Crafting

The materials and instructions for constructing the Wild Wild West model are contained in the Karakuri book. Although the mechanism is simple, the construction of it was more challenging than expected, as the project included many small pieces that needed to be precisely cut out and certain pieces, such as the gears, needed to be placed in very specific positions for the mechanism to work properly. Furthermore, I had no glue, so I had to use tape to attach each component of the mechanism.

The first step was to construct the gears. The smaller gear was placed at the end of a long shaft, which would then be attached to the handle. The larger gear was placed at the end of a small shaft, which would then be attached to the turntable. The gears were then inserted into the base, ensuring that they could turn freely. The long shaft was secured in place with bearings and the handle was attached, while ensuring that the gears aligned. This completed the essential parts of the mechanism; the other parts to be added served mostly as decoration.

Next, the mountain tunnel was constructed. The tunnel was attached to the base, rather than the turntable, so that it could not rotate. A circular base was then attached to the tunnel so that it was above the turntable, but did not rotate with the turntable. Various decorations, such as the cactus, the station, and the wagon, were then placed on the circular base. The train was then placed on the turntable, so that it could rotate around the circular base and go through the tunnel. The motion of the mechanism is shown in the videos below.