or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering
Sell Us Your Item
For a $2.00 Gift Card
Trade in
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Tell the Publisher!
I'd like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

Automata and Mechanical Toys [Hardcover]

Rodney Peppe
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

List Price: $45.00
Price: $31.00 & FREE Shipping. Details
You Save: $14.00 (31%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Only 5 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Want it Tuesday, May 28? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
Image
Save on Popular Books This Summer
Browse our Bookshelf Favorites store for big savings on popular fiction, nonfiction, children's books, and more.

Book Description

August 1, 2002
No other craft so brilliantly captures the magic of turning a handle, þicking a switch, or pulling a lever to see the unexpected come to life. Automata and Mechanical Toys is a book for anyone drawn to simple, entertaining mechanics. The book features 21 leading makers, each with a distinctive style. With 160 color photos and 100 delightful examples of the craft, the book is a feast for collectors and enthusiasts. A substantial section of the book is devoted to making automata mechanisms, ideal for novices or those wishing to learn new techniques. Illustrated, step-by-step instructions explain how to make a bearings box, which separately houses all the main mechanisms used in automata. The box can then be converted to any mechanism you choose. Rodney Peppé is a winner of the British Toymakers’ Guild Toy of the Year Award; he has had exhibitions of his work at the Victoria & Albert Museum of Childhood. He is also the author of Rodney Peppé’s Moving Toys.

Frequently Bought Together

Automata and Mechanical Toys + Making Things Move DIY Mechanisms for Inventors, Hobbyists, and Artists + 507 Mechanical Movements: Mechanisms and Devices (Dover Science Books)
Price for all three: $54.71

Some of these items ship sooner than the others.

Buy the selected items together


Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

No other craft so brilliantly captures the magic of turning a handle, þicking a switch, or pulling a lever to see the unexpected come to life. Automata and Mechanical Toys is a book for anyone drawn to simple, entertaining mechanics. The book features 21 leading makers, each with a distinctive style. With 160 color photos and 100 delightful examples of the craft, the book is a feast for collectors and enthusiasts. A substantial section of the book is devoted to making automata mechanisms, ideal for novices or those wishing to learn new techniques. Illustrated, step–by–step instructions explain how to make a bearings box, which separately houses all the main mechanisms used in automata. The box can then be converted to any mechanism you choose. Rodney Peppé is a winner of the British Toymakers’ Guild Toy of the Year Award; he has had exhibitions of his work at the Victoria & Albert Museum of Childhood. He is also the author of Rodney Peppé’s Moving Toys.

About the Author

Rodney Peppe is author-illustrator of over eighty children's books, and creator of Huxley Pig and Angelmouse for television. Rodney Peppe's Moving Toys was published in 1980, and this led to his toymaking. He rarely sells, but exhibits in one-man shows at venues including the V&A Museum of Childhood and the National Theatre.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 160 pages
  • Publisher: Crowood Press (August 1, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1861265107
  • ISBN-13: 978-1861265104
  • Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.7 x 10.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #79,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
(9)
4.6 out of 5 stars
Share your thoughts with other customers
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
63 of 65 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Buy for Beginning Builders November 24, 2004
Format:Hardcover
Depending on what your interests are, this can be a valuable addition to your library. It is not for collectors, in my opinion, and most of the examples are on the "folk art" side: crude, kitschy, and sometimes even made of junk. There are profiles of a few builders who make complex automata demonstrating fine craftsmanship, such as the wonderful Keith Newstead and John Grayson. I would have preferred to have some detailed explanations of how some of their automata work, though. The REAL strength of this book is if you are beginning to make your own automata and would like to have a "kit" to experiment with. The book contains full sized plans for an experimenter's "kit" which is really nice. I have Robert Addam's "How to Design and Make Automata" and CMT's book, but they both only have crude drawings with no dimensions. I made photocopies of the parts and then used Xylene to transfer directly onto plywood and cut the parts out on a scroll saw, saving a great deal of time and giving me a nice litte platform for experimenting. This alone makes the book a must have for the beginning builder.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A Must for Automata Enthusiasts! June 9, 2003
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is everything you could ask for in book on contemporary artistic automata.

Each chapter has a brief summary of the topic in question -- say tools and materials. Next, each chapter moves on to showcase the work of two or three automata artists with many pictures and a page or two of information about each artist.

The photographs of automata in this book are outstanding. You can really get a sense for the devices, their construction, and most especially, their finishes.

If you love automata, want to see more of them, and want to learn about some of the top automata artists in the contemporary scene, this book is a must-have.

Was this review helpful to you?
15 of 18 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book! Great color pictures and diagrams June 10, 2003
Format:Hardcover
This has got to be one of the best books on the subject of automata and mechanical theatre. There are lots of great color pictures and diagrams to build your own automata. Worth the money!
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Basic Instruction
I think I expected more, but upon reflection I realized that there was more than enough information for me to take it where I wanted it to go.
Published 1 month ago by I. Labrant
5.0 out of 5 stars Very Thorough
Well written with excellent diagrams and very thorough. I am thrilled with both the history offered and the instructions for constructing my own.
Published 5 months ago by Sue Arth
5.0 out of 5 stars learning automata
I'm just trying to learn to make automata. I find this book the best that I've found so far, for beginning to understand the complexities of gears, cams and levers used in making... Read more
Published on September 3, 2009 by Robert Jeffery
5.0 out of 5 stars Mechanical mayhem!
If you like this kind of thing - then you are going to love this book! The range of different toys is amazing and seeing them in a historical perspective is fascinating. Read more
Published on September 26, 2008 by Eric J. Robertson
3.0 out of 5 stars Quite a nice book
The book certainly has nice and inspiring pictures of great automata. To a certain extent, some of the concepts of automata are defined. Read more
Published on June 12, 2007 by danny boy
5.0 out of 5 stars Clear directions and eye candy too.
This is the best book on automata since Flying Pig opened it's doors. Peppe shows how to build your own test board of mechanical movement and provides examples of the best current... Read more
Published on November 7, 2006 by Jennifer L. Wolcott
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews


Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Forums

There are no discussions about this product yet.
Be the first to discuss this product with the community.
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Listmania!


Create a Listmania! list

So You'd Like to...


Create a guide


Look for Similar Items by Category