Animated Ouija Board (Vent Motor) PART 2

[DaveintheGrave]

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Animated Ouija Board: PART 2

STEP 5: Linking It All Together

A: The motor will be mounted onto the bottom board using two 8-32 X 1-1/2 inch machine screws. Measure and mark on the bottom board the point 3-1/4" inches from the right side box board and up 3 inches for the lower box board. Lay the motor onto the bottom bd. and center the exact underside of the motor shaft at this point you just marked. (You can drill a small hole at this point to enable you to feel when the shaft is center by the small nub on the bottom of the plastic motor housing.)
Hold the motor still and mark the points under two of the motor mounting holes. (It has three, but I only use two.) Use an 11/64" drill bit again to make two holes under the mounting holes. Insert the two 8-32 X 1-1/2" screws from the underside of the box, thru the two motor mounting holes. Secure them using a #8 flat washer, lock washer and nut--in that order.

B: Add onto the motor shaft screw--one #8 lock washer and nut. Tighten this nut against the nut already there holding the screw in place. Then add a #8 flat washer and place one end of the Linkage Bar onto the motor shaft screw. Then add--one #8 flat washer and a #8 nut. Tighten the nut against the linkage bar, but leave it loose enough so that the link bar can still move around freely. Lastly, add another #8 lock washer and nut and tighten this nut against the one below it.



C: Add a #8 flat washer onto the screw pointing down from the oscillating magnet bar. Slide the other end of the linkage bar onto this same screw, then add another flat washer and a nut. Tighten the nut against the linkage bar as before, and leaving it loose enough so the link bar can move around freely. Lastly, add another #8 lock washer and nut. Tighten this nut against the one below it.



D: Drill a 3/16" hole from the back side of the rear box board, near the lower right side. Cut off the plug end of the power adapter, separate the two wires and strip them. Feed the wire thru the hole about six inches. Tie a half knot in the wire to prevent it from accidentally being pulled off the motor. Twist one of each of the power adapter wires to one of the motor wires. Plug it in and notice which direction the motor shaft turns. I build mine with it turning in a counterclockwise (CCW) direction. If it turns clockwise, unplug it and swap the wires. Solder both wire connections and add heat shrink or electrical tape.
Plug the motor in again and observe the movement of the magnet bar. Unplug the power when the bar is all the way to the right. Measure the distance from the bar to the box wall. Do the same for the left side. If the measurements aren't equal, it will be necessary to relocate the motor left or right and remount. Use some hot glue to hold the power wire onto the bottom of the box so it will not interfere with the movement of the magnet bar.
As an option, you can add a small return spring on the left side of the box with a small wood screw and use some fishing line to tie the spring to the magnet bar. It's probably not necessary, but I use it just to make sure the bar will "want" to go back to the left without the linkages and motor shaft getting bound up.



VIDEO LINK: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v6...urrent=011.mp4

STEP 6: Ouija Board and Plexiglass Assembly

A: Lay the Ouija bd. flat on top of the plexiglass. Use a wax pencil or crayon to trace the outline of the Ouija Bd. onto the plexiglass. Use a plexiglass cutting tool to carefully cut out the piece to cover the Ouija Bd. Drill four 11/64" holes in the plexiglass--one in each corner. Lay the plexiglass on top of the Ouija Bd. and square it up. Drill again thru each of the four holes, right thru the Ouija Bd. itself. Use four 8-32 X 3/4" machine screws and nuts to hold the Ouija Bd. and plexiglass together.




B: We still need to make four support blocks for the Ouija Bd. to rest on inside the box. Take the remaining piece of the 1 X 4" wood board. Cut four sections off the board, all of them 2 inches wide each. Since the Ouija Bd. itself is 1/8" thick and the plexiglass is also 1/8" thick, the top 5/16" needs to be sawed off the top of three of the support blocks. The front support block (that will go next to the magnet bar hub screw) will be shorter than the others, since it will sit on top of the two small step boards that the magnet bar hub screw is in. Trim off the top 1-13/16" of this piece.
I then used Liquid Nails Construction Adhesive to mount the four support blocks to the sides of the box. (See pic)



STEP 7: Planchette / Magnet Assembly

A: Use a small, flat head screwdriver to separate the white "slider" part of the Magic Slider from the black rubber cushion it is glued to. Use two pairs of pliers to pull and separate them. The white part is the only part we'll need.
Take one of the round magnets and find which side of it is "attracted" to the magnets glued to the Oscillating Magnet Bar. This is the side of the magnet that has to be facing down as it glued to the magic slider. Use some hot glue to adhere the magnet and the slider together. After that, add another magnet on top of the first. Trim the magic slide with scissors, if necessary. The magnets will be glued to the exact center of the underside of the planchette, allowing it to balance itself on the magnets as it moves . This point is normally just to the rear of the clear plastic window in the planchette.
NOTE: In order for the planchette to be able to "spin" as it moves across the board, all three legs of it must not touch the board at all. Experiment with small pieces of wood, at differing thicknesses, as a spacer on top of the two magnets that will give the planchette the proper height so that it will "float" across the board. Another option may be to trim the three legs.

For mine, I trimmed away some of the plastic "ribs" on the underside of the planchette so that a small piece of wood (about 1/4" thick) could be hot glued flat on the plastic. After that, hot glue one of the round magnets onto the wood spacer, then add the magnet with the magic slider attached.



B: Test the operation of the Ouija Board and Planchette. It should move smoothly across the board and intermittently spin around slowly as it moves. You can use some good quality car wax on the plexiglass to help the planchette slide easier.
The best way to display the Ouija would be with a UV black light shining down onto the board, making it glow continuously.

Ouija under Blacklight: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v6...urrent=006.mp4

That's it! This completes the assembly!

OPTIONAL FEATURES:

Moving Candle: I made a candle using a small section of 3/4" PVC pipe. I then used a flicker-flame LED (ordered from Electronic Goldmine) at the top for a simulated flame. It's powered by one CR2032 coin style battery inside the candle, and uses two of the disc magnets with the bottom portion of a Magic Slider glued to them for movement (same as the planchette).
See Videos below:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v6...rent=001-1.mp4

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v6...rent=002-2.mp4

UV Black light LED on Planchette:
I used some hot glue to mount a single UV LED on the underside of the planchette. It 's also powered by a CR2032 coin style battery. The light emitted from the LED causes the glow-in-the-dark Ouija Board to light up, showing a glowing trail as the planchette moves across the board.
Thanks to SavageEye for this idea!

See Video: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v6...rent=004-1.mp4

Please feel free to PM me with any questions!

[SavageEye]

Dave, nice tutorial, you spent some time putting this together and we all appreciate your efforts!

[DaveintheGrave]

Thanks! I appreciate it.

[Raven's Hollow Cemetery]

Nice job Dave, and thanks for the great tutorial

[Mizerella]

Perfect timing I just got my board and motor today! Cant wait to build.
Again Dave a perfectly detailed tutorial. So awesome of you to take the time and do this!
Thank you so much you made my night!

[BadTableManor]

Hmmm... do you, by chance, sell these?

[madmax]

Dave that looks great, I especially like how the "black light" gives off the glow. I need to find my son's old board and make one of these, I found the moving part, just can't locate the board....maybe your board could give me the answer

[DaveintheGrave]

Thanks a lot, Raven's Hollow, Mizerella and MadMax!
Mizerella--please shoot me a PM if I can help you in any way on your build. Good luck with it!
BadTableManor--I sent you a PM.

LOL, Max! Do these weejee things really work???
If you can't find your son's board, you can probably still find a cheap glow-in-the-dark one on E-bay.

[SavageEye]

Dave that looks great, I especially like how the "black light" gives off the glow. I need to find my son's old board and make one of these, I found the moving part, just can't locate the board....maybe your board could give me the answer

I got my Ouija board free by sending a shout out to my friends on Facebook. Got a few strange responses from my post, but it got the job done!

[SavageEye]

Here is a picture of my board using Dave's instructions. I can't wait to see the response on Halloween! Thanks again Dave!