In the famous fairytale by the Brothers Grimm a donkey, a dog, a cat and a cock decide to become musicians in Bremen, a Hanseatic town in Northern Germany. Here we see the donkey hammering tirelessly at the keyboard - as long as sand is running, while his colleagues are looking from behind.

In the famous fairytale by the Brothers Grimm a donkey, a dog, a cat and a cock decide to become musicians in Bremen, a Hanseatic town in Northern Germany. Here we see the donkey hammering tirelessly at the keyboard - as long as sand is running, while his colleagues are looking from behind.

The mecanical sculpture is powered by a sand motor. From a hopper in the upper part of the model sand trickles on a lever like in an hour glass. Under the weight  of the sand the lever comes down - at the same time the forelegs are going up. Forelegs and lever are connected by a toothpick as an axle. The sand gllides down from the sloping lever and it raises up again - the donkey's hoofs are falling down on the keys.

Author: Walter Ruffler
Crank mechanism Size: 10,5 x 9 x 17.5 cm
3 construction sheets DIN A 4

Difficulty class: middle

Published by: Walter Ruffler Paper automata