There are a couple of issues with my existing poseble head joints. (eg Surly Jack) The existing joint starts with a double thickness sheet with circular holes cut in it. Circular holes are difficult to cut – especially if there are lots of them, they also necessitate the use of a sharp knife, not always ideal in a classroom environment.

Step forward, my new two-axis poseable joint!

For the prototype I am posing a simple head on the top of the neck. The head can nod up and down and turn left and right.

The head is tapered which presents its own problems. The first part of the joint is a cylinder running across the width of the head.

The score lines on the cylinder are a squashed down sine waves.

When the cylinder is rolled up the sine waves become flat ellipses ready to glue to the inside of the head.

I’ve wrapped a tight fitting sleeve round the cylinder then attached a second tube to this at right angles. A final second outer sleeve completes the joint.

The finished joint fits inside the head.

The finished joint works very nicely and doesn’t need a sharp knife to make 🙂 You can see a stop motion animation of the joint on my Instagram channel here.