Miniature Penny Farthing in a Bottle by Dylan

My father recently challenged my 10 year old son Dylan to create a tiny bicycle inside a bottle.

The bike had to contain a number of elements
Handlebars
Two wheels
Saddle
Spokes

The opening of the bottle had to be smaller than finished bicycle.

Here is how he did it.

Supplies

Glass bottle
5mm Rubber tubing (300mm in length)
Elastic thread
Foam board
Black Sharpie pen
Scalpel
Stick or chopstick
Super glue
One premade element was a plastic hub from a toy

Step 1: Design and Thought Process

What materials could he use?
The challenge was that the bicycle either had to be assembled inside the bottle from individual parts that could fit through the narrow neck or be made from elements that could be pre assembled and squashed through the bottle neck.

Dylan came up with the idea of using flexible rubber tubes that could then be squashed though the bottle neck.

Step 2: Making the Large Wheel

Measure the bottle to work out what the maximum sized bicycle will fit inside. By ensuring that the bicycle fits snugly inside the bottle from top to bottom then it won’t fall over once it’s installed.

Make a loop of the rubber tube with a diameter 1cm smaller then the height of the bottle dimension and then glue the ends together. This forms the large wheel of the penny farthing.

Cut up 16 small pieces of the elastic (at least the 1 1/2 times the radius of the wheel) and then glue them to the inside of the wheel you have just made. These will form the spokes.

Position the plastic hub at the center of the loop and then bring the loose ends of the elastic to the hub rim and glue in place.

Repeat this process for all 16 pieces of elastic to form all of the wheel spokes.

Step 3: Making the Bicycle Vertical Frame and Handle Bars

Cut two lengths of the rubber tube (this needs to be about 1cm longer then the big wheel radius) to form the vertical structs of the frame.
Cut one smaller length to form handle bars.

Glue the ends of the vertical lengths to either side of the big wheel hub using super glue.

Glue the tops of the two verticals to each other so they nicely fit around the wheel.

Glue the handle bar to the top of the two verticals using super glue.

Step 4: Making Small Rear Wheel and Curved Section of Frame

Form a loop 1/3 the size of the large wheel, cut and glue the ends together to form the small rear wheel.

Cut a 5mm length of rubber tube - this will form the axle of the small wheel.

Place the axle in the center of the small wheel and then cut a length of tube long enough to join the axle to the inside rim of the wheel. Glue together using super glue.

Stand the large wheel vertically on your work surface and locate and glue the small wheel to the rear of it. Make sure the bottom of the two wheels are in line and that the piece of tube between the axle and the wheel is vertical.

Cut a length of the tube to form the curved section of the frame and glue to the small wheel in line with the vertical piece inside the small wheel.

Curve the tube around the large wheel so that forms the curved frame shape (note this curved frame should sit clear of the large wheel) and glue to the back of the vertical frame.

Step 5: Making the Saddle

The saddle is made from a piece of foam board.
Using the scalpel cut out the saddle shape.
Colour the saddle black with the sharpie pen to match the black bicycle and glue in place with super glue.

Step 6: Putting the Bicycle Inside the Bottle

Squash the bicycle carefully (being aware of not breaking any of the joins) and slide it into the bottle.
Using a wooden stick or chop stick, push and position the bicycle inside the bottle.

Enjoy your wonderful penny farthing inside a bottle.