Journal of the Lajos Series

19) Lajos Alajos

June 2, 2022. Works very well. He will be the new prototype.

20) Lajos Ádám

June 2, 2022. It goes all right, but not as good as a prototype. I raised his hands and it helped a lot.

21) Lajos Zsiga

June 2, 2022. His legs had to be lengthen a lot and his arms a bit as seen on the picture.

I reset the steps to be exactly 86.5 mm and it helped a lot. At this time I still used the original bare steps not the carpeted ones as in the pictures.

He works well.

22) Lajos Lajos

July 4, 2022. It's glued by hot glue, so it's a bit unsure and inaccurate, but works well. Steps are a bit too short for him. This is the best so far! Works with 3 big balls. He doesn't work with small balls.
Legs 97 mm
Arms 63 mm
Distance between shoulder and hip axles: 51 mm and it proved to be good.
M3 threaded rod's diameter: 2.86 mm. So the hole would be r=1.35 mm (This was a bit too small.)
December 30, 2022. I covered the steps with clothes so he would not slide. For this set up several modifications were needed.

This point needs more explanation. I was greatly disappointed by the Döme series because they all worked well first, but after I painted their soles and hands and sanded and oiled (linseed oil) the steps, they didn't work any more. I thought the trick must be in the sliding motion. If you look carefully at the videos, even the German acrobats, they all slide a bit back and forth on the steps. But how much should they slide and what surface would be good for them? Earlier I tried to cover the steps with cloth and it didn't work at all. But how about remodeling the figures such a way that they would go on carpeted steps with no sliding? So this is what I had done. In the following I explain what modifications I did for the carpeted steps.

I raised his arms so he would roll easier. It helped a lot. The red arrow shows the critical distance. It should be set so he would roll easy from his legs to his arms.

I also discovered that by this distance (heel to hand) I can set his pace more precisely. The pace should be tuned to the step's depth. If the heel to hand distance is too big he will place his hands too close to the edge of the step and fall off. If this distance is too small he will place his hands too inward and would fall off, too. I believe this is more important to the carpeted steps where there is no sliding motion. (Remember: the depth of the steps 2 and 3 are 160mm and step 1 doesn't matter. I sometimes pull them apart to see if it works better.)

The heel needed to be extended. 11.5 mm extension was added and seemed to work well, but but it needed to be raised a bit. (about 1-2 mm) Look at the above picture of Lajos.

I also cut off from his (Lajos') toes and it helped him coming dawn the steps.
The main problems are
1) Unstable and varying movement.
2) As he goes down the step, he turns to the side.

December 31, 2022.

I tried to make his hands work independently.
I put stops and strings on both shoulders.
It didn't not work well, so the final solution is: 2 stops, 2 strings, but the arms are connected by the traverse.
I added some weight on his hands (2x1.93 g) It was very good. He would not even work without them!
He doesn't work with many small balls.
He works with 2 balls, but better with 3.
I raised the steps with 1.67 mm. (86.5+1.67mm) It was not a good idea.
Final conclusion: First, he seemed to work well but later not. He still turns to the side after the step flip. But sometimes he is OK.

23) Lajos Lajoska

August 8, 2022.

Before the reduction the holes had to be enlarged on the plan. Ball size: 6.3 mm. The width doesn't reduce, the same way as the height because the width of the plywood is the same. For this reason the traverses didn't fit; I had to make other traverses. A disproportionately large weight was needed in the head.He does the hip-n-shoulder flip nice. I made some makeshift steps, but much better steps are needed and a lot more work.

Finally, I decided I leave the small version project for a while.

24) Lajos Laborc

January 1, 2023. Made according to Lajos. Since Lajos was working well, Laborc was made as an exact copy of Lajos. Worked well at the first try. This was the first figure to work at the first try!!! Made for carpeted steps.

Hand weights: 2x1.89g 50x6mm steel from a windshield wiper.

Some minor changes to Lajos:

Slats go all the way along the feet (not just the extension).

The Bergman tube goes all the way from the top of the head and to the buttock. The end covers are only paper.

Than I added polistirol+paparmache clay+paint and he didn't work any more. Before there was no weight in the head but I had to cut it open to add some weight to make him do the hip-n-shoulder-flip. The major problem is that he turns around on the steps.

25-26) Ladomér & Lambert

Lajos was made on Alajos' and Zsiga's design. Lajos and Laborc were the same laser cut. Remember how I changed the feet: heels extended, and raised, toes shortened. Now I put these changes into the drawing. I also put holes for the string guide on both sides of the body. This is now put into drawings and the new laser cuts are ready to made into acrobats. Let's see how they come out.

February 7, 2023

22) Lajos Lajos

The followings are the experiences on carpeted steps.
Problems:
Unstable movement (=He is sometimes good, but not on other times.)
After the step flip he turns to one side
Often falls off the edge of the step
The things I tried:
1) put a cardboard piece to the hip spacer - didn't really help
2) moving the last guide of the string all the way toward the rear. It did not work at all.
3) using only one string instead of two. It didn't help.
4) Enlarging the hands downward.

First I extended the hands to 60.5 mm in total, then sanded them down to 58 mm.
I found that this is an excellent way of setting him to the HIGHT of the steps.
If the hands are too long, he just won't flip down the step. Stops midway.

To make matters worse, obviously the shoulder and the hip angles play important roles too. These are the relationships I don't quite understand yet.

February 8, 2023

24) Lajos Laborc

Why does he turn to the side after the step flip. He is acting similarly to Lajos and even more extremely.

The string experiment:
I've made him with two strings so it is a good opportunity to check if the strings are responsible for the turn. First only one string pulled then I changed the tension and then the other string pulled. The result didn't change - so it is NOT the sting which causes the turn!

One major reason could be how the stopper hits the hip spacer. I didn't put them right, but they are glued on so hard, it would be very difficult to change.

I sanded off the paint from his sole - no result.

I glued little pieces of sandpaper on the sole - little help, not much.

I glued some larger piece of wood to the hip spacer - this helped a lot. Now, he doesn't turn to the side, but won't stop after the step flip. There must be a momentary stop after coming down the step. He turns right back and falls back. (Too much toe lift.)

22) Lajos Lajos

I repositioned the weight from his head to his neck!!! This really helped a lot.
It's interesting to see, that he does lift his toes up after the step flip, but it doesn't matter; he can continue his movement anyway.
I changed the leg traverse to a few mm longer one. This makes him a bit more stable, but it is not the clue to the problem.
I replaced the hip spacers and it really helped a lot. Too bad, I can't do it on Laborc. Now, the string is in contact with the stopper, so I had to make new guide for the string.
One string is enough. But, lets place it right on the shoulder and not on the extension of shoulder. This makes a smother pull on the arm and seems much better.

Finally, Lajos works fine on carpeted steps.

I believe the most important factors were:
1) The right position of the hip spacers.
2) The weight in the neck (as opposed to the head).
So I made a video of him.

24) Lajos Laborc

I put some really solid little piece of wood to the hip spacer. You have to put the piece to the side where it turns! It really helped.

There were too many weights in the head. I left 2 in and added 3 to the neck. Now it is really good. This way you can see how nicely his arms bonce back (after the hip flip).

Finally Laborc works well, too and I made a video of him, too!!!

Tumbling Acrobats - Lajos Series

The following pictures show the drastic changes I had to do after the painting.

1) How to set the acrobat to the depth of the steps and to the height of the steps.
2) The weight should be on the neck.
3) The position of the hip pegs are very important (and very difficult to change later).