# Stabby the Clown



## jasonsbeer (Nov 12, 2014)

It's been a long time since I've posted, but I am usually lurking. Its always fun to see what everyone is up to. I basically took last year off, but wanted to get back into the game this year. In 2017, a lot of the kiddos where disappointed that I did not have my electric chair out. So I asked a few of them what they wanted to see in 2018. "CLOWNS!" was a common respose. Interesting...

As a result, I want to introduce you to Stabby the Clown. I built him and he gives me the willies. The kids should love him! He is triggered by PIR and his machete arm articulates. He also turns at the waist, but that won't be implemented this year. He stands a solid 6 feet 4 inches and is costumed with a clown outfit from Spirit. I purchased a bunch of bloody limbs to go with him, to set the effect that he had dealt with previous visitors in a not-so-nice way.









*Challenge 1: Make him talk.*
I looked at the outstanding Octobanger project but couldn't find a way to use different sound effects each time the prop was triggered. My goal was to have several stories for Stabby to tell. That would keep things interesting by doing something a little different each time he was triggered. I ended up writting my own Arduino script that plays one of several sounds files when triggered and moves the arm via pneumatics. In the meantime, he plays an ambient sound. I may post the code in a follow up message. I will reuse this code for my 2019 prop addition...a fortune teller.

*Challenge 2: Make him turn at the waist.*
I wanted Stabby to turn at the waist to add to his realism. I thought about canabilizing a bar stool for the swivel, but ended up finding a lazy suzan swivel. I purchased the 4 inch version, but would buy the 6 inch version next time. I think this will work well as the goal is to simply pivot the upper half of Stabby's body.









I sandwiched the swivel between two pieces of 3/4 OSB. As you can see, I bolted PVC caps to the OSB. Just be sure they are off set on the two pieces so the bolt heads don't bang together as it swivels. You also need a witness hole to drive the screws into the second piece of OSB after the first is attached.

















I wish I had done a better job at creating a photo history, but here is a link to a video of his arm working and his PVC skeleton (you may need to click the play button). It's a straight forward build with 1.5" PVC. I used waded up kraft paper to give him some bulk. His fingers (gloves) are stuffed with paper and have wires inside so I can adjust them.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/RU8zBb7BTvStSCuL9

I noticed during this test he wobbles quite a bit. As a result I added some additional support on his legs. That helps a bit, but he still wobble a little.










I'm mostly happy with how this turned out and wanted to share.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

He is one evil looking character.


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## Hairazor (Mar 13, 2012)

He would scare the Whee out of me


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