It’s time for me to get my application in for the 2016 San Mateo Maker Faire. I’ve participated in a few previous Faires
and this year I thought I’d add something to my usual offering of
cookie tin ukuleles and other instruments. If all goes as planned (and
they like my proposal) I’ll be at the Faire in May with a peddler’s cart
that will transport several instruments and provide a little treadle
powered down beat.
In the video I demonstrate my first two crude cam sets that play a
waltz and a shuffle. I hope to fit up four sets to knock out a variety
of beats. So far this is like playing along with a bad drummer, but I’m
getting better at it. The cart rolls nicely on the two wheels like a
garden wheel barrow, and when it is tipped up on end (as seen in the
video) it will display my instruments and offer its wonky rhythm. The
wheels, bearings, and sprockets were scavenged from a kids bike a
neighbor was about to chuck in the trash. Some of the wood box is left
over molding from a frame shop and the shafts are from my lifetime
collection of dumpster gold.
There are many improvements and tweaks in the works; including
fitting up the inside of the cart to secure the instruments for travel,
painting the exterior, improving the cam sets, and adding more mass to
the fly wheel. Stay tuned, there’s more to come.
