Kinetic Non-Swap (Craftalong)

Man, this is a fun thread to follow along with! I’ve only ever made one kinetic craft and I had hoped to try again sometime. Y’all are making it more and more likely that I will before 2021 is over!

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What a cool creation! Maybe he’ll grow up to make animated films!

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He actually just forked over $60 from his savings today so I could order a graphic drawing tablet. He explained that he needed a way to get more frames per second and more frames per story. I just love how his brain works. :heart:

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I’d love to see more of his projects!

I found my Paul Spooner book today. Some of the projects are shown on the back cover.

I know I made “A Lion Who Can’t Spell” as well as the wedding cake project, back in the day.

I decided to order a kit, since I’ve been too distracted by minor health glitches to focus on developing a plan on my own. But it is bare wood, so I’ll paint it and maybe embellish it with felt or fabric, also.

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That looks like a great book!

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I tried to assemble the kinetic toy I 3D printed from a free download; there were no instructions, but I found a YouTube making the same cat and mouse toy from cardboard.
The drive shafts broke; I replaced them with skewers.
All of the pegs are bigger than their holes.
I still need to take a dremel to one piece that’s too tight.
And for some reason, my gel superglue only seems to work on skin, not plastic.

I’m having better luck with my original design; the 3D pieces fit together well. But I realized my planned pendulum probably won’t work well on an ornament that hangs, it probably needs a solid structure. It’s a learning experience.

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LOL. This is every superglue I have ever used. All I ever seem to do is glue myself. :laughing:

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It seems like these kinetic projects are always “learning experiences”! Usually if I stick with it, I eventually figure out how to make it work. But unless it’s a kit, I usually have to tinker and tweak it a bit to get things to work right.

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I feel like so much of this is crafting! Endless solutioning.

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My kit is supposed to be delivered today! Looking forward to getting started on it.

I was thinking about doing some kinetic Valentines for the card swap, but decided against it.

Anyone else working on a project?

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I hope your kit is going well. It’s good to have something to look forward to working on.

I am starting a new project. It will be a puppet. I expect it will take a few months to complete.

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Ooooh! What kind of puppet?

My kit arrived, but I probably won’t be able to put it together until this weekend.

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Wow, that looks awesome!

It looks cool, right?

It was much cheaper than I’d imagined these kits might be, too.

No glue or tools required. :grinning: can’t wait to work on it and decorate it!

I’m thinking it might be like Pepe, in that adding too much weight might affect the operation of the mechanism. So I’m thinking of just painting it, or maybe trying to flesh out the figure with tissue paper and feathers.

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I love your Pegasus! You have great ideas. I can’t wait to see what you do with it.

My puppet will be a small dragon. It’ll have inner mechanisms, but they won’t be motorized. I don’t like the noise of servo motors.

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Done!

Here’s my Cross-Along Mermaid, fitting together the Stitchalong’s January-Let’s Go On a Trip! Theme with the Kinetic Non-Swap Craftalong.


When I was a kid, I saw a TV program about mermaids in Florida. I pretty much forgot about it for decades, then saw an article a few years ago, and learned they’re still doing the show at Weekie Wachee.

We planned to spend winter of 2018 in Myrtle Beach, SC, and visit Florida then, but it got hit by two hurricanes, so we changed plans. Then we were going to go last spring, but Covid.
Some day we’ll get there!

I designed the piece in Tinkercad and 3d printed it, then sequined and embroidered felt to glue to the body. She swims when you move the tasseled stick back and forth.

And she has a loop at the top to hang on next year’s Christmas tree. The mermaid is 5-1/2" long.

Here’s the inside. A short rod attached around mid thigh (if she had thighs) passes through a hole in the box, and the high tech popsicle stick is glued to it, then sticks out the slot at the bottom. Elastic jewelry cord is attached at chest and lower tail, to keep her flat. Ignore that grey box and text at the bottom.

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Cool! I like how you figured out to make her wiggle!

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She’s so clever! I like the simple, yet effective movement.

I will have to check out this show.

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Search YouTube for Weeki Wachee.

How did I miss this project? Ack!