A giant, wooden, motorized worm gear slowly drives two large wooden wheels.
The vertical wooden screw rotates, driving two large wooden wheels. This kind of
screw is often called a worm gear.
..."Wooden Screw, a large wooden device that moves in what appears to be a very
purposeful motion driven by an enormous, very precise wooden screw. But...it does
little but entertain." Pat Craig, The Contra Costa Times.
"...[Wooden Screw] keeps and amiable awkwardness in its operation too.
Given the possibility for error in the choice of pairing seven- and
eight-armed rotors, making these rotating elements, which flank the central screw,
mesh just right into the screw-grove is a considerable feat.
But Tuck characteristically allows the piece to lampoon his own ingenuity.
The rotors are mounted on wheels so that, after a certain amount of time, combined effects of small
irregularities of the meshing will move a rotor slightly away from the screw, necessitating a slight
push to put the rotor back into place.
All's well, the piece emits a reassuring clunking sound, to tell us that its mechanism is still at
work."Jeffrey Wechsler, Catalog for Rutgers Exhibition.
