The Anachronism Press was the name of my basement letterpress, a hobby I had for many years. The press is gone with downsizing in my retirement, but I use the name for my art and technology projects. These include collaborations with artists, odd technical creations, and making sets and props for theatre productions. Here are examples of projects I've done. You may contact me at info@anachronism-press.com.

—Dick Rubinstein

Charles Babbage's Difference Engine No. 1

I didn't make this. It's a model of Charles Babbage's partially-completed calculator, a difference engine. My current project is to make a prop that looks like this, for a production of Ada and The Engine at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA. The production opens the first week in April 2020.

This is the prop, as delivered to Central Square Theater. The plastic case is just dust protection. The prop will be used in the play without the case. The prop is about 20" high, which is about 80% the size of the original (at left).

Most of the parts in the prop are 3D printed with PLA plastic. The copper-colored parts are painted with acrylic paint, and the silver ones are the color of the plastic used to print them. The vertical pieces are painted wooden dowels.

The side view shows some of the elaborate mechanism that Babbage used to do the addition operations that the machine performs. The model has the right appearance from the outside (pretty much), but has hundreds fewer parts than the operational Babbage engine.

The Difference Engine was always on stage after the first scene in which Babbage (played by Diego Arciegas) shows it to Ada (played by Mishy Jacobson).

Photos from the production of Ada and The Engine at Central Square Theater, Cambridge, MA.

3D Printed Head

This sculpture was part of a one-man show by artist Nnaemeka Ekwelum. He walked into the Artisan's Asylum, saying he needed a life-size reproduction of his sister's head, and the woman at the desk sent him to me. We had his sister 3D scanned. I 3D printed the head. Emeka completed the sculpture, with the base and head adornments. The head is just as it came off the printer.

Witness For the Prosecution

For a production of Agatha Christie's Witness For the Prosecution at the Arlington Friends of the Drama, Doug Cooper and I designed and built an elaborate set. This is the barrister's office, with coal-fired metal fireplace (effect), law books, and faux-painted wordwork.

Courtroom

The Old Bailey courtroom created here has lots of wonderful wood paneling, and in the background, the obligatory wood-carved British Royal Coat of Arms.

Coat of Arms

Starting with a depth map image of the coat of arms, I carved this piece in oak by CNC router. Another member of AFD theatre did the painting.

64 Bits

Most of our computers now have 64-bit processors. 264 is a very large number. This display, run by a tiny Arduino processor, shows the possible combinations in 64 bits, two bits per LED. The four possibilities for each LED are off, red, green, or blue.

The LEDs change 10 times a second. At that rate, the display won’t repeat for 58.49 billion years, or about 13 times the age of the sun, and 4.2 times the current age of the universe. Don’t wait around for the repeat.

To see the actual display, visit my studio at Artisans Asylum in Allston, MA.

Depth Map

Albert Thrower, my friend at the Artisan's Asylum makerspace, painted this grayscale–a depth map—picture to create a 3D object

Realization

Albert converted his image to the correct file format for me to print it on my 3D printer.

Painting the Print

Albert painted the print to complete the work.

(Click to see larger image.)

Ham radio

I've recently gotten a ham radio license, picking up my fathers call sign, W6NXU. I've been experimenting with digital transmitting modes. The map shows all of the spots (detections) in a single day in April 2024 of my two tiny transmitters, operating at 200 milliwats, using the WSPR digital transmission protocol. The different colors correspond to transmissions on different ham bands.

Laser Signs

I make a lot of signs, mostly for theatre productions, but also for the lobby, for the maker space, etc. This sign was for Avenue Q at the Arlington Friends of the Drama. It's paint on plywood, and was later "decorated" with various graffiti. The sign was made by masking the white-painted wood with blue painter's tape, then using a laser cutter to outline the letters. Removing the letter shapes ("weeding"), red spay paint and a final weeding completed the prop.

Graveyard Sign

My friend Joel Alpert helps to maintain a Jewish graveyard in Lithuania. The previous plaque was badly weathered, so we created this new, tri-lingual sign by laser engraving plastic. Joel delivered the sign for installation. The sign is about 24" x 12".

Wooden set sign

For the AFD production of She Loves Me, I made this large sign on the laser cutter.

Radium Girls

Doug Cooper and I designed the set for this award-winning community theatre production. The clock in the background was controlled by the lighting board to show the time of the many scenes in the play.

Our original design for the clock. I designed and built the custom electronic clock mechanism.

Doug putting finishing touches on the clock. The dial is 4 feet in diameter.

Set for My Fair Lady

This was a huge set that Doug Cooper and I set-teched. Everything was 16 feet tall (at the insistance of the set designer). I made the floral designs for the background scrims on my CNC router, as well as the bookshelves.

At the races

Another CNC project was the circlular tops of these railings, used here for the Ascott races sceen, but also reversed for a garden scene.

CNC Sign

Acme Theatre sign. The picture doesn't do justice to this 4-foot long sign which I cut on my CNC router for this community theatre in Maynard, MA. (Only this top part is my doing.)

Subway Entrance

When we did A Chorus Line at AFD Theatre, we created this subway entrance over the house exit to our lobby. The lettering was laser cut stensils, and the railing at the left, cut on my CNC router.

The Mountaintop Keyfob

Doug Cooper did a production of The Mountaintop with the Lexington Players. The play's location is The Lorraine Motel in Memphis. Doug asked e to make these keyfobs to use as a prop (visibile only to the cast, really), but also as souvenirs for the cast and crew. It's fun for the actors, especially, to have realistic little details of the set and props. These details are often for them (and maybe a few people in the first couple of rows).

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