Nikolas Weinstein Studios is a workshop on Valencia Street, deep within the La Lengua Autonomous Zone.  The studio fabricates beautiful, architectural-scale glass sculpture for clients around the world, including those amazing glass fixtures inside Bar Agricole in SOMA. David Johnson, one of the studio’s master craftsmen, helps make it all happen. But in his spare time, Dave unwinds by building wooden automata — intricate, hand-cranked machinery. As you can see above, his latest work is marvelous:

After countless weeks toiling in his underground secret lair (garage), Johnson went live over the weekend with his latest gizmo, a gift for his father-in-law’s 75th birthday (several components of the mechanics are dimensioned to be exactly 75mm). All the gears are hand-cut on a scroll saw and the auger mechanism was stolen from a plastic drywall anchor. The man is mad. God bless his madness.