Fence Shaking Ground Breaker (advice please)

Terrormaster · #1 05-28-2008

This year I'm looking at making a new addition to my graveyard. A ground breaker that's near to and holding on to the cemetary fence. I want to intermittently have him shake the fence (maybe motion triggered) as ToTs pass by.

I'm looking for suggestions and advice on the shaking mechanism.

Thanks,
-TM

TommaHawk · #2 05-28-2008

Perhaps just this? http://www.flying-pig.co.uk/mechanis...ankslider.html Or the like?

A fast RPM motor would shake the bejeezus out of your fence.

Maybe dangle an old cowbell on the shaking section.

Otaku · #3 05-28-2008

I used a small DC motor with an offset weight on the shaft to shake the bushes at my house a couple of years back. That particular motor is no longer available from All Electronics, but any small motor with a shaft collar attached to it would work. You can even hot-glue the weight to the shaft. Mount the motor on one of the groundbreakers arms, or if he's light enough, inside the chest. Remember that a small motor that's rated at a high RPM will spin a lot slower with the weight on it. If you need some really violent shaking, you could try a wiper motor set at high speed. I've attached the how-to for building the bush shaker. It uses a manual switch to trigger the motor, but that can be replaced with the trigger of your choice.

scream1973 · #4 05-28-2008

Gary , Just looking at your shaker.

I am just trying to determine what all the power needs were for.

9volt ran the LED's

Walwart ran ??

2 AA ran motor

Otaku · #5 05-28-2008

The wart was for the relay that activated the LEDs and motor. This was one of my first attempts at circuit assembly, so it's not very efficient. This thing still scares the crap out of the TOTs, but last year I noticed that Gemmy is selling the same concept, with blow-molded eyes and a "motion" sensor for $15 bucks. They called it Creepy Peepers, or something like that. There were two versions, one with eyes only, and the other with the shaker.

Terrormaster · #6 05-28-2008

Otaku, How big of a motor would I need to actually shake a pvc cemetery fence to give the illusion that the ground breaker is pulling back and forth on it? I saw a tiny vibrating motor on All Electronics which was designed as a cell phone vibrator. It doesn't look like it would do anything more than buzz the pvc.

TommaHawk, I like the cowbell idea - gives the illusion the fence is actually metal.

Thanks so far guys - great ideas,
-TM

scream1973 · #7 05-28-2008

Ahh ok.. I kinda figured it might be something like that but wasnt sure as the walwart could probably be made to provide teh voltage for the whole gambit.

Cool idea tho.. I have some big bushes at the front of th house that that could work with.. Unfortunately they aren't close to where the kids would be

Otaku · #8 05-28-2008

scream, you're right, it sure could.

Terrormaster - I'm trying to find a pic of the motor I used for this thing. I can get a pic later today so you can see just how small it actually is.

The_Caretaker · #9 05-28-2008

Terrormaster the motor would not have to be that large, a cell phone one would be to small, what mechanism you use depends on the movement you want and the motor location. If you want the corpse to pull the fence towards it a simple crank arm with the motor in the corpse would be best. if you just want to shake the fence a motor with an offset weight would work attached to the fence. Just remember a motor with an offset weight will stress the motor bearings and may cause pre-mature burn out.

gorn7 · #10 05-28-2008

What about using an old jig saw(with the blade removed)? I used one I bought from a flea market for $4.00 on my electric chair a few years ago and it really shook the seat good.