Halloween cat automata

[yoopidou]

The witch's cat was tired to fly on a broom stick on Halloween night. Sure, it was fun at first but he wanted to get treats too. So, he made himself a mask with a jack-o-lantern and went to town. He lifts his pumpkin head to reveal his huge smile.



Just turn the handle and he will show his face.











Here is a view from the back.


In order to create him, I first made a rough draft of the way it would move. Then it involved two separate steps.
One, making the puppet:
I drew the cat and planned the moving parts so his arms would be long enough to lift the pumpkin fully over his head. I tried to calculate it but in the end, I just drew and measured. Then I turned his body and head on one block on the mini-lathe. I used carving tools to make his ears and glue them on with wood glue. I sanded and painted it. I made the tiny pumpkins for the decor with a scroll saw. The pumpkin mask is made of papier mache with orange tissue paper.
Second, making the moving mechanism and the box.
I had planned to put a cam under the main rod to lift and lower the cat but I then realized that I would need a box twice as high as the cat! So, I decided to make a gear and a specially indented rod to go up and down. That took less space but needed more precision and a few tries to get the dents to fit in the indentations. calculations, drawing and paper model were necessary to get it to work. For example, you can not have 6,5 dents on the wheel! Then, I made them in wood. I had to find a way to keep the rod vertical and really close to the wheel, hence the bottom where the rod slides inside. I added a few pumpkins to decorate the bottom but still left the box open so one can see the mechanism at work.



I made this for my partner in the Vintage Halloween swap. I hope you enjoyed.

[stillatthetop]

Heh, heh. I posted too soon on the other page! You were already on the task. Wonderful, wonderful craftsmanship. Very detailed, and looks like it did take a long time. I don't have a lathe, but perhaps I could figure how to fashion a smaller version with beads, dowels, etc. Very neat, indeed. I hope you win an "I rock" prize for this creation!!!
~T

[lindyv321]

It turned out so wonderfully!  Thank you for sharing some info on how it was made.

[TheMistressT]

Oh. My. Goodness.  I keep trying to formulate a comment but I'm so gobsmacked that it's mostly cuss words.  Complimentary cuss words, OF COURSE.

[thisbirdsabsurd]

Best thing ever - I love it and I want it! 

[yoopidou]

Wonderful, wonderful craftsmanship. Very detailed, and looks like it did take a long time. I don't have a lathe, but perhaps I could figure how to fashion a smaller version with beads, dowels, etc. Very neat, indeed. I hope you win an "I rock" prize for this creation!!!

Thank you, thank you!
I don't think you truly need a lathe as it might have been faster to carve it, especially if you have soft wood as the ears were such a pain to get to fit on the rounded head. Otherwise, you could make one of flat pieces of wood, cardboard, paper, beads...anything that would have a hole with a strong wall in the middle should work.

It turned out so wonderfully!  Thank you for sharing some info on how it was made.

Thanks, really!

Oh. My. Goodness.  I keep trying to formulate a comment but I'm so gobsmacked that it's mostly cuss words.  Complimentary cuss words, OF COURSE.

I'm blushing and beaming at the same time! Thanks a lot!

Best thing ever - I love it and I want it!  

You're so nice, thank you very much!

[wendiek]

That is so cool! Fun and cute and just so... COOL!

You rock! So I'm hitting that button 

[I Sew Cute]

This is incredible! I loved seeing it in the swap, but it's even more amazing to see the details of this labor of love! This rocks!!!

[yoopidou]

Thanks a lot Wendiek and Isewcute. I'm happy to know other people like it too!

[kittykill]

This is so fab! I love it so much!