Timberkits Caterpillar TIM-102 Wooden Automata Kit – New Unopened – STEM

A Moving Wooden Machine You Build Yourself — No Tools, No Electronics

Turn a crank and watch a caterpillar's legs ripple in a wave. That's what this kit produces — a working wooden automata whose mechanical motion is entirely driven by a carefully designed system of cams, cranks, and push rods. No batteries. No motor. No electronics. Just wood, geometry, and the same mechanical principles that powered the industrial age.

Timberkits is a family business based in Mid Wales that has been designing and manufacturing wooden automata kits since 1993. Their kits explore the science of movement — ingenious combinations of wooden parts and mechanical linkages that are an education in themselves and a delight to display once built. Kickstarter

The Caterpillar is the beginner entry point in the Timberkits range. All wooden parts come from sustainable FSC-accredited forestry and are fully machined — no specialist tools required. Assembly is peg and glue, with sandpaper included to smooth any joints and a wax candle to ease moving parts. The finished model measures approximately 21×18×6cm — compact enough for a desk, striking enough to stop visitors in their tracks. Venator Technologies

What makes automata kits like this genuinely educational is what they make visible: the hidden mechanical logic of movement. A cam converts rotation into up-and-down motion. A push rod transfers that motion to a leg. Multiply it across the caterpillar's body with a slight offset between each segment, and you get the rippling wave of a real caterpillar's gait — emerging from geometry, not from any program or battery. Building it is building an understanding of how machines work at their most fundamental level.

What's Included

Pre-shaped and drilled wooden components, PVA glue, sandpaper, wax candle for easing joints, parts list, and comprehensive illustrated instructions. Motor kit available separately from Timberkits for motorised operation.

From the STEMpunkED Collection This item comes from STEMpunkED, an educational organization dedicated to hands-on STEM learning through historical scientific instruments. Items in this collection were used in active classroom settings and have been inspected and verified complete before listing. See our other listings for more STEMpunkED items.

Condition: New, unbuilt. Box opened, inner tray intact and complete. All components, glue, sandpaper, wax candle, and instructions present.

No returns accepted. Shipping: Buyer pays shipping and insurance.