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This is a project that I've put roughly 700 hours into. It is my eighth woodworking design project, and it is by far the most complicated one I've done to date. This is Colibri.

It began with a lunchtime conversation between a friend and I, bouncing ideas around about what my next woodworking project could be. For most of our conversation, few ideas peaked my interest. Then it hit me. I wanted to try and step out of my comfort zone and do something that I had never done before. I wanted to make something whose motions were organic and fluid, a piece that simulated something found in nature. I turned to my friend, "What if I made a sculpture of a hummingbird flying in slow motion?" "How are you going to do that?" he asked. I paused, and then replied, "I have no idea." He laughed, "Cool, you should do that."

So it started. I scoured the internet for study material: slow motion hummingbirds videos. I watched them for hours, trying to fully understand all the motions I wanted to include in my sculpture. I used some of the videos I had found as underlays to create 3D animations of Colibri's movements, carefully matching my animations to the motions in the videos. From there came the painstaking process of generating the mechanisms that could drive those motions. Coming up with the basic mechanisms was an immense challenge in itself. Fine-tuning them to closely match the motion of the animations added an entirely new layer of complexity.

On top of making the sculpture function as intended, I felt it was important that the appearance of Colibri's forms complimented its movements. For this reason, nearly every shape in the sculpture is constructed from tapering, sweeping curves. Straight lines and geometric shapes were only used when necessary, to help minimize a machine-like appearance and promote a more organic aesthetic.

For more information, or to get detailed woodworking plans for Colibri, please visit my website: www.derekhugger.com

A sample of the woodworking plans can be downloaded here.

And, last but not least, here is a video of Colibri in motion:


I'd love to hear your thoughts.
-Derek

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Comments

· Plus Member
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Absolutely amazing engineering and craftsmanship.
 

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First off, the design is absolutely amazing - Then, the execution is flawless, so beautiful, so immaculate, and how clean and precisely the movement works… Bravo !!!!!
 

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i think this is an amazing piece of art. I loved the video of the hummingbird in motion. Thanks for sharing…..made me smile.
 

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Off the Hook !! Unbelievably beautiful- in so many ways.

Thanks for posting.
 

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Awesome design and execution!
 

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Speechless!!
I'll just go with the trend of absolutely amazing. ...... because it is.

Bravo!
 

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Wow! That is insane. Incredible project!
 

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Speechless. Just awestruck by the design, engineering, and craftsmanship. Just absolutely stunning. Wow.
 

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That is one of the most FABULOUS works of Art that I have ever seen.
Absolutely AWESOME. Congratulations.

Thank you so much for sharing this.

Bob.
 

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This leaves me speechless… Great!!!
 

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Wow, amazing work!
 

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Fantastic project… I am in awe of your talents!
 

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Interesting!Best piece of yours given the fact you have incorporate a scene from nature.If you allow me is"the mechanism behind the nature flow"
 

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Really impressive. Do you keep this in your house or does it go to market?
 

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Hi Derek,

That is an awsome sculpture! I bought your plans for Kinestrata and am currently working on that as time allows. I have built a wooden gear clock, which was nice, but these are much more fun. Once that is finished I definately need to build this. I know those plans will be on my Christmas list this year! Thanks for developing these terrific machines.
 

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This blows my mind. I love it. I just read the sample plans on this Wowza. I think ill start of withone of your beginner plans. Thx for sharing…. Amazing.

does it come with a Medical plan? For when I go crazy building it? Smile
 

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Wow….what can any one really say that is enough praise. This is the most incredible thing I have seen.

Thank you for sharing.
 

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Wow, jaw-dropping! As a keeping of a hummingbird feeder and lover of these magnificent birds I think you caught their motion and beauty just wonderfully. This is a celebration of the beauty of these birds.
 
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