Jack the Jackhammer – Wooden Automaton

Happy New Year!
I hope 2026 will be another creative year for all creators.

For the first post of this year, I'd like to introduce a wooden automaton.
I like automata, but I haven't made many of them. In December 2025, the workshop was quiet on some days, and I saw it as a good opportunity to make one.

I wanted to keep the project simple. The idea that came to mind was a jackhammer. Many automata are fantastic and pretty - flowers, butterflies, and other gentle things. A jackhammer is none of those. It's loud, rough, and definitely not elegant.
That was exactly the point. 

The motion of a jackhammer is very similar to the up-and-down movement produced by cams. With that in mind, I designed several parts using 3D graphics software and printed them with a 3D printer.　Here is the 3D-printed prototype. 

At first, I planned to use two cams on separate, parallel shafts. However, that design required gears to keep everything moving together. Since my goal was simplicity, I rearranged the cams so that gears were no longer necessary. Fewer parts, fewer problems - at least in theory.

The most important part was getting the jackhammer's movement right. I made several serrated cams and tested them again and again.  

The cam for the jackhammer has large, jagged waves to create a strong impact. The other cam has smaller waves, just enough to animate the worker bravely operating the machine.

After many trials and errors, I finally completed the automaton, which I named Jack the Jackhammer.

It's not pretty, it's not quiet - but it does its job.