Nice idea! I've never seen anything that ambitious but as long as the line guides are positioned correctly, I can't see why it wouldn't work. Hiding the lines shouldn't be an issue, but keeping the candles vertical may be tedious. The lines could be attached to the "flame" tips with a bit of adhesive. You could even stack 2 or 3 fender washers on the pivot bolt to increase the number of candles and help prevent tangles.
I was thinking that if I twist fishing line up and down LED candlesticks and adhere it by using hot glue running down the side like melted wax, it would keep the candles in a better position while adding a little extra flair to the candle.
There's another great site just about how another guy did his but I can't find it at this very moment... I'll post it as soon as I do.
Mines likely going to be a simpler hanging candelabra suspended from a mobile sort of setup and gently swaying using a fan instead of a full fcg setup. Also check out the "Endless hallway" scene in disney's Haunted Mansion attraction. It's the original floating candelabra effect! Scroll half-way down the page:
Also, check out this thread posted by SkullAndBone a while back. Scroll down to the 9th image in the first post to the floating candle photo! I love the look of it and it's likely the closest thing I've seen to the Harry Potter floating candles.
I don't know much about a fcg version, but
Another way to do this (I haven't actually tried it just thinking out loud)
would be to attach a black rod to the candelabra base and then affixing it to a record player or other slow rotating motor. Having the candelabra attached at the bottom instead of the top, creates a MORE convincing levitation illusion. Onlookers, ALWAYS suspect floating objects are attached by string. So this solves that problem!
Another option is to attach fishing line or invisible thread on the left and right side of the candelabra. Again solving the problem of "that's just a string tied to the top" By pulling the thread in opposite directions the candle should float both up and down and side to side very gently(ghostly)
Ok if I understand what you want to do is float candles like in the Harry Potter movies. So how about this? Attach odd shaped disc to a long rod spaced however you have room for or need. Take that rod and connect it to a slow rotating motor.
Next run some fishing line across the space where you want the candles to float. Place the rod under the fishing line so that the disc will move the line up and down.
Using the same fishing line to tie the candles to the overhead line so they hang underneath and appear to float.
After reading through this thread, I decided I would give it a try. Here are pics of my candles. There are 16 and eight of them will be attached to a crank. Probably use a wiper motor but could get away with something less powerful. I plan to balance the crank with offsetting the big ones with the big ones and the little with the little. So there will be 8 moving candles and 8 static hanging in a cluster. I am using some fairly strong magnet wire on both sides of each candle. I haven't painted the wires black yet. Flicker tea lights and we are ready to go. Will post when I've finished. Going for that Harry Potter look.
