Many thanks to BigCityArt.ca for this featured blog post on my show Mechanical Curiosities.

Please join me on February 24th for my first solo show “Mechanical Curiosities: The Art of Automata”

I was asked to display my work at the Vancouver Airport but the problem was how to activate the Automaton behind glass. Motion sensors do not work behind glass and putting anything on the exterior of the show case was out of the question.

I came across the idea of a light sensor, if it could be mounted inside the case and the light could be blocked then it should work. In the pictures it shows the hand cut out taped to glass but in the actual application we used double-sided tape.

Although I am new at joining urethane belts together I have not had a problem but recently I wanted to use the belts for bike tires but I could not clean up the joint so that it looked presentable.

My solution to this problem was to make a holder for the belts ( I’ve seen this before on you tube but not with a vise). Next was to cut the belt about 1/8″ short and mount into the vise. I heat up a knife, others use a flattened soldering iron, slide it between the belts while I tighten up the vise. After a few seconds and both sides are in contact with the knife and I close the vise tight.

Next was to cut the belt about 1/8″ short and mount into the vise.

I heat up a knife, others use a flattened soldering iron, slide it between the belts while I tighten up the vise. After a few seconds and both sides are in contact with the knife and I close the vise tight.

After a minute I open the vise and remove the belt and let cool, the joint is so small and very easy to clean up. When I use a rough belt there is no problem, the joint can be sanded or filed but on this glossy belt it is the only solution that has worked for me.

Because this is a makers blog I am always looking for a better way so if there are other suggestions, I would welcome them.
Thanks