This dragon started life as a quick prototype for a larger 3D project, but the mechanism had such charm that it deserved a moment in the spotlight. There’s a lovely immediacy to it: a few cuts, a couple of split pins, a bit of gentle tinkering, and suddenly the head dips, the jaw snaps, and the whole head feels alive in your hands. It’s the kind of build that reminds me why I love working with simple materials: they invite experimentation, happy accidents, and that quiet little spark when everything finally clicks.

After making a rough version and posting a quick video on Instagram, I decided it deserved a proper, finished project. I took the prototype apart, easy enough, thanks to the split‑pin construction, laid out the pieces on my cutting mat, and snapped a photo.

Because the cutting mat grid gives me a reliable scale, I can drop the image straight into my software, trace the shapes accurately, and tidy everything up. Once traced, I enlarged the parts to 125% to make the final build a little more forgiving. Then it was simply a case of printing the templates, transferring them to corrugated card, and cutting everything out. Happily, it all came together without any drama.

With the assembly photographed, I put the instructions together and added the whole project to the website. Job done!

If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know I’ve recently stepped away from Adobe and into the world of open‑source tools, GIMP for image work and Inkscape for parts and layouts. As I get to know them, I’m really starting to appreciate their rhythm. I’m spending far less time hunting for how‑tos, and so far I haven’t run into any show‑stoppers at all.

The project is now live on my site and ready for you to download. If you’re a premium member of this newsletter, you’ll find the PDF waiting for you at the foot of this page, thank you so much for your support. It genuinely makes these experiments, prototypes, and playful detours possible.

If you’re not yet subscribed, this is a lovely moment to join in. You’ll get access to this project, the full archive of builds, and all the new things I’m tinkering with each month.

Thanks for reading, and best wishes for whatever you’re making this week, may your card cut cleanly, your linkages behave, and your dragons roar.

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Blimey, it’s the 11th already. So much for releasing a Valentine project in plenty of time. I had grand plans to launch this one with at least a week to spare, but here we are: I’ll be putting out a half‑complete project in the morning and saving the rest for next year. Happy Valentine’s Day! Sorry, let me explain…

This paper‑engineering project features a simple four‑frame animation of a fluttering heart, brought to life by a neat little set of paper gears.

Although I’ve designed a lovely new base with the paper gear on full display, I haven’t yet had time to finish all the instructions and photography that go with it. But don’t worry, the spinner itself is finished, and you can use the base from the earlier 1‑to‑1 Mesh Gear project as a perfect swap-in.

If you’re a premium subscriber to this newsletter, you’ll find downloads for both projects at the bottom of this page.
If you’re not a member, you can still download the files from the website, where I’ve added the new heart spinner.

So, a bit of back story about how I ended up here. I’ve been using Adobe software for a couple of decades now. Photoshop and Illustrator are second nature to me, so it’s been with growing disappointment that I’ve slowly fallen out of love with Adobe.

They seem determined to push AI in ways I’m not comfortable with, and at one point there was even talk of scraping artwork created in their apps to train their models. The prices keep creeping up, you never truly own the tools you rely on, and they’ve threatened to stop supporting software I still use regularly. All of that added up to a general unease I just couldn’t shake.

So when renewal time rolled around recently, I decided to take the plunge and move over to open‑source software instead.

The whole philosophy of open‑source software sits much closer to my own maker instincts. These tools are built by communities, not shareholders, no stock market to appease, no quarterly targets shaping the direction of the work. Sometimes the software isn’t quite as polished as the big commercial packages, but overall I’ve been genuinely delighted (and a bit surprised) by just how capable it all is.

That said, it has meant learning whole new pieces of software from scratch, and the learning curve has been… noticeable. There’s plenty of online support, thankfully, but I’ve had to look things up rather than relying on years of muscle memory. I’m getting there, slowly but surely, but it has slowed things down a little. Hopefully, as I settle in and the news tools become second nature, I’ll be back up to my usual pace.

Here’s the new software I’m using in place of the Adobe suite:

Adobe Illustrator → Inkscape
A fantastic bit of software that I’m really starting to enjoy.

Adobe Photoshop → GIMP
I’m finding this one harder to love, but it’s certainly capable. Also, cards on the table, I’m not a fan of the name.

Adobe Lightroom → Darktable
I’ve only just begun exploring this, but it’s looking very promising.

Adobe Animate → Blender
An absolute behemoth of a program, and one I’m genuinely excited to get to grips with.

Anyway, thank you for your patience while I get to grips with these new tools. I do hope you, and your true love, enjoy the Heartbeat project.

Thanks so much for sticking with me while I find my feet with this new toolkit. It means a lot. If you’ve enjoyed this project, or you’d like to support more of these little mechanical adventures, please do consider subscribing. It helps keep the workshop lights on and the ideas flowing.

Until next time, I hope you have a joyful, quietly satisfying maker‑week, full of small victories, curious moments, and things that click together just right.

Enjoy the Heartbeat project. ❤️

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I made the original by sketching the parts straight onto corrugated card, cutting them out, and linking everything together with tiny brass fasteners, I think they’re called brads in the US. I used the smallest I could find, about 4.5 mm × 8 mm, which worked nicely at this scale.

Sharing a design made from corrugated card is a bit of a challenge. In the end, I decided to trace out the parts so they can be printed onto paper. You’ll find the file at the bottom of this newsletter. Print it onto ordinary paper, then glue it to a suitable piece of corrugated card, something like a Pritt Stick works well as it avoids soaking the paper and warping the card. Once done, cut out the pieces and make holes in the card where the small circles are.

Start with the body piece. Use the split pins to connect the head, front leg and rear leg.

Glue the leg spacer to the end of the rear leg. Connect the leg linkage to the hole in the rear leg back.

Join the head to the front leg with the head linkage.

Join the end of the leg linkage to the head linkage.

Finally glue the foot end of the rear leg back to the rear leg spacer I used some dress making clips a friend lent me to hold everything together as the glue dried

Keeping the front leg still, lift the body. As you do, the rear leg will kick out and the head will lift, a simple little moment of motion that still makes me smile. I hope you have fun with this quick project. And if you feel like experimenting, why not see if you can adapt the mechanism using different materials or even different characters?

If you’ve enjoyed this build, do take a look at the other automata projects on my website. And if you choose to become an annual premium subscriber to this newsletter, I’ll happily set you up with free membership to the main site, where you can download hundreds of other projects to try at home.

I’ll be back soon with more progress on the full Logic Goat model, it’s shaping up nicely.

Thanks for reading, and happy making!

You can download the pdf of the goat parts here…

Goat

10.3KB ∙ PDF file

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My original idea was to swap the gates for goats. Logic Goats instead of logic gates. You can see a full herd, And-goat, Or-goat, Not-goat and XOr Goat here.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, the spark finally arrived. Someone on Instagram shared a little video of a paper model she’d made, inspired by my old cork horse project. Suddenly the long‑dormant notion of Logic Goats and the memory of that kicking horse snapped together in a very satisfying way.

Maybe it was time for a new Logic Goat — one with a proper kicking motion rather than the polite little nod of the original.

The video at the top shows the first draft of a mechanism to bring the kicking Logic Goat to life. It’s built around two four‑bar linkages: the front legs will be fixed to the top of the box, the logic mechanism lifts the body, the rear legs kick out, and the head and neck stretch forward in a lovely, slightly chaotic way.

Looking promising, I reckon.

If you’re a premium subscriber, you’ll find an OG AND‑Goat project waiting for you, ready to print, cut, and make, just to whet your appetite.

Thank you, as always, for your support. It genuinely makes these odd little adventures possible.

If you’d like to follow the Logic Goat saga as it develops, kicks, quirks, linkages and all, do consider signing up for this newsletter. It’s the easiest way to stay in the loop, and it genuinely helps me keep making these odd little creatures.

Thanks so much for reading, and happy model‑making wherever you are; may your glue dry clear and your cams turn smoothly.

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This isn’t my first Geneva drive, you might remember the Bunny Vision project from the back catalogue of these newsletters. This new version works a little differently. Instead of a single drive pin, it uses two, one on each side of the drive wheel. That means every turn of the crank advances the index wheel twice, giving you two neat quarter‑turn steps per rotation.

The project comes as a downloadable PDF, ready for you to print at home. If you’re a premium subscriber, the file is waiting for you at the foot of this page, thank you, as always, for your support. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can still join the fun by downloading the project from www.robives.com for £5 or equivalent.

There are plenty of other variations of the Geneva drive worth exploring, and I’m sure I’ll return to them before too long. By changing the relative sizes of the drive wheel and the index wheel, you can alter the number of steps the mechanism produces. A ten‑slot wheel, for example, could be the starting point for a multi‑digit counter, and that sounds like a fun project to me.

It might also be interesting to play with the angle between the two drive pins. Shift them to ninety degrees apart instead of one‑eighty and the index wheel gives you two quick movements followed by a longer pause, a different rhythm, a different kind of breath in the mechanism. Little changes like that can completely alter the feel of the motion, which is part of the joy of these explorations.

In the end, this mechanism isn’t a final destination so much as a waypoint, a starting point on a longer mechanical journey, an invitation to see how far paper can move when you give it the chance.

Just one more thing before I wrap up. I’d originally planned to create an animated GIF of the Geneva mechanism, but the video turned out to be clear enough on its own. The real challenge, though, was that I’m trying to ease myself away from Adobe software. They once felt like a company led by artists building tools for artists; now they feel more like a corporate behemoth determined to extract every last ounce of value from their users. So I’ve stepped away from Illustrator and Photoshop in favour of the Affinity suite — and I may well take another step toward Inkscape and GIMP. There’s something appealing about working entirely with open‑source tools, especially for a project rooted in curiosity and shared making.

DaVinci Resolve has already replaced Premiere for my video editing, but that still left a gap where Adobe Animate used to sit, the tool I’d reach for when I needed a simple mechanism animation for the newsletter or the website. I think I may have found a new path, though. This Geneva drive animation was created in Blender, that remarkable open‑source powerhouse more often associated with 3D modelling. And you know what? It worked beautifully. It feels like I might be onto something, another small step in this ongoing journey to make things with tools that feel aligned with the spirit of the work.

Thanks, as always, for reading. I hope you’ve found this little exploration of the Geneva drive as interesting and enjoyable as I did while making it. If you’d like to dive deeper into projects like this, most newsletters come with a downloadable build for premium members, and if you choose the annual option rather than the monthly, you’ll also receive free full membership on robives.com. It’s a lovely way to support the work and unlock a whole library of paper‑powered curiosities.

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It’s late in the day, so rather than posting a full downloadable project I hope you don’t mind if I simply share a few photos and chat about what I made. With any luck, if the mood takes you, there’ll still be enough here for you to follow along.

My partner has a delightful habit of collecting all sorts of nature’s detritus, so just before she headed off on a First Aid course this morning she dug out these hairy acorns from one of her boxes of bits.

Two of them glued back‑to‑back made a wonderful Running Haggis body. I used a solvent‑based glue rather than my usual PVA, and the result was good and solid.

I wasn’t sure about the best way to make the iconic Tam O’Shanter hat, but after a bit of experimenting I found that I could squash down a craft pom‑pom so it took on the shape of a floppy hat

The addition of a tiny pom‑pom finished off the effect nicely.

I had originally planned on using a cork base, as you can see in the sketch above, but in the end realised it was probably going to be a little small. I did think about using a small jar, as I have with some other STEAMjunk projects, but eventually opted to try out a new technique. I took a long strip of corrugated card, with the corrugations running at right angles to the length of the strip. I pre‑curled it over the edge of the desk, then rolled it round, glued it up, and wrapped an elastic band around it while it dried. The perfect base!

The running mechanism uses a tried‑and‑tested bead‑and‑wire design that I’ve used on previous projects. I straightened out three paper clips, made the double crank from one, and the two axle stands from the other two. The crank was folded so that the width of the crank section was close to the width of the base.

I used a zip tie to hold the axle stands to the side of the base so that the crank mechanism sat just clear of it. I then added a second zip tie at the back of the base; this acted as a springy stand to mount the haggis body in place.

I made a pair of legs and joined them to the body, along with the end of the zip‑tie spring. All these parts were quite tricky to fix together, organic material, paper, and plastic don’t seem to want to cooperate. In the end I used solvent‑based glue. I’d been baking bread, so the oven was still warm. I gently clamped the parts together and put them in the open oven while I made myself a coffee and waited for the glue to dry.

For the final stage I added a third zip tie around the base and tightened everything up.

And to finish off the character, I glued on the Tam O’Shanter hat, added googly eyes, and wrapped a strip of tartan around the base. The sprigs of gypsophila add to the effect of the haggis running wild across the moors. So there it is: the Running Haggis, ready to take round to our friend for Burns Night. I hope they like it, and I do hope you’ve enjoyed following along. Happy Burns Night to you!

Thanks so much for reading and for sharing a little of this impromptu making adventure with me. If you’d like more project rambles, oddball creations, and behind‑the‑bench moments, you’re very welcome to subscribe and come along for the ride. Until next time, I hope your own making endeavours bring you joy, surprises, and the occasional happy accident.

The reindeer’s feet are linked directly to the crank, while a wire connects the back of its body to the base, letting it sway gently as it runs. Turn the handle and watch the legs spring into motion.

The arms are driven by crossed paper linkages, so that when the left leg lifts, the right arm rises, and vice versa. This criss‑cross creates a delightfully enthusiastic running motion, full of character and festive cheer.

The base is crafted from straightened paperclip wires, bent neatly into shape and joined with a small piece from a terminal block. The crank slots into a pair of wire loops, while two glass beads hold it centred and turning smoothly in position.

Before starting the build, I spent some time sketching out different ideas for the base, you can see a few of those explorations in my notebook pages above. In the end, I returned to the tried‑and‑tested bead‑and‑wire mechanism. Past experience told me it would work reliably, and with Christmas fast approaching I wanted to be sure the project would be finished in time.

The Running Reindeer comes as a downloadable PDF with full step‑by‑step instructions. Premium subscribers can download it directly from the foot of this page, and it’s also available from my website for £5 (or equivalent).

🎁 Looking for the perfect present for a crafty friend?
Don’t forget, I offer gift memberships on my website! A membership unlocks hundreds of downloadable projects to make and enjoy, guaranteed to keep creative hands busy (and happy) all year long.

Thank you so much for following along with this project, I hope you enjoy bringing your Running Reindeer to life as much as I enjoyed designing it. May it add a dash of festive cheer to your making, whether it’s gifted to a friend or proudly displayed on your desk. Wishing you joyful tinkering and a very merry Christmas!

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Turning the crank sets in motion a pair of pinions, each reduced to just five surviving teeth. These pinions are mounted opposite one another, 180 degrees apart on the axle.

Above them sits a twelve‑tooth gear, firmly fixed to the vertical shaft. As the crank rotates, the first pinion engages with the gear, driving the shaft in one direction. Continuing the turn, the second pinion comes into play, reversing the motion.

The effect is a gentle oscillation: the vertical shaft twists back and forth, completing roughly one‑third of a full revolution each way with each cycle of the crank.

All of the gears and pinions are enclosed neatly within a box. From this housing, the vertical shaft emerges through a hole, ready to twist back and forth, while the crank axle extends from the side for easy turning.

This compact arrangement forms an Essential Mechanism: a self‑contained unit that demonstrates the pure delight of motion. It can be enjoyed as an exercise in mechanism alone, or serve as the foundation for your own character‑based paper automata project.

Download and Make Your Own:

The Twister Mechanism is available as a downloadable project from my website. It comes in two PDF files:

• Parts + Instructions – includes all the pieces along with clear, step‑by‑step guidance.

• Parts Only – a simplified sheet of components, perfect if you’d like to add your own colours or adjust the shapes and sizes before building.

This flexibility makes it easy to adapt the mechanism into your own creative project.

If you are a premium subscriber to this newsletter, you can download the files for free at the foot of this page. Thank you so much for your support, it makes projects like this possible!

If you’d like to become a premium subscriber, you’ll gain access to this project along with dozens of others from previous newsletters. Simply click here to join and start exploring the full library of automata kits and mechanisms.

Ideas to Try

Once built, the Twister Mechanism is a springboard for imagination. Here are a few playful directions you might explore:

• 🐶 A dog twisting its head from side to side

• 🎿 A rabbit skiing gracefully down a slope

• 🐟 A shoal of fish linked together, moving in unison

• 💃 A dancer performing the twist

Of course, these are just starting points, the only limit is your imagination. See what characters or scenes you can bring to life!

Making is at its heart an act of curiosity and joy, each mechanism a doorway to new ideas, each project an invitation to play. I hope the Twister Mechanism sparks your imagination and leads you to create something uniquely yours.

If you’re already a premium subscriber, thank you for helping keep this workshop turning and these projects flowing, I literally couldn’t do it without your support. And if you’d like to join, becoming a premium member gives you access to this project and dozens more, while helping sustain the community of makers who delight in bringing paper and motion to life.

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So crank the handle, let the gears dance, and see where your creativity takes you.

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The project began with a chat with the Brother International Creative Center team. I suggested that a Santa Express might make a fun festive build, and they agreed. I sketched out the idea and sent over this page from my sketchbook as the starting point.

With their approval in hand, I set about building the first draft of the train. At this stage I used different coloured card, focusing mainly on the shape and scale of the design. My original plan was to include rotating wheels and axles, but with ten sets of wheels that would have meant cutting twenty circular holes, an ambitious task even for a seasoned paper modeller! In the end I fixed the wheels in place instead. Don’t worry, the Santa Express runs perfectly well with static wheels.

I made several adjustments to the draft model: shortening the cab, narrowing the sleigh, and redesigning the windows in the rear carriage, along with a few other fine‑tuning tweaks. After assembling another version in coloured card, I moved to the computer to add colour and festive decorations to the final parts layout. I’m really pleased with how the finished design came together, I feel it captures the cheerful spirit I’d hoped for and feels ready to roll out for the season.

The final stage was photographing a complete step‑by‑step build and adding the instructions to the file. Because Brother is an international company, the instructions are purely visual, pictures with numbered parts. You can visit their site, download the file, and give it a try. Does this picture‑led approach feel clear and easy to follow? I hope so! If you try it, I’d love to hear what worked and what could be clearer.

As mentioned, the complete Santa Express project is available to download from the Brother website, free for everyone. I hope you’ll give it a go!

Also on the Brother site (and I admit this one comes a little late for this year), I created an Advent chest of drawers.

Each drawer in the Christmas countdown is just the right size to hide a festive treat. Perhaps you could make one now and have it ready for next December?

Thank you so much for reading and for joining me on this festive journey. If you’ve enjoyed following along, I’d love for you to become part of the newsletter community, sign up to receive future projects, stories, and seasonal makes straight to your inbox. It’s a gentle way to stay connected and keep the creativity rolling all year round.

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I often find myself flicking through my copy of 507 Mechanical Movements, Henry T. Brown’s 1868 compendium of ingenious mechanisms. Its pages are full of curious ideas, many rooted in the steam age, yet many still wonderfully adaptable to paper projects today. And so it was that I found myself drawn to mechanism 114: the reciprocating rack and pinion.

In this mechanism, a pinion gear with half its teeth removed rotates continuously. During the first half of its cycle, it engages with the upper rack, driving the rack to the right. In the second half, it meshes with the lower rack, returning the entire yoke back to the left. Reciprocating simply means that the yoke moves back and forth.

Rather than recreating the chunky, solid gear teeth of the original mechanism, I opted for my usual mesh‑gear design to form the card version of the rack. Both the pinion gear and the rack are cut from double‑thickness card, meshing neatly at ninety degrees. The finished mechanism is then housed inside a simple box, with slider tubes guiding the racks as they move side to side.

The end result is a playful mechanism that now joins my Essential Mechanisms collection. I hope you’ll enjoy building it, either as a pure example in the spirit of 507 Mechanical Movements, or as a springboard for your own character‑based automata projects.

The project comes as a pair of downloadable PDF files, ready for you to print and make. The first, the full file, includes all the parts along with step‑by‑step instructions. Because this file is compressed for easy downloading, it’s tricky to edit the parts, for example, if you’d like to adjust sizes or add colour. The second file, parts, contains just the components. It’s uncompressed and ready for you to adapt, edit, and customise to your heart’s content.

If you’re a premium supporter of this newsletter, you’ll find both files ready to download at the foot of this page. Not yet a subscriber? No problem, you can purchase the files for £5 (or local equivalent) directly from the website.

Thank you for following along with this little journey into gears and racks. I’m always delighted to share these mechanisms, not just as curiosities but as sparks for your own making. Whether you build this one straight from the files or adapt it into something entirely new, I’d love to hear how it turns out. Your support and enthusiasm keep these projects alive, and I’m grateful to have you as part of this tinkering community.

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The puffer fish was the last project I made on the trip. I’d already crafted a triple-panel birthday card (you can see that in the previous post), as well as the leaf bow project, which is now up on the website. After an evening in Lugano watching a storm dance across the mountains, lightning flickering over the lake in the most fantastic display, we were heading back to our room, the rain clouds now drifting our way. Kicking through fallen leaves, we came across a particularly fruitful conker tree. There’s always something delightful about the way conkers pop out from their cases, and soon our pockets were bulging with glossy treasure.

Some of the shells had dropped before they were ready to open, and as I turned one over in my hand, it brought to mind a spiky little puffer fish. We walked back through the drizzle as a mechanism began to take shape in my head.

Back in the room, I cracked open my sketchbook and jotted down the outline of an idea, then rooted around in the tool bag for pliers, paper clips, and glass beads. Unusually for me, the first draft of the mechanism matched the sketch almost exactly. My only hiccup was forgetting to thread on the terminal blocks before adding the crank loops. No way around that, I had to remake the main arch of the mechanism, this time fitting the terminal blocks first, then folding the crank loops. I used a small drill bit in a pin vice to make suitable holes in a flat-based conker and pieced it all together. The resulting mechanism came out pretty well!

To make the puffer fish, I trimmed a few spikes to make room for googly eyes (everything looks better with googly eyes!). Wire staples served as neat little hinges for the flippers and tail, which I carefully fitted into place, one satisfying press at a time.

And so to the final result. The flippers, cut from suitably coloured leaves, are linked to the main arch of the mechanism by a pair of push rods. As the crank turns, the fish’s body bobs up and down, sending the flippers into a cheerful flap. I’m absolutely delighted with how this little critter has turned out! There’s something deeply satisfying about combining natural materials with a simple, elegant mechanism, the glossy conker base, the leaf flippers, the glint of wire and bead all working together to bring it to life. It’s playful, tactile, and surprisingly expressive. A proper autumnal automaton.

A full set of step-by-step instructions is available to download from the website. If you’re a premium subscriber to this newsletter, you’ll also find the PDF waiting for you at the foot of this page. Thank you so much for your support, it keeps the gears turning and the ideas flowing! If you’re not yet a subscriber, now’s a lovely time to join and get access to all the latest projects, stories, and printable delights.

Thanks for reading, and for being part of this curious, creative journey. Whether you’re sketching on the move or tinkering at the kitchen table, I hope this little puffer fish brings a smile and a spark of inspiration. As ever, I’d love to see what you make, feel free to share your builds, stories, or leafy discoveries. Until next time, happy making!

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The hinge design for the card is quite an interesting one. Each panel can rotate a full 360 degrees relative to its neighbour, which means the card can be opened and folded completely flat in both directions. The original idea came from some arm mechanisms I built years ago, and I adapted that thinking here. There are three hinge pieces in total, and depending on how the card is folded, either the two outer hinges are active or the central one takes over. It’s a bit tricky to explain in words, but hopefully the sketch below makes it clearer.

The rather boxy arm sections in the original design are replaced by double-thickness corrugated cardboard in the card project. Luckily, where we are in Italy, shopkeepers stack up their waste card at the end of the day for collection, so there was plenty to choose from. While no one was looking (and without disturbing the pile), I picked out a few choice pieces. I’m pretty sure no one minded! I’d also been handed a couple of city maps from places we’d visited earlier in the trip, so I threw those into the mix aswell.

Back in our room, I started experimenting with the hinge design. I settled on a 90mm square format with three panels, though other sizes and panel numbers would definitely work too. It’s a flexible concept. Hopefully in this next clip you’ll get a clearer idea of how the hinge actually functions.

Once I’d settled on the mechanism and assembled the three-panel card, I cut up the tourist maps to cover the six available faces. I deliberately sliced the maps at a slight angle, hoping to create a more abstract feel and disrupt the usual horizontal and vertical grid lines. Once glued into place, the maps add a nice textured backdrop, perfect for drawing on later.

To protect the card and stand in for the usual envelope, I made a sleeve. More recycled material, this time, an empty cereal box. I measured and cut the cardboard, adding a millimetre to each dimension so the card could slide in easily without catching. It’s a snug fit, but not too snug, just enough to keep everything tidy and secure.

Finally I completed the card with a ‘Happy Birthday’ across the centre panel and some decorations. Lucky I had my acrylic pens with me!

I’ve added a personal message on the back to finish it off, and the whole thing folds up neatly, ready to be handed over as a birthday card next week. Phew!

I hope you’ve enjoyed following along with this project. It’s fun to make and surprisingly satisfying. If you’re a premium subscriber to this newsletter, you’ll find the instruction file ready to download at the bottom of the page. Not a subscriber yet? You can still join in by downloading the file for £5 (or the equivalent) from my website here. And if you’re thinking about signing up, now’s a great time, premium subscribers get access to a whole back catalogue of downloadable projects. Opt for annual membership and I’ll also connect you with premium access to my website, where even more projects are available to download for free.

Thanks for reading, and happy making!

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The festival took place in the Observer Building and the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre’s Mechanical Making Space, two fabulous venues side by side. Although the fest officially ran from Friday to Sunday, there was a drinks and registration session on Thursday evening, so I hurried along, ticket in hand.

What an overwhelming delight! There were people I’d known for years, and others I’d admired from afar for even longer. I finally met social media friends in real life, and the whole evening was a joyful blur of familiar faces, warm introductions, and shared excitement. A truly overwhelming time, in the best possible way.

Friday morning began with a leisurely walk from my hotel along the seashore to the Observer Building. The day unfolded with more wonderful meetings, the delight of spotting my book Making Paper Automata in the Cabaret store, inspiring talks from creative automata makers, and plenty of chances to chat with fellow enthusiasts.

During one of the breaks, I had the chance to sit down with Marc Horowitz, editor of Automata Magazine. I was thrilled, and a little stunned, to be offered the opportunity to write a regular column about paper automata for the magazine. Of course, I said a very grateful yes!

Automata Fest was more than just talks and tinkering; it was a gathering of kindred spirits. I shared dinners with fascinating automata folk, sat by the shore eating fish and chips with new friends, and watched the sun set over the sea from a hilltop path, feeling quietly grateful for it all. It was a weekend of connection, inspiration, and automata magic. There is talk of Automata Fest being biennial. Sign me up for 2027!

The deadline for my first Automata Magazine column was just a few weeks after Automata Fest, so I had to think fast. The brief was fairly open, just that it should be about paper automata.

For an opening piece, I felt it should include a bit of backstory: how and why I got into paper automata, and perhaps a look at a particular mechanism. But first, I needed a name. I played around with a few possibilities, but it was my partner who came up with the winner- Snippets.

I liked it immediately. It captured the physical snipping of paper, of course, but also the spirit of the column: a mix of ideas, insights, and hopefully a few delightful surprises.

The magazine lands on the first of every other month, so this morning, 1st September, the very first Snippets column arrived. What a thrill to see it nestled among makers I’ve admired for years in the automata world. I’ve been a subscriber for a while now, so it was especially meaningful to see my own work on those pages.

When Marc and I first discussed the column, we thought it would be fun to include a downloadable project, something readers could print out and make at home.

For this first piece, I split the column into two: the first half shares a bit of my automata backstory, and the second explores the use of cams in paper automata. To tie it all together, I included the Chomping T.Rex project, which you can just about make out in the final panel of the column above.

If you’re not already a subscriber to Automata Magazine, I can wholeheartedly recommend it. It’s packed with inspiring makers, clever mechanisms, and thoughtful stories from across the automata world.

I hope you enjoy reading Snippets, the first column is out now, and the next one is already with the editor ready to land in the November issue. There’s plenty more paper-powered magic to come!

As a premium subscriber, I’m sure you’re looking forward to a new project to download and make. While I won’t be re-uploading the model featured in Automata Magazine, I did want to share something related, so I’ve added a new version of the poseable T.Rex, the very character from the Chomping T.Rex model.

This project serves a few delightful functions:

• It makes a great poseable desktop companion

• It’s perfect for simple stop-motion clips (as you can see above)

• And it’s a brilliant character to bring to life using one of the many Essential Mechanisms available on robives.com

How will you animate your T.Rex?
With a double cam box to make it dance?
A geared crank for slow-motion stomping?
Or perhaps a mesh gear to set two T.Rexes chasing each other across your desk?

The project comes as a downloadable PDF. If you’re a premium subscriber, you’ll find it at the foot of the page. If you’re not yet a paid subscriber, you can download a similar project from robives.com for £5 or equivalent.

Whether you’re fresh from Automata Fest or just discovering the joy of paper mechanisms, I hope this newsletter has sparked a little creative energy. From the thrill of seeing Snippets in print to the chance to bring your own T.Rex to life, it’s been a month full of movement, connection, and cardboard charm. Thanks for being part of it, and as always, happy making!

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This is the first in a new series of quick-build automata kits that are friendly, whimsical, and hopefully full of character. I’ve been calling them Mechanical Haiku: short forms that capture a mood, a motion, or a memory. The name may change but I like it for now

The snail is now available as a downloadable pdf, with clear step by step instructions and all the parts you need ready to print out, cut out and make.. Perfect for beginners, curious minds, or anyone who needs a reminder to slow down and enjoy the making. If you are not a premium subscriber you can download the snail for £5 or equivalent here.

A little something for subscribers…
If you're a premium subscriber to this newsletter, first of all, thank you! Secondly, you’ll find the downloadable PDF for the snail kit (parts and instructions) waiting for you at the foot of this page.

Not a premium subscriber yet? You can sign up here. It gives you access not just to the snail model, but to all the other projects from previous newsletters, and there are quite a few now!

If you're an annual subscriber, you can also get full access to all the projects on www.robives.com. Just visit the membership page there, set yourself up with a free account, then drop me a note. I haven’t automated the process yet, but I’m always happy to upgrade your account manually.

Thanks again for being part of this slow-and-steady adventure.

Mechanical Haiku
Over the past couple of months, I’ve found myself in situations where I needed a paper automaton that could be shared and built in under an hour. Something quick, approachable, and still quietly joyful. The trouble is, most of the projects in my portfolio take a couple of hours or more to make.

And so the idea took root: a new range of simpler builds, kits that come together quickly but still carry a bit of charm, a flicker of delight, and that satisfying moment when motion meets magic. I’ve started calling them Mechanical Haiku: short-form automata, much like the poetry they’re named after. Just as a haiku distills a moment into three delicate lines, these little machines aim to capture a flicker of motion, a feeling, or a story, told not with words, but with cams, levers, and paper. They’re quick to make, but linger in the imagination.

I’m hoping to create a small range of what I hope will be useful, fun and inspirational paper automata projects with the linking theme being that they can be put together in under an hour. So where to start? Early morning a couple of weeks back I came across a rather handsome snail as I was walking along the canal tow path

I was working on another project at the time, but during my morning walk my mind wandered, as it often does. I started thinking about the idea of a snail automaton. They’re slow, right? They have shells, eyes on stalks… maybe even wavy eyes? That slow, slithering glide? I started sketching possibilities in my head. But then it struck me: I didn’t need to be literal.

The shell is nearly a circle—what if it rotated? What if the head gently lifted and lowered as the shell turned, a quiet nod to slow motion? Time for a quick sketch. And then, time to stop thinking about snails and return to what I was actually meant to be working on.

I find this bit hard. Tangents tug at me. Ideas arrive uninvited and linger. But I’ve learned that I’m not really an automata maker if I never finish an automaton. So the snail sketch was tucked away, for now.

Once the Waddling Duck and a magazine article were safely out the door, I circled back to the snail. The first thing that struck me was the box, maybe I didn’t need it? One less thing to make, I remembered a set of freestanding paper dragons I’d made for Brother International some time ago, where the mechanism was activated by pulling the tail. Could the snail work like that too? A gentle tug, a spinning shell, a nodding head… It felt promising. The idea was starting to slither its way forward.

Early on I dropped the idea of a moving head. Lets just keep things simple. In the design of the snail project, the challenge was turning the straight-line pull of the tail into a rotary motion in the shell. I sketched out a couple of possible mechanisms.

In the first, the shell is mounted on an axle so it can rotate freely. A lever is fixed to the axle, and a strap connects the end of the lever to the snail’s tail slider. Pulling the tail pulls the strap, which moves the lever and rotates the axle. It would probably work fine, but I’m not sure how much rotation I’d get, maybe ninety degrees? I really wanted the shell to turn more, so perhaps not this one.

The second idea felt more promising. By adding a series of small slots to the top of the body I created the idea of a rack. The shell’s axle has a pinion gear, the gear teeth slot into the rack so that as the tail is pulled, the shell rotates. With a small enough pinion, I could probably get a full three-sixty spin! But… my aim was to keep this project simple to make, ideally without needing a sharp knife. So I’ve parked this idea for now, saving it for a future, slightly more ambitious model.

Here’s what I came up with for the final mechanism.

Remember, the aim was to keep things simple and quick, no sharp knife needed in the construction. That ruled out cutting circular holes for an axle, so I settled on a paper hinge. It meant full rotation was off the table, but I reckoned I could still get over one-eighty degrees of movement if I was lucky. To push the shell further than the lever idea allowed I built a sort of pulley with a hinge joint in the middle. A strap wrapped around the pulley, with a second strap rotating in the opposite direction. Both straps connected to the body, spinning the shell as the tail was pulled. It worked a treat, total rotation was just over two hundred and twenty degrees.

Once I’d settled on a mechanism, I built a couple of prototypes, fine-tuned the geometry, and put together the final project. The result: Henri Escargot, the Paper Snail. Pull his tail and make his shell spin! I timed an assembly of the finished kit. It took six minutes to score, fourteen to cut out, twenty-four for assembly. Total build time: forty-four minutes. Now, I’m fairly fast and didn’t need to read the instructions, but I still reckon most people will be able to build the snail comfortably within a one-hour session.

And that’s Henri Escargot, slow by name, swift by build, and full of character. I hope you’ve enjoyed this little glimpse into his creation. Whether you’re a seasoned maker or just snail-curious, thank you for reading and for sharing in the joy of paper engineering. It means a lot. If you do build Henri, I’d love to hear how he turns out, especially if he makes you smile. More simple creatures are quietly lining up behind the curtain, so stay tuned.

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If you enjoy projects like this, you might like the premium version of my newsletter.

As a Premium subscribers you can download the full Duck project PDF. including all the parts and instructions, from the foot of this page. Thank you for your support!

If you’re not a subscriber, the file is also available for £5 (or equivalent) from my website.
Alternatively, there’s a membership option on my website that gives you access to this duck and hundreds of other projects, all ready to download and make, no extra cost, just endless tinkering.

Everyone gets the story, the sketches, and the joy of the build in he newsletter but if you want the printable parts, that is how you get them.

This particular duck started life as a birthday present for my dad. He has wild ducks that visit his garden—what began as one or two curious guests soon turned into a small, waddling flock as word of his generous feeding spread through the duck community. I wanted to make something that captured that gentle chaos: the flurry of feathers, the hopeful eyes, the quiet joy of unexpected visitors. So this automaton is a little tribute to that garden gathering, a duck with a determined waddle and a beak full of optimism.

Originally, I’d thought about making a paper version of my running goose model but with a duck character.

In that one, the feet are driven by a wire double crank, giving the goose a wonderfully menacing charge as if it had spotted an unattended sandwich. But for this project, I set out to recreate the same lively motion using only paper, rather than the bead-and-wire mechanism of the original. It became a gentle challenge: could I capture that same sense of movement and character, but with simpler materials and a more approachable build?

The legs were looking promising, and the simple knee joints worked surprisingly well.

But things got interesting when I added the body. In the goose model, the body is held steady by a couple of struts connecting the wings to the base, a neat solution, but not one that translated easily to this paper version. It kind of worked… if I held the box with one hand, cranked the handle with a second, and held the body in position with a third. Not exactly ideal, unless you’re an octopus with a passion for automata.

So, in a sort of inversion of the mechanism, and with a nod to how the double ducks model worked, I flipped the moving parts. Rather than connecting the feet directly to the crank, I added a box and a pair of pushrods. The duck would sit on top, riding the motion from below like a passenger on a hidden engine. It felt like the mechanism was wearing its trousers inside out, but it worked.

So, to the completed project. The picture on the side of the box is a collage my partner made as a birthday card for my dad, also duck-themed, naturally. It adds a lovely personal touch, and ties the whole thing together with a bit of whimsy and warmth. I think it all came together quite nicely in the end! Quack quack!

Thanks so much for subscribing and for following along with these slightly improbable adventures in paper and motion. Whether you’re here for the mechanisms, the stories, or just the ducks, I’m glad you’re part of it.

It’s a duck, it’s a gift, it’s a slightly improbable machine, and I’m really rather fond of it.

Until next time, happy making, and may your crank handles turn smoothly and your glue always stick.

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Apart from the stylus, fashioned from a modified sewing needle, the entire project is made from thin card. Cut, fold, and glue your way through the fully illustrated step-by-step instructions to make your own working record player! It’s not exactly hi-fi, and you probably shouldn’t use it on your precious collector’s editions, but for a record player made entirely out of paper, it’s surprisingly good! Sure, the wow and flutter would make a hi-fi purist weep, but for a paper record player, it’s a triumph, and the flutter might just extend to your heart as you hear it play.

The Record Player Kit is printed by my friends over at Go On Make Me, and it’s available online from Happy Puzzle, visit Happy Puzzle to get yours. While you’re browsing, why not take a peek at my other printed kits too? It’s a great gift, a fun afternoon project, and a brilliant way to make something that actually plays music!

This project grew out of an afternoon of brainstorming around my Mesh Gear Essential Mechanism, which you can find here. The idea behind the Essential Mechanism series is to offer starting-point mechanisms, ready to be expanded into fully fledged paper automata. You can explore the full range of Essential Mechanisms here.

🎶 A Bit of Background
After sketching out a few ideas, I landed on the record player as the most promising candidate. I wasn’t entirely sure it would work, so I mocked up a tone arm and horn to test the concept. I remembered that there was an old record player at my parents’ house, so armed with a 7" single I’d picked up from the local charity shop, I paid them a visit to use it as a test bed.

I set the record spinning, then, balancing the tone arm on my finger, lowered the needle onto the vinyl. The song was Viva Espana, and as the music crackled to life through the phono horn, I was genuinely moved. It was such a simple setup, but hearing that unmistakable melody play from my own handmade contraption felt quietly magical. That was the turning point: I knew I had a working project ahead of me.

⚙️ Mechanics & Modifications
To get the record spinning at the correct speed, I modified my mesh gear mechanism so that turning the crank at around twice per second—roughly 120rpm—produced an output of 45rpm. I had to narrow the vertical crank to fit through the hole in the record, and added a spider to the top to support the vinyl and keep it level.

The original version of the record player was released as a downloadable project, and it’s still available on my website. If you're a premium subscriber, you can also find it in an earlier newsletter here.

It’s always a thrill to see kits that began life as a humble PDF evolve into printed booklets you can hold in your hands. There’s something deeply satisfying about that transition, from screen to paper, from idea to object.

This project has been one of those quietly joyful builds, full of small engineering puzzles, nostalgic moments, and the thrill of hearing music play from something made entirely of paper. From balancing the tone arm on my finger to refining the gear ratio, each step brought its own kind of magic. If you haven’t tried it yet, I hope you’ll give it a spin, literally. And if you have, I’d love to hear how it played out for you.

💌 Thank You
Thank you so much for subscribing to my newsletter, I really appreciate your interest and support. It means a lot to know these projects resonate with fellow makers and curious minds. Whether you’re building along, sharing your own twists, or simply enjoying the stories, I’m glad to have you here.

The project is available as a downloadable PDF, complete with all the components ready to print, along with step-by-step illustrated instructions to guide your build.
Premium subscribers can access the file directly at the foot of this newsletter. If you're not a subscriber, no worries, it's also available for download from my website here.

A bit of project backstory.

My website has been ticking along for quite a few years now and, with over a thousand pages, it's grown into quite the sprawling archive! I do my best to keep things up to date, but every now and then something slips past me.

One such case came from the 'Learn' tab in the menu. A new member got in touch to let me know that a few links in the mechanism section weren’t working properly. Sure enough, I found several broken links and a handful of animations that had quietly retired, Flash, anyone? Those who’ve tangled with it will know the pain.

I’ve started updating links and recreating animations, but it’ll take some time. Thanks so much for your patience as I work through it all.

One project especially stood out: the worm gear. As I revisited it, I spotted a few areas where my approach has improved over time, so I decided to give it a proper refresh.

There were three main areas in the original project that stood out, each one a little time capsule from around 2010.
(I’ve been at this for a long while now, still loving it just as much though!)

The first thing that caught my eye? The axle.
Back then, I’d used square axles in round holes. Square in round! What was I thinking? It somehow worked well enough at the time, but looking back with today’s experience, it was ripe for improvement.

In the new version, I’ve kept the square axle to mount the worm gear parts, but with a twist. There’s now a circular insert inside the axle tube that slots neatly into the round axle hole. The result? A smoother turn, a tighter fit with less play, and a far more reliable mechanism. It’s a small change with a big impact, and one that makes the whole build feel more refined.

The next update is all about the box.
In the original version, I used a fairly standard six-faced cuboid. It did the job, but once assembled, the interior was sealed off, making any adjustments, tweaks, or curious pokes inside the mechanism a no-go.

In later builds, I moved to a design where the front and back panels are made from flat sheets, reinforced along two edges with right-angled triangular section tubes. These add rigidity without bulk. Two more panels form the top and bottom, while the remaining sides are left open.

The result? A structure that’s both strong and stable, while offering clear access to the inner workings, perfect for checking alignment, making small tweaks, or just admiring the mechanism in motion.

The final improvement is the handle.
Over the years, I’ve gradually refined the way I construct it. In the original version of the worm gear , the handle was made from two folded sections, with a long strip rolled around to form a smooth grip. It worked perfectly well—but I’ve noticed something curious over time: when people build the project themselves, they sometimes attach the handle to the axle in ways that... well, let’s just say, weren’t quite what I had in mind!

The handle has had its share of refinement over the years.
The latest design is made from three interlocking sections which makes it much harder to fit incorrectly. It’s become such a reliable standard that I usually copy and paste it from previous projects occasionally tweaking the shaft length or, in this case, scaling it from an 8mm to a 10mm tube to fit with the diameter of the worm shaft.

Whether you're revisiting the build or discovering it for the first time, I hope this updated version adds a little extra joy to your making. It’s amazing what a few small changes can do for one-tooth-at-a-time engineering.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this peek into the evolution of the worm gear project, warts, wisdom, and all.
Premium subscribers can download the PDF, including all the parts and step-by-step instructions, at the foot of this page. You’ll also find the file ready to download from the website here

Every turn tells a story—happy building!

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🏡 The project is available directly from the Brother Creative Center , where you’ll also find a wide range of other paper projects to explore, many of which I’ve designed. So take a look around and discover even more crafty delights.

🌳 Each layer lifts off to reveal cozy interior rooms, ready to explore. Alongside the tree house, you’ll find a miniature set of furniture, tables, chairs, and woodland companions including owls, rabbits, and deer, all scaled to fit snugly into this playful world.

🖨️ Just print, cut, and assemble to bring this charming forest hideaway to life.

🪵 The textures on this model were a joy to create. I use Adobe Illustrator to design the paper parts, and for the tree house, I wanted the textures to feel realistically organic. I explored Ripon, where I live, and found some lovely tree bark near the cathedral as well as some suitable leafy canopies that worked well.

🌲 For the roof texture which I envisioned as a kind of rough shingle, I had to venture a bit further. Eventually, I found just the right flaky bark on a tree in the arboretum at Thorpe Perrow. After snapping photos, I sliced thin strips of bark texture in Photoshop and laid them out in the background of my tree house components, trimming them to size with clipping masks.

✨ All in all, I think they turned out rather well!

The finished tree house is available for everyone to download and make from the Brother Creative Center here. I do hope you enjoy making and playing with the tree house!

This newsletter is free for everyone, but if you'd like access to the downloadable projects included in many of the previous premium issues, consider signing up as a premium subscriber. Your support means a lot—thank you!

This fun little build combines paper clips, 6mm glass beads and terminal blocks to create a crankable parasol with satisfying movement. I liked the finished piece so much, I rebuilt it from scratch—photographing each step along the way to produce a downloadable set of instructions, shown below.

If you're a premium member of this newsletter, thank you—you’ll find the download link to the instruction pdf at the foot of the page.
Not yet a member? You can join here, or grab the file from my website for £5 (or your local equivalent).

After I posted the project video on Instagram, Automata-Fest friend Cara asked if it could still sit on a cocktail. Great idea Cara! For the record, that’s a decoy cocktail, just cold tea doing its best impersonation.

Once the project was finished, I couldn’t resist playing with it a bit—and the movement instantly reminded me of a flying machine. The way the parasol wafts gently up and down made me picture it as the power source for a wonderfully odd steampunk ornithopter. I imagined a character seated in a kind of boat-like contraption, cranking a handle to make the parasol flap overhead. Sounds like the perfect launchpad for a new build...

The cocktail umbrella that kicked this all off was far too small for a flying machine so I decided to make my own slightly larger version as a starting point. I’m releasing this paper-and-card parasol as a standalone project, with the plan to return to the flying machine idea later using this scaled-up parasol as its central feature.

As before, if you're a premium subscriber, you can download the PDF with all the parts and instructions at the bottom of this page, thank you for your support!
Not a member yet? You’re very welcome to join, or you can grab the file from my website for £5 (or your local equivalent).

Thanks so much for reading—whether you've been following from the start or just parachuted in with a paper parasol! I love sharing these playful, mechanical projects with you, and I hope today's build sparks a bit of curiosity. If you'd like to support the newsletter and access downloadable kits as they appear, becoming a premium member helps make future tinkering possible.

Meanwhile: Check out my website here plus socials of Instagram, BlueSky, Mastadon and TikTok

Onward to the next creation!

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In a delightfully meta twist, the project download is a set of instructions... for making the instructions! Print out the PDF to create a mini zine, then follow the zine’s steps to craft your very own wire dino. Recursive crafting? Yes, please.

🦕 What you’ll get:

• A printable PDF where the first page folds into a palm-sized zine

• Inside: easy-to-follow steps to bend your dino into shape

• Bonus joy: folding paper and wire into something uniquely prehistoric

To make a shareable kit:

1. Tuck the finished zine into a 3.5” × 4.5” zip-lock bag

2. Add three jumbo paper clips and a terminal block

3. Voilà! A Wire Dino Zine Pack—perfect for gifting or guerrilla crafting

Leave one on a café table, hand them out at your next maker meetup, or slip one to a curious friend. Spread some analogue joy, one prehistoric project at a time.

🧡 Ready to make your own?
Premium subscribers to this newsletter can download the file at the bottom of this page—thank you for your support!
Premium members of www.robives.com can also access the file for free
Not yet a member? You can still download the project for £5 (or local equivalent), or consider subscribing to this newsletter.
Annual subscribers to this newsletter can get full access to every project at robives.com —just sign up for a free robives.com membership and let me know!

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