Mechanical

This is all about actuators -- electromagnets, solenoids, pneumatic motors, things that move a thing to make a sound or produce an effect.

This adds so much fun to the Glockenbox!  The strikers are made from piano damper levers and flanges.  I removed the damper felt and rotate the heads to use the set screws to strike the glockenspiel bars, then I thought they really needed googley eyes.  Then they looked a little bald.  I added colored plush material for hair, and the glockendudes were born!

I created 32 individual unique striker heads, some of them have names.  This one kind-of looks like Jean Luc Picard to me.

I wanted to share a close‑up of the hammer mechanism for my glockenspiel.

There are two levers involved in the action. The first lever is attached directly to the electromagnet frame. When the magnet is energized, it pulls this metal lever upward. That motion lifts the butt end of a second lever—a wooden seesaw lever—which has a felt pad at the butt end and the hammer head mounted on the opposite end. When the butt end goes up, the hammer end goes down and strikes the bar.

Several tasks and iterations to bring the glockenbox into fruition!