[harleyhaunter]

Hey, I'm building a giant jack in the box!! I am using a wiper motor for the crank, overkill I know but the crank is heavy and I have a wiper motor!! My question is what is the best way to connect the motor to the crank?? Direct drive, pulleys?? Has anybody done this or have any suggestions?? Thanks HH

 

[J-Man]

I would try to do direct drive. Not much need for any linkage.

 

[harleyhaunter]

Thanks J-Man, that's what I figured but wanted to see if there was a better way to it!! I will try to get it hooked up this weekend and maybe post a video!! I will have to make an adapter to go from the threads on the motor to the threads on the crank!!

 

[HomerFett]

Hi harleyhaunter,

Did you get your crank working? I plan on working on the same thing this weekend and wanted to see what worked best for you.
Thanks!
HomerFett

 

[harleyhaunter]

Hey Homerfett, yes I did get it working!! I have been finishing up that prop to day!! I went with a direct drive like J-Man suggested!! Below are a couple of pictures!!

 

[J-Man]

Lookin' good! Let's see that bad boy in action!

 

[harleyhaunter]

Thanks J-Man!! I will try to get a video up soon!! I wish we had 2 more months instead of 2 more weeks!! Lol

 

[HomerFett]

Looks great! Bet the clown head springing out on that mech will be a scary sight!

So what is the crank made of and where do you get it? I have the same freight props motor and was trying to figure out what to use that would directly screw onto the threads that could be used for a crank. Was thinking of doing something with PVC but wasn't sure how that would attach and spin properly.

Thanks!

 

[harleyhaunter]

Thanks HomerFett, when he comes out of the Box he stands over 7 feet tall!! Working on figuring out how to put the clown costume on him now!! The crank is made from a piece of 3/8” steel rod that I bent into shape. I threaded both ends of the rod and made an adapter that threaded onto the rod and the motor, there is a nut on the handle end also to hold it on!! Maybe with PVC you could drill a hole into an end cap and hold it on with a nut and glue your pipe crank into the end cap?? Let us know what you come up with!! HH

 

[CreepyCreations]

Let's see a video of this bad boy in action!

 

[harleyhaunter]

Ok!! Here it is so far!! Still need to do some work on the head, arms and costume!! I also may crank up the air a little bit to make him pop out faster but not much!! What do you think?? Suggestions?? Oh, I also need to paint the clown scene on the Box!! Thanks for looking!! HH

 

[J-Man]

That's AWESOME! He's HUGE! I agree on a bit quicker but it looks like you have enough pressure, maybe just adjust the flow control if you have one installed.

 

[rmayer121]

Oh wow, that is sure to scare some TOT's! I think he needs to pop out a little faster once the lid opens, but this is so cool. Makes me want to dive right into pneumatics since the scare ability is so much higher.

 

[Russell]

Great prop! That crank is "dead on". I've spent more time than I'd like to admit admiring it.

 

[dpeterson]

This post by Harley H is why we keep coming back to Halloween Forum. Somebody's got their Halloween techno mojo working! We say it's for the kids, but it's also for the big kid still in us. Work it HH!

 

[dpeterson]

Mis dos centavos: just trigger the pop-up a bit sooner, overlapping with the music playback. I think the speed of popping up might be fine, then.

 

[harleyhaunter]

Thanks everyone for the great replies!! I am going to cut back on the delay for the clown to pop out!! I was being careful not to have him come up before the lid was open!! I also think I will jack up the pressure about 5 more PSI to have him come out a little faster!! That will put it at about 65psi!! Haven’t had a chance to do any of that yet but we did start on the paint!! Trying to get it as close to the classic Jack as I can!! Here a picture of it so far!! HH

 

[J-Man]

Do you have a flow control on the extend cycle? If you do, try opening that a bit before you raise the pressure. Higher pressure will sometimes result in an unwanted slam at the end of the stroke.

 

[harleyhaunter]

No I don’t have one on here!! Just a speed control muffler on the exhaust!! That’s why I don’t have it cranked up too much, I don’t want him to lose his head!! Lol

 

[J-Man]

Ha! That's exactly what happened to my Scarycrow the first time I put air to the main cylinder, I had the flow control wide open and it launched the head right off of him!