Tri-Fusion was inspired by a collector who asked
what would happen if I made Fusion with 3 patterning wheels. It seemed
like an interesting idea so I worked up a computer animation to test
it. I liked what I saw, especially the patterns created by the small
crescent wheels. I decided to stain these dark to make the patterns
stand out while being enveloped by the lighter colored ellipse shaped
wheels. It was a new patterning effect and one that I liked.
Step two in the design process was to design a mechanism to sustain
the motion. I tried using a new escapement I've been working on but
it really didn't create the correct motion unless I added a lot of
complexity. I finally settled on my very reliable two arm and pinwheel
mechanism. It is relatively simple and efficient but best of all created
the correct motion.