Hardwood Hearts Old Version Downloads

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Tamela

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Aug 3, 2024, 4:33:31 PM8/3/24

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I wanted to make a realistic animatronic heart, and as I was developing the 3D printed mechanism I used a sock to try and get a vague idea of how the silicone skin would move once the design was finished. Since the silicone casting turned out to be quite challenging and very expensive, the sock test gave me the idea to instead use a slightly elastic fabric to make a plush heart design, which could be fitted over the 3D printed mechanism.

This means that the plush version of my animatronic heart design cost me under 20, whereas the materials for my silicone jacket cost upwards of 100 on its own! I also have an option to have a battery pack inside or a wired connection.

This project is very simple on the 3D printing/assembly/electronics side, but I'd recommend you have a little sewing experience because, as a sewing amateur, I'm not 100% confident in my patterns. A sewing machine is not necessarily required and a lot of the sewing is by hand anyway, but it would certainly be useful!

I didn't really post-process any of the prints because they all worked fine straight from the printer, the only thing that may be necessary however is to drill out some of the holes on the linkage components to be the same diameter as the screws which form their pivot points.

Using the pattern provided, print out the shapes and cut them so you can trace them on to your fabric. Cut each part out leaving a space outside the lines to allow you to sew. If using a zip, start by sewing this into the back panel, but note that you'll need to leave the top open because the zip itself is not long enough to allow the entire mechanism to fit through, so the fabric at the top of the zip needs to be able to flex to account for this.

The front piece has a little section that needs to be folded over to make it rounder, so fold along the line and sew shut, trimming off any excess fabric. The the zip side and the front side can be sewn together to form the main pouch - if using the battery pack you'll also need to sew in a third panel along the top to make room for the larger mechanism, this is labelled in the pattern. Its best if you test the fit frequently and make adjustments if the jacket is baggy in some places.

You can now make all the other giblets by sewing the two halves together, turning them inside out and stuffing them. I have some markings on the main jacket pattern for where these should be attached, but feel free to use your own intuition about how to arrange the top bits, after all no two hearts are identical! It was simpler for me to just sew these on by hand, but if you're skilled with the sewing machine then you may be able to use that instead.