Thread: Haunted morgue drawers

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I run a LOW BUDGET (<$1000) haunt and am putting together a haunted hospital. My sticking point is in the morgue. I am trying to design 3 or 4 motion-triggerd drawers that will rattle or bang open/closed.

Since I don't need a whole lot of travel room (a few inches to rattle or open/close) they really only need to be drawer fronts (a 12" by 18" piece of sheet metal and a handle). The rest of the wall will be fabricated (wood/painted cardboard). I've heard of some props using garage door motion sensors and a cheap electric drill with the trigger held down, but haven't been able to come up with a way to put it together without fear of failure.

I have very little experience with mechanical/electrical props, but I am willing to learn. Can someone describe in detail or post some simple instructions on how to accomplish this? Thanks!

-EB

Quick and dirty:
1: get a garage motion sensor and cheap extension cord. Cut the female end off the cord but leave enough wire there for splicing.
2: Open up the motion sensor and find the wires that run from the PCB board to the socket for the light bulb(s)
3: Cut those wires and wire them to the female end of the extension cord you just cut off.
4: Wire the other end of the extension cord into the wires of the motion sensor that would normally be connected directly to the electric in the house.
5: Add an unbalanced load to the drill (metal rod with weight on one side only).
6: Tape drill trigger down (or zip-tie) and plug it into the female socket you installed on the sensor.
7: Plus sensor into wall outlet.

That should give you the function of a harsh vibration. Me...I would probably use compressed air and a semi-random routine on a microcontroller or a motor with a rod attached to it that popped the drawers out with a cam-shaft style mechanism.

-EEric