Arnold’s Mechanisms & Inventions
“Arnold has been interested in making things from recycled items most of his life. While farming in the sixties he made his own four-wheel-drive tractor from second-hand parts. In the mid-eighties he got serious about recyclables as an art form. Aluminium pop cans were dissected and remade into jewellery, greeting cards, pictures, animals and boats. The nineties saw him move into sculpting with silver-plate, primarily spoons and forks. His greatest satisfaction was from creating the human form showing some emotion. Then he switched to making semi-functional pieces centered on CD discs. Typical creations include locomotives, trucks, amusement centers and musical instruments. Lately he has been creating animals, toys and wall art from recycled aluminium bottles.
“His art is meant to be touched, to see the wheels turn, the people move, or the colors change. Each piece is a challenge of engineering and fabrication as well as a delight for the little boy inside.” – Artist’s Statement.
When I first met Arnold, he was working on solar planes and boats. Below are a number of the things he developed, or that we worked on together.
- Arnold’s original solar plane model
- early solar boat
- train for circular track
- sol-chopper and cat on early SolFly
- turtle for hand-crank generator
- Hand-crank with electric car
- CD-wheeled, single-axled duck that quacked as it rolled
- under duck – simple buzzer, pulleys, elastic band drive. low inertia motor.
- CD-rabbit
- under the CD-rabbit
- detergent bottle boat ballasted with rock
- rock ballast inside boat
- rudder assembly on solar boat
- ferris wheel driven by big loop of string over all the corks and back to the motor pulley.
- Making the SolTrain – spools turned to make wheels that will follow a hose.
- Under-carriage of SolTrain being built
- SolTrain nearing completion
- SolTrains can run on a garden hose.
- …things changed under the SolTrain
- Cat chasing mouse – motor inside hub.
- Lamb on the lam…can Mary catch it?
- to run things at a tilt, Arnold devised this adjustable hub base.
- Cow jumping over the moon
- The fisherman
- Cat chases mouse – early iteration of spinner, with motor attached to cat, panel on the bar.
- Car go
- spinning saucer
- drawings and parts for stands and hubs for SolFlyers
- Arnold at an Eco-Fair
- SolChopper
- Spritely SolChopper
- in this iteration, the plane gradually climbed higher, as the hub-nut turned on the threaded rod.
- …prototypes of hubs…
- SolSpinner
- to turn a large EarthBall
- solar-pumped water turns vaned disc
- smaller spinner moves the heavens
- Solar road-packer has a piece of cardboard that is tripped back and forth, driving packer alternately in both directions.
- chairlift using solar power and a geartrain
- solar fan
- similar rotating adjustable hub base as used on Cow jumping over Moon
- another way of adjusting angle
- this shows 2 panels on a disc that rolls
- CD trike runs on water
- this device rolled
- another 3-wheeled CD toy
- Hand-crank generator
- Solar high-wire act
- although not solar, a great paddle-wheeler design
- Arnold has always had a thing for articulating 4-wheel drive tractors.
- 4-wheel drive solar tractor
- two panels attached to one motor
- solar trundler attached to pivot
- early Chariot of the Sun, at that time called a Solar Roller. Low inertia motor, pulley-driven
- a simple fan assembly attached to a foam boat and powered by solar
- early Solar Roller
- electric toys awaiting hand-held generator
- solar paddle-wheeler
- solar paddle-wheeler
- foam boat with tunnel hull
- foam boat, tunnel hull, rudder
- foam boat, tunnel hull
- articulating 4-CD
- monster wheels on an articulating solar racer
- experimentation with another tunnel hull boat
- Solar Boat with twin hulls
- Solar Monster Truck
- 6 mm coroplast, worm gear, pivot
- canary on a SolFly
- Solar prayer flag turner
- helicopter
- latest drive on SolTrain
- SolTrain on a garden hose
- SolPlane on a flyer
- SolTrain runs on a garden hose
- undercarriage of SolTrain
- solar strider (boat)
- solar water strider
- Wooden solar boat
- solar boat showing keel, rudder
- core of foam boat
- powertrain added to foam boat
- solar pleasure cruiser