Karakuri: How to Make Mechanical Paper Models That Move

I never expected to have this much fun! This is an amazing book, clearly written and illustrated. Too much fun to describe and much better than the other books I bought that do much of the same. There is so much information here as well as just having fun making all of the adorable projects and learning the names of types of gears and how machines work. A must buy if you want to learn about machines or just want to have fun making gears and shafts and such out of paper. I love it!

This book has great educational value for STEAM related class projects and discussions. Nice approach to design - preceding the parts with brief lessons on basic machines, mechanisms, all with excellent graphics. I work as a teacher and teach STEAM related classes, this is ideal as a starter and interest builder.

Bought for a student for christmas who hops homes due to being in the system. He cried when he was given it due to it being exactly what he loves.

I only recently became aware of the ancient Japanese tradition of "Katakuri" or mechanical dolls or automata. The examples I saw were carved from wood with cherry wood gears and were constructed by a Master with decades of experience...-But wait! With this charming book you can construct paper models with your own hands that perform simple actions!Apart from the four featured models there is also a series of mechanical gear movements that allow you to create motion that can be applied to your own original designs. The text is surprisingly thorough and detailed with interesting historical anecdotes on all of the mechanical systems featured.The construction techniques are fairly simple and just to ensure you don't become intimidated with the details, there is an illustrated gallery of original designs created by High School students, so if they can do it, so can you!Get this book! Get creative! -And even if you don't actually make any of the designs inside, the text is still a great read! Highly recommended!

Full of fun. Provides the basics of mechanical paper craft. Would be great for teaching children some of the physics of motion. Has ten basic models and lots of examples of designs using these done by the author and even more by high school students. Excellent chapter on how this form of mechanics paper craft works.Interesting even if you don't make anything. Over half the book is made of pages to cut out and assemble. Lots of Fun.

As a STEM teacher trying to accommodate Distance Learners while my In-Person student explore robotics.... I AM BLOWN AWAY!! Great resource!!!! In addition to the instructions on how to build the 4 models shown, the book includes instructions for 10 gears which you can build off of to create your own design. It also comes with text book like background on gears and mechanisms and full color explanations/descriptions & real-world examples.

This book includes some kinetic origamis that are entertaining to make. It is easy to do them if you follow the procedures. You need to use scissors, cutter, ruler and glue so it is not appropriate to do by small kids by themselves.If you are curious about kinetic origami you should try this.

I'm enjoying this book a great deal! It lays out the mechanics clearly, and starts you out making simpler mechanisms, so that you can see how they work, slowly graduating to more complex ones, giving you time to develop the skills and make mistakes before you reach the "fun" models. They're all fun, and engrossing, and educational.