# Cheap 8' Jack in the Box



## Toktorill

Hey all! Time to dust off some old video for a prop how-to. *cough* :zombie: *cough*

Our 2008 haunt had a carnival theme, and this was our second largest prop after the vortex tunnel. Here's a short video that should give an idea of how it works. Sorry, but all the plans and measurements were lost and forgotten, but if I had to guess I would say you need:

14 2x4's
2 1x4's
scrap plywood for forearms
10' nylon rope
4 door hinges (for body)
4 smaller hinges (arms are lighter)
Thick screws or bolts with washers for door hinges- standard 1.5" screws were being pulled out!
"Jack" decorations: scary mask, fake hands, fabric, etc.






Some notes off the top of my head:

The forearm plywood is cut at an angle, so that it falls flush to the body to fit back into the box.

There is a piece of wood connected to the bottom piece of the upper arm that is angled behind the back to connect the nylon to. Pulling down on that "shoulder blade" lifts the arm.

The lever at back was made in the shape of an L so the haunter can push it all the way to the floor without having to bend over.

We were able to "jump" at patrons much faster than demonstrated here.

Thanks for viewing, please comment!


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## Revenant

Jeebus... The King of Cheep triumphs again. Dude, you are my hero. Your ability to create Mondo Cool stuff out of damned near nuthin' just amazes me. Pro haunts on a home haunter's budget. Martha Stewart would be downright embarrassed if she looked at your stuff.


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## fritz42_male

This was very handy for me - it gave me the perfect format for 'launching' a seated prop into a standing position. Thanks very much


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## doggieshop

OOOOHHHHHH... AAAAAAAHHHHHH So Cool! WE are doing CarnEvil/Circus this year. I would like to try this! Thanks.......Any other CarnEvil ideas???


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## sharpobject

Very impressive!!! so simple - so effective - so big. thanks for the how-to.


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## tot13

sigh. I love this and have the perfect spot for this at the Trail. I'm gonna have to quit my job to get all this stuff done in time. Thanks for the excellent how-to and also for taking the time to share your ideas.


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## HalloweenZombie

Great mechanics on that one! That's a prop to be proud of. Very informative video too!


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## Toktorill

Everyone, thank you SO MUCH for all the great compliments!


doggieshop said:


> OOOOHHHHHH... AAAAAAAHHHHHH So Cool! WE are doing CarnEvil/Circus this year. I would like to try this! Thanks.......Any other CarnEvil ideas???


Our 2008 haunt was themed "Haunted Midway" so yes, quite a few ideas. This JIB and the Vortex Tunnel were two of those. I think it would be best if I covered the other props elsewhere- I'll pm you when I have something up. A few older ideas you could twist to your theme might be our temple entrance, hidden door and endless hallway (from the Temple of Boo), and a version of our torture wheel with a "throwing knife accident" :lolkin: If your doing CarnEvil, just remember: everyone LOVES clowns. :tonguekin: One of my older threads involved making 8' tall giants out of $5-$10 worth of lumber and dollar store plastic tablecloths. We did a devil, but wouldn't a giant clown looming out of the darkness with arms flailing get more... laughs? ha. Ha. hahaha hahahaa hahaha haaahahaa HAAAA HAAA HAAAAA!


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## hpropman

very nice


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## pennywise

How Cool! I am definatley building something similar to this for next year. Thanks!


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## ds6191

Your "cheap" haunting is an inspiration to me. I will adapt your jack in the box for a couple of simple pop-ups for my haunt. Thank you very much for your video and your posts. Heck, maybe next year I will tackle a vortex!!! Thanks again, DanG.


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## The Pod

This is very nice. I've wanted to build a Jack-in-box myself and your video might be enough to get me started. Thanks for posting it!


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## The Watcher

You really do make some great things affordable! Thanks


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## scarymovie

Wow,
That looks pretty cool is he animated?


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## Toktorill

scarymovie said:


> Wow,
> That looks pretty cool is he animated?


If you mean mechanized with a motor or air piston, No. My budget is limited to $200 CDN / Year for the ENTIRE HAUNT- so I stick to human-driven props, plastic film, free cardboard, miss-tint paint and cheap wood .

The lever in the back my assistant was pulling down in the video was hidden behind a black poly wall :ninja:.


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## jaege

it might have been cheap to make but its not cheap looking. That is a nice piece of mechanical work.


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## scarymovie

Toktorill that looks way cool I know if I made one it wont turn out like yours! Yours looks great you are very talented dude!


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## Volscalkur

Wow that is truly amazing! Awesome job on the mechanisms, I really like how the arms move to add more to the pop up scare! Was this operated by a person during the haunt?


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## Volscalkur

...and if I would have read a bit further instead of getting all excited and posting I would have answered my own question! My apologies.


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## scarymovie

Lol!!!


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## Toktorill

If anyone is interested I have some more details on the arms/shoulders in a profile album:
http://www.hauntforum.com/album.php?albumid=605
Thanks for all the great comments, and Happy Haunting!


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## Spookie

Great demo video how-to Toktorill! So easy to understand and wow it turned out great.


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## Spookie

Toktorill said:


> If you mean mechanized with a motor or air piston, No. My budget is limited to $200 CDN / Year for the ENTIRE HAUNT- so I stick to human-driven props, plastic film, free cardboard, miss-tint paint and cheap wood .
> 
> The lever in the back my assistant was pulling down in the video was hidden behind a black poly wall :ninja:.


I was wondering about the level. Nice way to handle concealing it. Brilliant job.


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## dominic81

Tok you are a master of evil your how to's show your creativity I wish I had half of your evil genius


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## emergencyfan

Thanks so much for the inspiration and build details! We would have spent weeks figuring out the arms if it wasn't for your great photos and measurements! Here's a video of the test run of our Halloween JIB alien before we added the walls


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## Nathan2485

Amazing....has anyone tried this on a smaller scale?


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## JustJimAZ

I'm glad this got resurrected. I never saw it before. It would work well at my own Boys and Girls club - where pneumatic props are not going to happen any time soon.


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## nimblemonkey

I love this mechanism- I am thinking of doing it on a smaller scale as part of a walk-through I'm planning this year (my first). I'm hoping I can scale it down to life size and have the "creature" pop out of a piece of furniture. Thanks Toktorill for the additional drawings of the mechanism. They will help with my build.


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## Freakshow86

Awsome were planning on building a vortex and I was trying to figure out a way to do a jack in the box I might down size it just a hair but def going with these plans the cheaper the better!


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## Toktorill

Thanks everyone! Be sure to share some pics or youtube video of what you make! I love seeing my "children" having offspring of their own.


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