design. Microstation is a popular CAD program for transportation work. When I do my designs during my lunch break I just use what's available. :icon_smile:

As for power, it's powered by gravity. In the parts at the end it's going down a slight incline (which is mentioned in the video - briefly). You can push it along with a very light touch but I used a ramp to get my hands out of the shot. I just filmed it in a way that it looks basically level, you can tell in some of the shots it isn't.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

That is soooooooooo cool. Absolutely fantastic work. I love it. Wooden machines always intrigue me and this one is no different. Thanks for sharing this one with us. Good luck in the contest.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Inspiring. I wish I had the skill and patience to make an army of these for my kids to play with. Too cool!


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## Phaedrus (Jan 18, 2012)

Holy crap. I'd like to start by pointing out how great the video was. I have enough trouble remembering to take stills when I am documenting a build. Setting up, shooting, and editing video is another task that would just add to the tediousness of the process. Thanks for taking the time to do it and do it well.:thumbsup: 

The project: Holy &*%?!  The precision of the parts is crazy--especially the repetition of the same parts over and over, needing to be the exact same size. If I hadn't watched the video, I'd have assumed this was a CNC job. You do fantastic work.:thumbsup:

On a side note, I can't imagine what you'd be spending the $1600 on if you win this thing:laughing:. You've got a pretty impressive shop as it is...though I don't see a lathe...


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Now that has to be the neatest thing I've seen in a long time... Well made and a very good video to compliment the whole thing.

My compliments to you sir :notworthy:


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## captainawesome (Jun 21, 2012)

I am at a loss for words. Great build Ben!


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## Baileigh Inc (Nov 1, 2012)

wow!


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## bassbone83 (Jan 7, 2011)

Awesome work! I've seen the beasts on the beach before, great job translating this into a wood design!


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## rrbrown (Feb 15, 2009)

bigben said:


> Well, I'm finally finished. Spent a better part of this weekend finishing this little beast, and all afternoon editing a video together. The video shows the entire build, but stick around for the end, you'll be happy you did. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Baileigh Contest Entry - Mini Strandbeest Rhino - Maple & Walnut - YouTube


You call that finished? You have time to add some fancy inlay or something. I mean act like you really want to win and get fancy.:laughing:

Seriously though. Very cool nice build thread


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## MapleMoose (Sep 25, 2012)

AWESOME! Everything - design build and video - just, AWESOME!


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## Jeff Shafer (Nov 16, 2010)

Wow that was cool! Nice editing by the way. My 2 boys really liked the finished beast.


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## Old Air Force (Jan 14, 2013)

Thoroughly enjoyed the video and the project. Looks like some alien thing from a sci-fi movie. Great work. A lot of originality showing.


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## Tommie Hockett (Aug 26, 2012)

wow is all I can say that is awesome and creepy all at the same time:thumbsup:


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## bigben (Jul 21, 2012)

rrbrown said:


> You call that finished? You have time to add some fancy inlay or something. I mean act like you really want to win and get fancy.:laughing:


The thought crossed my mind but I liked the simplicity of it, I think the appeal is in the movement and I didn't want to draw attention away from that. Plus, it was hard to fit an intarsia 'Baileigh' logo on the end caps - they are pretty small.:laughing:

Also, by the time I got it walking smoothly I was terrified of wrecking it, it's not fragile, but it's no tank. I actually whooped and hollered when it walked the first time. My wife called down into the shop to make sure I hadn't cut a finger off. I told her it was a triumphant yelp :thumbsup:


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

That is just sick! Very cool. :thumbsup:


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## bigben (Jul 21, 2012)

*Design*

I appreciate all the positive feedback for this project, it was a fun one in the shop and the reaction I’ve been getting from friends in person and online has been equally enjoyable.

As the contest draws to a close, I thought I’d elaborate on my design and construction process a bit as the video moves fairly quickly to compress a very long build into 6 minutes 

This will no doubt be a long read, but I assume it will appeal to a few of my fellow nerds out there.

Any who, Theo Jansen give a brief overview of how the legs work on his website, it’s an interesting read:

http://www.strandbeest.com/beests_leg.php

The key part of the article is the ratio of each pivot point to another to transfer the circular motion of the drive shaft to the optimal walking path for each foot, like a triangle with rounded corners.

From this I adapted his ‘eleven holy numbers’ to sizes that would fit my project – that’s what you see in the design portion of my video. This process gave me a scale diagram of how each pivot point related to one another as the central circular crankshaft is turned. This is the line drawing on the left in the image below.

From there I designed the inner drive arms and leg linkages to fit to the ½” gap allowed for each pair of legs in the crankshaft. Each pair of legs has four 1/8” thick connections to the crankshaft. This is diagramed (confusingly) on the right side of this diagram.










Once I had a rough idea of the how the linkages were working I designed the shape of all the pieces and overlaid it on the line drawing to get an idea of the proportions of the project.










Once I was happy with that design, each piece had to be created 10 times, and with very high precision. Small deviations in the distance between each pivot point would result in a non-walking leg – it would simply bind up. For this reason I laid out the patterns to have 12 of each piece – thus giving me a little room to mess up.

Here’s the linkages, you can see in all the design drawings that I assigned each joint a letter to keep it clear during the build:










And below is the pattern for the ‘Knees’ and ‘feet’. These were laid out this way because they would have to line up with the outside edge of the board so that I could cut groves with a dado as a complete board instead of individual small pieces. You see this in the video, when I was using a tenoning jig set at an angle to cut a number of groves in each piece before trimming that small piece (now with groves) off the smaller board. This methodology came about after 2 failed prototypes in which I cut the pieces first and then tried to mill the grooves, the pieces were simply too small to effectively create an accurate groove(s) and would bind up when assembled into what should have been a walking leg. 

Each foot had single 9/16” groove, and each knee had one 9/16” groove and one 5/16” grove depending on how many drive arms they needed to receive. You can see the grooves in the knee in the video at the 3:45mark.










Finally I designed the ‘ribs’ which would make up the chassis. The inner ribs are rounded up on the bottom to avoid interfering with the feet, the outer ribs are larger round plates to conceal and protect the inner drive arms. Each piece had 3 different size holes depending on if it needed to be a tight or rotational fit.










I’ll continue to explain through the construction process this evening after I can snap a few more pictures and maybe some more video.


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## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

Thank you so much for posting how you built this. It is really interesting how you came up with it, and I am one of those fellow "nerds" that you are referring to. 

Please don't take this following questions/commentary wrong, as it is just a perspective. 

I noticed in your build video, and in your presentation above, that you cut each piece out separately. I think Johnnie52 (I may be wrong) had mentioned awhile back, that he would have fashioned a piece, and then cut them into "slivers", to make each piece. For example.... for the linkages.... I would think someone could make a long flat bar, with rounded edges. Then you could drill the holes thru the bar, and then rip off pieces to whatever width you desired. 

Obviously, the way you did it worked, so who am I to ask? I just thought it might have been quicker, and possibly/probably even more accurate.

Just a thought, and maybe a suggestion for anyone that may try to build one of these themselves.....


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## bigben (Jul 21, 2012)

thegrgyle said:


> I noticed in your build video, and in your presentation above, that you cut each piece out separately. I think Johnnie52 (I may be wrong) had mentioned awhile back, that he would have fashioned a piece, and then cut them into "slivers", to make each piece. For example.... for the linkages.... I would think someone could make a long flat bar, with rounded edges. Then you could drill the holes thru the bar, and then rip off pieces to whatever width you desired.
> 
> Obviously, the way you did it worked, so who am I to ask? I just thought it might have been quicker, and possibly/probably even more accurate.


You make a great point, and if I were to build it again that's the method I would use. I think it would be simpler, cleaner, and equally accurate. The only limiting factor would be the length of the drill bit, you may have to make a few blanks, but that's a simple solution.

The reason I did it the way I did is because of the material I had on hand. 75% of the linkages are 1/4" thick, and I had a bunch of 1/4" walnut already milled from a previous project. I thought this build would be a good project to use it up. Through the prototyping process I had problems with the walnut pieces breaking so I switched to maple which ended up working very well. At that point I could have easily switched to the method you describe but my mind was already on the track of making them the way I did. 

As for the feet and knees, The thickest stock I have ready access to is 5/4" and I didn't want to laminate the blanks for those pieces.

So long story short, I chose my method based on material I had, changed the material I was using to better suit the design but failed to re-evaluate my methodology, I had so many things going on in my head, I could only change so many things at one time :smile:

It worked in the end, but I'm sure it was a lot more work! 

This is the reason I love reading these build threads, showing your work to a community of great woodworkers you never fail to pick up some good ideas of how to do things! 

If only you had been there when I changed to maple, you would have saved me loads of time! :laughing:


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## Burb (Nov 30, 2012)

Thanks for sharing your hard work. While I'm no engineer, I can certainly appreciate all of the time and effort which went into the design and completion of this. Not to mention your tolerances and how close they needed to be across the project to ensure it worked as planned. 

Win or lose, you have already won by simply designing this and making it happen.

BTW, have you thought of shooting an email off to Theo Jansen's website with a link to your video & creation? I believe he'd be impressed.

Mark


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## bigben (Jul 21, 2012)

Drilling The holes: Once I had the patterns laid out the first step was drilling all the holes, this was a bit of a task just keeping straight what size needs to be drilled where. The crank shaft and the pins were a different diameter so right there you have 4 hole sizes depending on whether the wood needs to grip and hold or rotate freely around that piece. Also the center hole in the ribs had to be oversized to thread them onto the crankshaft during assembly, and finally the hole for the dowel in the top of the ribs had to be a snug but moveable fit on the ribs, and a snug fit on the ends. Once I got that straightened out, I adhered the patterns I made with a little 3M 77 and got to work. 










Once I had the holes drilled, it was time to rip the boards into strips. As you can tell from the picture above I allowed for the kerf of my table saw blade between the strips (which would become pieces) when I laid out the patterns on the computer.










The drive arms were 1/4" thick but needed to be notched to 1/8" on the end where they connect to the driveshaft. This would allow 4 connections at each crank in the shaft (there's a 1/2" of room on each crank), as each leg is connected by 2 links to the drive shaft, and each crank drives a pair of legs, thus 4 connections at each spot. This is why design and layout was so important ahead of time. Fabrication and assembly of this portion was tricky to avoid the drive arms getting hung up on each other. I had intended to notch these prior to ripping them, but it slipped my mind so I did it after I ripped them into strips.










From there it was a quick cut to length on the bandsaw and I had the rough arms and linkages made.


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## bigben (Jul 21, 2012)

From there it was time to make the 'knees' and 'feet'. I don't have a lot of pictures here as I was more concentrated on getting the time lapse and actually building the pieces. But basically I arranged the patterns onto a piece of maple I milled to 15/16" like so:










From there I used a dado blade to rip a 9/16" groove centered on the edge of each board. This would leave a 9/16" wide groove in the top of each foot, and the bottom of each knee, able to accept the 1/2" thick outer arm, and 2 - 1/4" thick inner arm and drive arm. 

Then I set up my chop saw and tennoning jig to the appropriate angle for the back of each knee and notched a grove (in what would be the end of the board, or back of the knee) using the tenoning jig and a dado stack, then cut off the knee and cut a groove in the next one, chop it off etc etc etc. This left a narrower groove in the back of each knee to accept the single 1/4" drive arm connection.

I don't have pictures of this but the process is shown in the entry video.

I then trimmed each piece to size/shape on the bandsaw to get this pile of un-sanded beest bits:










You can see the feet have a single wide groove (facing down on the table) and the knees have a wide and a narrow groove, the narrow groove being the back of the knee.

From there it was a matter of making the ribs out of some of that 1/4" walnut I mentioned earlier (at least I got to use a little of it up for this project). 

Once all the pieces were roughed out, it was time for a whole lotta sanding. I got to the final shape with a combination of a drum sander and a disc sander, and finished things off with a few hours spent hand sanding (as you saw in the video).

Last step was assembly, which took me 3 tries to get right. I won't even try to explain it, but I spent a good 6 hours assembling and disassembling this twice to fix little problems and finally successfully getting it put together and walking. If it looks like I knew what I was doing in the assembly sequence in the video it's because I had already done it twice!:laughing:


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## bigben (Jul 21, 2012)

To finish things off, a couple glamour shots and some new video. Putzing around in the shop tonight so I took some new video of this little guy walking around. 
























AAAAAAND that's my entry! Thanks everyone.


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## banginonabudget (Feb 25, 2013)

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn dude. Fellow engineer here, mechanical tho. Very impressive. Never heard of these things before. The idea of passive power generated by those linkages is very interesting. 

I hate to ask but if that was your last project, where do you go from here? Wooden internal combustion engine?:laughing:


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

NO!!!!!!, Thank You. 

Such a attention getting QUALITY piece.

Dale in Indy


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

Ben, I just want to say what a remarkably fluid "animal" you have made. It's eerie how it moves so perfectly and it's one of the coolest things I've ever seen made of wood. Regardless of a contest you have created something special there.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Again this thing amazes me beyond belief. I've seen wood rolling down hill before, but never in such a dignified manner.


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## bigben (Jul 21, 2012)

Thanks everyone! The voting has begun - you don't have to vote for me but as they say in November - get out and vote!

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/vote-winner-baileigh-woodworking-fits-box-contest-here-51243/


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## GROOVY (Apr 27, 2008)

johnnie52 said:


> Again this thing amazes me beyond belief. I've seen wood rolling down hill before, but never in such a dignified manner.


 My thoughts too, video is great


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## Ledhead (Aug 3, 2009)

I'm running out of adjectives to describe these exquisite entries. I can only think of one word to say on this one: That is one freaking amazing wood work piece. I apparently can't count to 1 either. Great Job!


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## bigben (Jul 21, 2012)

Burb said:


> BTW, have you thought of shooting an email off to Theo Jansen's website with a link to your video & creation? I believe he'd be impressed.
> 
> Mark


Good idea! Just sent an email to him, I'll post here if I hear back.


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

He might want you to set it free!


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## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

Thank you for posting all the info on how you made this. I may take a crack at it at some time in the future. 

I did have a few more questions though.... What did you make the crankshaft out of? is it Pianowire? Also, how did you get the bends and angles bent up in right positions.... I would think that the crankshaft is a very important part of this build. I am trying to wrap my head around that, and don't see any mention on how to do it.....


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## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

thegrgyle said:


> Thank you for posting all the info on how you made this. I may take a crack at it at some time in the future.
> 
> I did have a few more questions though.... What did you make the crankshaft out of? is it Pianowire? Also, how did you get the bends and angles bent up in right positions.... I would think that the crankshaft is a very important part of this build. I am trying to wrap my head around that, and don't see any mention on how to do it.....


Ben, I was wondering if you saw this post..... In reading thru your thread again, you mentioned that you had help with the crankshaft (if I'm correct)("With a little help from Small Wonder in producing the driveshaft"). If I was thinking about building one of these, would I be able to get a crankshaft from them? How much did it run? Would you mind if I tried to make one?


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## bigben (Jul 21, 2012)

thegrgyle said:


> Ben, I was wondering if you saw this post..... In reading thru your thread again, you mentioned that you had help with the crankshaft (if I'm correct)("With a little help from Small Wonder in producing the driveshaft"). If I was thinking about building one of these, would I be able to get a crankshaft from them? How much did it run? Would you mind if I tried to make one?


Fabian, sorry I didn't see your last post. Definitely would love to see others build this project - it's a remarkably fun and challenging build. PM me your email address and I'll send you my design for the crank-shaft and the rest of the pieces.


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Congratulations on your victory. This thing is very, very cool! I've marveled for years over the grace and movement the Strandbeest and its peers possess. It's almost magical. It's a true engineering marvel. You've definitely done Theo Jansen proud, for sure :thumbsup:


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## bigben (Jul 21, 2012)

Chaincarver Steve said:


> You've definitely done Theo Jansen proud, for sure :thumbsup:


It's funny you say that because I woke up this morning to a wonderful surprise in my inbox:

_Hi Ben,

Your work looks fantastic. It must have cost a lot of time, all these drilling and cutting wood. 
Thanks for sharing it with me. 

And I wish a lot of success with future projects.

Best regards,

Theo Jansen_

 WOW! I'm so thrilled that he took the time to respond, I've admired his work for a long time and it's really an honor to hear from him. 

Thanks to Mark (username Burb) for suggesting I send him my video. This has really made my day!


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## Alchymist (Jan 2, 2011)

Ben, you forgot the powerplant! :laughing:


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## Baileigh Inc (Nov 1, 2012)

bigben said:


> It's funny you say that because I woke up this morning to a wonderful surprise in my inbox:
> 
> _Hi Ben,_
> 
> ...


Holy cow! That's amazing


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## Reclaimed Wood Blog (May 28, 2013)

That is crazy good. My sawdust covered hat is off to you.

http://reclaimedwoodblog.com/


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## jojorik (Oct 18, 2013)

hey,

I think your work is amazing. I would really like to build this project, but I don't know how to start. Could you please send me some information?

Thanks


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## bigben (Jul 21, 2012)

jojorik said:


> hey,
> 
> I think your work is amazing. I would really like to build this project, but I don't know how to start. Could you please send me some information?
> 
> Thanks


Sure thing, PM me your email address and I'll send you my plans.


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## Jeff Shafer (Nov 16, 2010)

Very cool! I feel silly asking but have they picked a winner for the fits in a box contest yet?


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

Jeff Shafer said:


> Very cool! I feel silly asking but have they picked a winner for the fits in a box contest yet?


You may not have been on the forum for awhile. The contest was won by Bigben.


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## Jeff Shafer (Nov 16, 2010)

Yes Dave it has been a while!


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## jojorik (Oct 18, 2013)

bigben said:


> Sure thing, PM me your email address and I'll send you my plans.


I am not able to sent a PM. (I don't know why)
Can you sent one with your email address, so I can sent mine?

thanks


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

jojorik said:


> I am not able to sent a PM. (I don't know why)
> Can you sent one with your email address, so I can sent mine?
> 
> thanks


Forum rules is that you cannot send OR receive Private Messages until you have 25 posts.


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## jojorik (Oct 18, 2013)

Dave Paine said:


> Forum rules is that you cannot send OR receive Private Messages until you have 25 posts.


I have 25 posts and I still can't sent Private Messages.


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

jojorik said:


> I have 25 posts and I still can't sent Private Messages.


I think that is meant to be 25 "useful" posts. :smile:


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

I assumed the PM function was automatically activated when the required post count was reached.



mdntrdr said:


> I think that is meant to be 25 "useful" posts. :smile:


Zing! :tt2:


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## jojorik (Oct 18, 2013)

Hey, Bigben

Because I can't sent a PM(yet).
I will give you my email here: 
[email protected]
I know that's unsual to put your email on a forum. 
But I made this email adress specially for this forum.

Bye Jojorik


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Well damn, I see that *jojorik *just went on a posting spree. Come on, man, you can't just take 4 minutes and post a long list of 1-3 word posts, thinking that's going to earn you PM rights. From what I see you don't deserve it yet. You've just spammed the hell out of the forum so that you can have some one PM you plans for free. Bigben spent a lot of time and hard effort to create his project. 

You can't just waltz in and expect handouts. Then go on a spamming spree to meet the post limit. You've posted nothing of any value at all. 

At first I thought Mdntrdr was jabbingat you. But now I see how appropriate his comment actually was. Trying adding something of substance to the forum before asking for favors.


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

jojorik said:


> Hey, Bigben
> 
> Because I can't sent a PM(yet).
> I will give you my email here:
> ...


Don't bother, Ben. This guy is only a taker. See my post above.


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## jojorik (Oct 18, 2013)

*Sorry*

Sorry for the spamming.
I am pretty new to woodworking and didn't know what to write.
I am really sorry for my unkindness. I know Bigben really worked hard for the project. I searched whole the Internet for plans to make a strandbeest and I thougth the project of bigben was the best.

My apologies


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## bigben (Jul 21, 2012)

Hey all,

Thanks for the interest in the project. I've been working in the shop a lot this summer but haven't been on the computer much as the outdoors have been calling. I do have a couple projects I need to get posted up here and get caught up.

Unfortunately the laptop and hard drive (my shop computer) crashed over the weekend, and it looks like I stand to loose the plans I've developed, along with a lot of pictures and other misc data. It's in better hands than mine hoping that data can be recovered. I had backed up everything on DVDs but they have disappeared in an office move... Still trying to locate those. 

So all this is a moot point (although I do agree with you Steve).  

Anyway, sorry if I'm slow to respond. My wife is 39 weeks pregnant with our second (woo-hoo!), and the honey-do list is mighty long.


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## Phaedrus (Jan 18, 2012)

bigben said:


> Hey all,
> 
> Thanks for the interest in the project. I've been working in the shop a lot this summer but haven't been on the computer much as the outdoors have been calling. I do have a couple projects I need to get posted up here and get caught up.
> 
> ...


Sad news about the computer, but congrats on the new child on the way! My wife is 31.5 weeks with our first--exciting stuff! I have precious little time to finish the woodworking requests from the wife before she pops. Then I will be on hiatus from woodworking for a while.

BigBen, have you made any toys for your child/children (other than the rhino strand west)?

Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX using Woodworking Talk


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## bigben (Jul 21, 2012)

Phaedrus said:


> Sad news about the computer, but congrats on the new child on the way! My wife is 31.5 weeks with our first--exciting stuff! I have precious little time to finish the woodworking requests from the wife before she pops. Then I will be on hiatus from woodworking for a while.
> 
> BigBen, have you made any toys for your child/children (other than the rhino strand west)?
> 
> Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX using Woodworking Talk


Thanks and congrats to you as well! 

As far as toys are concerned, when I was a kid my dad made us wood toys every Christmas until I was about 15. I still have all of them. Anyway, he is the one who really got me into woodworking over the years so when we had our first child about back in 2011 I wanted to keep the tradition alive and have been building him a toy or two for Christmas every year. Here's what I made last year:

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f13/toy-tractor-46659/

And not while not a toy, this is one of my favorite builds I did for me son:

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f13/giant-lego-toy-box-41715/


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Oh yeah, I still think that Lego toy box is one of the coolest ever. And I'd forgotten about the toy tractor. It's pretty awesome. Especially the two-toned seat.

Congratulations to both of you guys for the upcoming additions to your families. Those are lucky kids to have such skilled and talented fathers. :thumbup:


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## davidgeorge212 (Dec 22, 2013)

Hey Big Ben, I was just searching through youtube videos and came across your contest entry build video. I have to admit, your build and video was the main reason why I just joined this forum. I just wanted to complement you on a really cool build. One of my biggest interest's in woodworking is scroll saw work. I have a plastic model strandbeest I ordered off the internet but I too think it would be neat to build one out of wood.

I saw in a couple of posts back that you may have lost the plans you made. Were you able to recover them? I am another person who would really appreciate seeing the plans you created. Im also a little disappointed to see I will have to wait until I have 25 posts to send you a pm, but, it would be well worth the wait if you still have them available.

David


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