When the call went out for project ideas that the WNY Haunters could build as a group project during the first gathering of 2010, one of the members suggested a rocking prop. There was a lot of interest in this idea from the other members, so it was decided that this is what we would build. Since I was hosting this gathering, I decided to build one ahead of time so that I could make sure we would have all the parts we needed. I built the prop pretty much as shown on the scarefx web page, so I won't go into detail here about how to build it. I will just mention the places where I did it differently.
Probably the biggest difference between theirs and mine is the mounting of the motor. For their project, they used a post cap as a mounting bracket. That seemed a bit complicated, since you would need to figure out where to drill the mounting holes. I took a simpler approach. Rather than use the 10 inch long piece of 2x6 to mount the motor on the base, I used a piece of 2x3. I used a 10 inch piece, but that was really longer than it needed to be. 6 or 7 inches should be plenty. Then, I used a hose clamp to hold the wiper motor to the 2x3. The hose clamp is approximately 13 inches in circumference, so I'm assuming that means that it is a 4" hose clamp.
After I got the prop together and working, I noticed that the wiper motor was a lot louder than I would have expected. After some experimentation, I noticed that a wiper motor held in my hand was fairly quiet, but when I laid it down on a piece of 2x6, it got quite a bit louder. I then tried putting a small sponge in between the motor and the board. That seemed to absorb some of the vibration, making it quieter. What I don't know is whether the motor will get hot if it is run for a long time, which might cause problems with the sponge, possibly starting a fire. Keep this in mind when you consider whether to try this. My intention is to turn the prop off when no TOTs are around, so I don't expect my motor to get too hot.
Page last modified 08/29/2010