Axworthy Using A Windshield Wiper Motor

**dionicia** · 10-09-2009,11:29 AM

I noticed a lot of folks are hesitant about making an Axworthy because of all the work that is involved. I myself have been sitting on the fence about this props as I was intimidated at the prospect of building one and having it fail.

Well after years of watching others display the fruits of their labor, one particular design caught my attention. Rather than using bicycle wheels, gears and chains, it used a simple ice cream maker motor, PVC and plates as pulleys.

It's plain genius in it's simplicity and it got me thinking. When I went to the store, I not only found black plates, I found bowls and thought, those might work for smaller pulleys. So I bought 6 to try out. At $2 for a 2 pack, it was worth a try.

I wanted to try something other than the ice cream motor as it was good, but too slow for what I want to do. I then remember the supply of windshield wiper motors I had from Monsterguts and figured with a 12 volt 5 amp power supply, I could get the ghosts going around at about 53 RPM.

I've included pics of the plate assembly and the Drive Pole. I was going to use PVC poles for the satellite poles but they bow too much so I am changing to 2X3 studs which I am going to put together today.

**dionicia** · 10-09-2009,11:34 AM

The motor has a 6mm screw and you can buy a coupler you can attach to add a bolt on the other side to attach the plate pulley. Be careful when drilling out the hole. Go slow so you don't crack the plate. Also, it is being held to the wood by a Simpson Strong Tie and a few bolts. Some lithium grease will help the plate pulley move around.

**Aquayne** · 10-09-2009,06:49 PM

You need a way to keep tension on the line when the ghost is in motion.

I really like how you have the motor under the plates. It protects them from some rain. Great job.

You may need to keep the ghost very compact so that it will not snag and tangle on the post as it goes around.

**dionicia** · 10-09-2009,08:00 PM

I found the bowls don't work very well as the cheesecloth gets caught on the wood. I might add some fabric around the wood to see if that helps with it. I'm going to get 4 more sets of plates (I have one set I haven't used yet that's already glued together) and I think I will hammer the bolt in upside down in the 2X2 post so that I can use a nylon locking nut on the top. That should avoid the plates unscrewing themselves. A little liquid nail in the hole should keep the bolt in snug. The speed of the motor works great though. Once I make the changes, I'm going to take some video.

**indianaholmes** · 10-09-2009,08:25 PM

If you wrap black plastic drop cloth around the post and motor, the ghostie will just slip on by. If there's one thing cheesecloth won't snag on, it's black plastic. I use it in my setup and have never had a problem. How sturdy are the plates? It is a great pulley that you've made but I would worry about putting too much tension on the line and cracking the plates where they bolt to the motor. But then I am using aircraft wire rope for mine and maybe fishing line does not need as much tension. Besides, with the size and depth of your pulleys, line jumping may not be much of an issue. All in all, this is a great pulley system. One other thing to consider is to mount the whole rig upside down. With nothing under the plates, there's nothing to snag. Sort of like a hangman post.

**dionicia** · 10-09-2009,09:46 PM

The one good thing about this is the whole time I did the test run, it didn't jump the track once. The hourglass design kept the line in the middle.

I have a roll of weed block that I will wrap the poles with tomorrow. I hope Target still has some black plates left so I don't have to spray paint them.

**dionicia** · 10-10-2009,09:32 PM

I found that Lowes had 5/16th threaded rods that are 3 inches long. Perfect for this project. I'll liquid nail the little suckers in the 2X2 posts and then attach the plates and put a nylon locking nut on the top. That way it wont unscrew from the top like the current bolts do. Found some plates at Wally World for $2 each which was cheaper than the plates from Target that were on clearance. I just need to spray paint them black and I got the black spray paint today too. Just need to liquid nail the plates together and let them dry tonight then I can drill them out tomorrow and attach them to the poles and then spray paint them. I may have this project going before the end of the weekend.

**dionicia** · 10-11-2009,08:35 PM

YouTube - Axworthy Trial Run

I changed out the bowls for plates and replace the bolts with the threaded rods and nylon locking nuts. The line is a little loose only because I needed to get the poles more level in the ground. Just need to make the ghosties and this project is done. It's quieter than I thought it would be.