Moving Parts: Cams, Linkages & Simple Automata

An automaton is a machine that tells a joke once per turn of the handle. Everything in it is a cam converting rotation into rise and fall, or a linkage converting one motion into another. Both are geometry, and both can be drawn before anything is cut.

What is inside

• The pinch-point rule that matters more here than anywhere else in the series
• The eccentric cam: why the rise is twice the offset and the motion is smooth for free
• An offset-against-rise table, and the working ceiling on how far you can offset
• Drawing a shaped cam from a displacement diagram rather than by eye
• Snail, pear and two-lobe profiles, and how follower type changes the drawing
• The Grashof condition — the five-minute check that stops a linkage jamming
• Crank-rocker against crank-slider, and which one an automaton usually wants
• Pivots that survive: clearances, bushing, pin retention, spacing
• Boring bearings coaxially, and why crank radius decides the effort
• A worked two-cam mechanism, including why phasing them 90° apart makes it look alive

Format

• 5 pages, A4, PDF
• Delivered as an instant download after purchase
• Print at 100% with scaling off — several drawings are reproduced at true size
• No physical item is shipped

Please note

This is a design guide, not legal advice, and it does not substitute for testing. Regulatory figures are cited to their source so you can verify them against the current text.