Shake It Up - Day 2 - Week 3 (SF Day Camp)
Attaching support beams to a high point
This week at Tinkering School, we have an incredible group of sharp-minded, innovative, and inspired tinkerers who are truly shaking things up. Each of our three projects is GIANT – these tinkerers are taking to heart the idea that restrictions and boundaries lead to further growth and creation. Within the guidelines of specific constraints for each project, there seem to be boundless room for new ideas.
The jigsaw is useful for longer cuts
Tuesday was our first full day of building! Every group jumped straight into a design session, picking up where Monday afternoon left off. We always make sure to outline our tasks for the upcoming session, so there is a cohesive design plan in place which can be referenced throughout the build.
Our milkshake machine is coming along quite smoothly - the team spent the day finishing a wall for the assembly line, and were able to attach a frame for the conveyor belt. The conveyor built emulates a similar mechanism we are all familiar with at airport security – we are using wooden dowels and PVC pipe to make spinning wheels which the milkshake will move on. Furthermore, they have finished the milkshake barrel. Though at Tinkering School it is never our goal to finish a project, this team is expertly checking off tasks.
Building the Milkshake Machine wall
Today held many interesting developments for the Shake Shack group – namely, the challenge of flipping the 15x15 ft frame onto its legs. This exciting task involved strapping the structure to a rope from the ceiling so that it could be pulled up, while collaborators supported it from the ground on all sides. Many structural needs were uncovered in this process, as some support beams came apart and one of the legs cracked in the process. We discovered that wood is weaker where there are knots, and one of the legs had two knots very close to each other. When too much weight was placed there, it cracked. Tinkerers were quick to come in with their drills and screws to strengthen their work, unfazed by some breakage, suspense, and exhilaration.
Diligently utilizing clamps and right angles!
Lastly, our marionette is beginning to take form. Two arms were completed today, and the team has decided to use hinges for moving joints. Limbs are proving to take lots and lots of wood, with many meticulous cuts for 1ft and 4ft pieces. It turns that that designing a human body takes lots of awareness to proportions and symmetry! In creating an octagonal head shape for our frog-human marionette, we had to test numerous different angled cuts on our wood pieces before settling on the right one (and no, it was not actually a right angle… we don’t like to make things easy on ourselves here at Tinkering School :p). Tomorrow we hope to begin attaching pieces together.
The marionette’s “legs + arms” team collaborating
The week’s projects are so huge that we almost ran out of wood after the morning! Luckily, we were able to go on a wood run during lunch to up our supply. Looking forward to seeing tomorrow’s developments.
You can view the rest of today’s photos on our Flickr page!