Animated Ouija Board (Vent Motor) PART 2

[Halstaff]

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Thanks Dave for the great tutorial. I finished mine today and it works great!

[darkmaster]

What a great idea!!

[DaveintheGrave]

Looks fantastic, Halstaff! Your box looks better than mine with the mitered corners.
And you got it to SPIN, too! (I still don't know why that works.)

Great job and thanks for mention in your video. I'm glad I could help.

[SavageEye]

Halstaff, looks great! You will get a lot of great compliments, well worth the effort!

[CAK]

This is a beautiful and intricate set up - thank you! I am not able to do this much with tools, etc. I had a different idea that seems easier, but I have not tried it out, and wondered if you could suggest/help me think through this before I spend the money. My idea is to buy the ouija board from Toys-R-Us as usual, and inside the box, set up 2-3 clock motors (available from hobby-lobby for around $5), but removing all but the long hour hand from the clock motors; glue a magnet on the clock hand of each of the 2-3 clock motors. Then station the clock motors with the magnetized clock hand inside the game box, making sure the magnet brushes up against the game box lid (so it may be that some styrofoam has to be set in the box bottom such that the clock hands and thus the magnet is tall enough in the box to sweep along the bottom of the box lid. Then close the box securely and set the game board on top of the box. On the feet of the planchette, glue a magnet on each of the feet (or alternatly, maybe magnetic paint can be used on the feet bottoms); If the magnets are a different color than the planchette, which would be the case as magnets are black and the planchette is an eggshell color, you would have to paint the magnets and the legs a uniform eggshell color so they 'match'. Simply set the planchette on the game-board and as the clock hand from each of the clock motors spins slowly around, the magnetized legs of the planchette would be attracted to one or the other of the magnets and seem to move at random across the board. The movement would be slow enough that the on-looker would be deceived into wondering if they saw the planchette move or not...and yet...it seems to be in a different place than it was earlier and no one moved it (creepy effect). This way, the ouija can still be played, and no one would be the wiser since the game board is not compromised. The planchette would be compromised however on the feet, which would give it away, so it would be prudent to have another matching planchette, and a quick slight of the hand would prevent guests from seeing that planchette 'a' was magnetized, while planchette 'b' is unchanged from manufacture. I have briefly tried using a fairly weak set of magnets through a game-board and it's lid and yes, the magnets did attract and the top magnet moved when I moved the bottom magnet by hand. So it is the clock motor and its hands that need to be 'rigged' inside the game box properly in order to attract the magnet, and I guess you would have to experiment with different strengths of magnets for this to work out ok. I have also read that using a miniature remote controll car with a magnet on it's top inside the game box would work, providing you magnetize the planchette's feet and have an accomplice hiding (upstairs, peering through stair railings for example) who could propell the car around inside the box and make the planchette move well enough to answer questions, but the danger in this is the noise of the car. I think the clock motors would be silent, not giving the prop away. This could work for other 'haunted game boards' of any kind, not just a ouja board. Also, another idea with the ouija board would be to buy a clock motor with very plain, straight hands, and to remove the hands from the clock motor and pain them the same color than the ouija board's background with craft paint. The, with a very small electric drill, drill a hole in the center of ouija board, and assemble the board as a clock-face by gluing the motor to the back of the board, and re-attaching the now 'invisible' clock hands back to the motor dial. Then, glue 2 of the three feet of the planchette to the end of one of the clock hands. The planchette would move around the board slowly on its own, but in a circular motion. Of course this would function as a clock as well as a prop, but people would realize this was a clock after looking closely. But you could glue picture hangers on the back of the board and hang it up as a creepy decoration/clock and it would be a very nice time piece. It would be basically made as a normal clock, using the ouija board as the clock's face. The above posted idea is the very best I have seen...if only I was able to accomplish it! But for those of us not so able, maybe the clock-in-the-box with magnets would serve as a close second? hopefully, and please comment. It's my first time posting and I'm not that experienced with halloween props - I'd hate to spend the money and then the prop fails...Thanks for input! CAK

[DaveintheGrave]

The clock motor idea might work. I would recommend not having the magnets on the clock hands actually touch the bottom of the game board. Once the planchette is in place, that may be too much drag on the clock motor to move the magnet. Not to mention the noise it will make scraping the bottom of the board.
Also, depending how close the motors are to each other, one magnet might latch on to the planchette and never let go. It would just spin in a circle, possibly never being affected by the other motors/magnets.
You would just have to experiment with that.
The remote control car might work. Just, a small car might be lifted up by its magnet to the bottom of the board and its wheels not touching the ground for any traction.
Those are the main problems I can think of.

[JustWhisper]

OK Dave. I am totally enthralled with this project, as I see everyone else is as well. Everyone's projects came out really great, no doubt, due to this excellent tutorial. I just printed the entire thing out and am planning on making one for my haunt this year. It will look amazing in my witch house. Thanks for all the tedious work you put into this. You rock.

[DaveintheGrave]

Thanks a lot, Whisper! It's not too hard to build, just a lot of little parts involved. One of these would be a great addition to your witch house, I'm sure.
Let me know if you run into any problems with your build.

[VGhoulson]

OH GREAT.....now another project on my TO DO list! haha Seriously I LOVE this and it would fit in perfectly with my set up! Gonna go search out some stuff on ebay right now...

[DaveintheGrave]

Good luck with your Ouija board, VGhoulson! I know recently another forum member told me that Electronic Goldmine will ship to Canada. They carry the vent motors.
Feel free to PM me if you run into any problems.

http://www.goldmine-elec-products.co...?number=G16034