More Refinement and Begining to look at the Sculpting Process

 

I began today by de-molding a solid silicon grip piece which I poured yesterday again using left over silicon. This turned out well (above) and features much more defined grip lines as well as a greater number of them.

I spoke to Paul about the problem with the arm not returning due to friction. He suggested raising the level of the pivot to the top of the mechanism body to increase the incline of the thread from the arm. I was really quite surprised that this did the trick. Putting a piece of acrylic rob in place over the top of the mechanism body and threading over the top and down into the body to the weight gave extra leverage to pull the arm back to its start position even with the carriage at full height.
It's still a little rough though and I am starting to think I need to make an acrylic maquette simply to determine how much stronger it will be. 

The photo above shows the addition of a second weight to allow the arm to return to its start position. It is evident that the space in the lower part of the body will need to be designed to keep the weights apart as well as secure from swinging about and potentially causing damage to the tracks within the body. 

Having the mechanism parts drawn up on Rhino (below) allows me to work out exactly where the sculpt mounting will move to and therefore I am able to design the plate to which I need to sculpt. The shape of the joining part of the sculpt will have to be will considered as it has to allow the full movement of the mechanism without causing malfunction. Tomorrow I intend to define the sculpting plate and start drawing the parts to be laser cut. I need to make a mock top section of the dispenser to work the sculpt to.

 I am unsure about the best card type to use in the mechanism as the smoothness seems to vary the effectiveness of the mechanism however I can't be sure of this until I have an accurate acrylic version to work with. I hope to cut one tomorrow. I have sent off for a sample pack of cards from a company that Will recommended which should be here within a couple of days. (http://www.aubergineprint.co.uk)