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Thor Machine
A low-cost machine designed for craftsmanship, created to sustain the French tradition of perforated cards for barrel organs.
Its design intention is to translate manual craft gestures into automated mechanical movements.
For two generations, my family has designed and crafted mechanical barrel organs—traditional French instruments that play music through punched cardboard, one of the earliest forms of programmable media. This heritage inspired a contemporary challenge: how to maintain craftsmanship while expanding creative possibilities.
Valse d’amélie poulain - Yann Tiersen
Imagine – John Lennon
I designed and built a low-tech machine to punch custom cardboard scores in-house. The design distills the process into three essential actions, directly inspired by manual gestures:
1. Pull – Moving the cardboard forward.
2. Punch – Perforating note by note.
3. Score – Creating fold lines.
For accurate punching and folding, the machine advances the cardboard in controlled increments, replicating the precision of manual movement while maintaining consistent positioning.
The punching module employs a square hollow punch driven by a pneumatic cylinder, calibrated to remove material cleanly without excessive force. A 20 mm HMPE 1000 plastic block absorbs repeated impacts, ensuring durability and precision.
To enable clean folding, the cardboard is scored—not cut—to approximately half its thickness (0.3–0.4 mm) on both sides. Replaceable circular blades, positioned at 12 cm intervals, maintain consistent scoring depth and width across the entire length.
Developed as an R&D tool for a traditional craft workshop, this machine was built for under €1,000, following COATS principles: simple, modular, and low-cost. The design evolved from initial sketches and 3D models through iterative hands-on prototyping—a constant design-fabrication feedback loop. A custom Python script converts MIDI files into G-code, transmitted via LinuxCNC (Mesa interface card), enabling digital-to-analog translation.
Beyond workshop utility, this machine unlocked new creative territories—enabling the production of contemporary, custom-composed perforated scores. Example: Moftarak, a performance by Compagnie Masseart, where punched cardboard becomes a dynamic scenographic element. Presented at the Interazioni Festival in Rome, 2024, the project demonstrates how traditional craft techniques can fuel contemporary artistic expression.