# One Armed Grave Grabber (Modified)-



## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

A few of you requested a Tutorial on my version of the One Armed Grave Grabber, originally built by Keven242.

My apologies on how rushed I sound in the video. My first tutorial attempt was 23 minutes long and my account would only let me post 15 minute long videos. So I kinda sped things along.

There are some small details left out like the hight of the skull pivot point which is 7-3/4" high and located 6" (midpoint) on the base. Also, I bent the skull pivot bar (after installation) so the shoulder angle isn't perfectly square to the base. Stand behind the grabber, bend the left shoulder forward about 10- 20 degrees. This makes the creature look more "real". If you leave it exactly square the arm looks like it comes out from the center of the body. Bending the skull pivot arm like this just makes everything look more natural. You want to leave the "head bobbing wire" off till after you adjust the shoulder angle. Other than that you should be able to build one with this video.






Feel free to ask any questions.


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## Joiseygal (Sep 3, 2008)

You did a great job on the tutorial Greg. It looks awesome! I am really looking forward to making this prop!


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## halstaff (Nov 18, 2009)

Thanks for the great tutorial! Hopefully our group will add this to the build list.


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## Scarecrow (Dec 11, 2008)

Another GREAT tutorial. Thank you so much I am deffinetly doing a couple of these this year. Thanks again


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## jaege (Aug 23, 2009)

Some excellent modifications to an already great design. Nice.


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## Creep Cringle (Jun 23, 2009)

Nice job! I'm running out of deer motors already!!!


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## Jaybo (Mar 2, 2009)

So this version is not using the reverse feature of the deer motor?

Good job! You could use the little 12v DC gear motor that everyone was using last year for their peeper props.










You can get these for about $3 at Surplus Center or Electronic Goldmine.

I'm sure there are lots of us around here that have a few of those motors stashed away. I know I do!

It's nice to have options. Plus, you could then attach this to the same 12v power line that Niblique uses for his LED spotlights.


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## jaege (Aug 23, 2009)

Hey Jaybo, how does this motor compare to the deer motor in power? I have a number of these little guys powering my animations, but I am wondering about those deer motors.


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## Jaybo (Mar 2, 2009)

LOL, you got me! I have a ton of the 12v motors, but I've never used a deer motor. We need a dual holiday expert around here. Any Christmas guys want to chime in on the deer motor in comparison to the 12v peeper motor?


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## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

jaege said:


> Hey Jaybo, how does this motor compare to the deer motor in power? I have a number of these little guys powering my animations, but I am wondering about those deer motors.


I can sort of answer that since I have both types of motors. I considered using the "vent" motor for this build, BUT, the Deer motor is noticably stronger and a LOT quieter. In fact, the deer motor is almost totally silent.

They are close to the same RPM's

Also, since the deer motors do reverse, you can choose what direction you want it to operate. The geometry of my modification is such that the arm moves foward FASTER when the deer motor is rotating in one direction, and Slower when it's running in the opposite direction. A small detail, but it does make a difference in how realistic the motion looks.

With that said, I think the vent motors would be adequate for this build if you don't mind the noise.

EDIT: After using both motors quite a bit I've really grown to love these little vent motors. Both would work just fine for this build


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## halloween71 (Aug 9, 2007)

Thank you for taking the time to do the tut!!!


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## jaege (Aug 23, 2009)

niblique71 said:


> I can sort of answer that since I have both types of motors. I considered using the "vent" motor for this build, BUT, the Deer motor is noticably stronger and a LOT quieter. In fact, the deer motor is almost totally silent.
> 
> They are close to the same RPM's
> 
> ...


The little 12v motors can be "reversed" too. Just swap the leads. Still, I get your point. I was wondering about the "strength" of the motor, which you cleared up. So far my rendition (wip) is doing okay with the $3 12v, but I will know more once it is done. I did pick up a few of the deer motors though, for props that the 12v has a hard time running. Thanks for the insight.

I do love those 12v since they are so cheap, but the deers run on 120ac with a built in plug, so are a lot easier to power. No wall warts.


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## MildAvaholic (Aug 11, 2009)

If you "carefully" take the vent motors apart and add a little more grease to the gears, they seem to stay quiet


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## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

halloween71 said:


> Thank you for taking the time to do the tut!!!


Your welcome, It was a lot of fun to prototype it and make the tutorial.



> jaege:
> 
> The little 12v motors can be "reversed" too. Just swap the leads. Still, I get your point. I was wondering about the "strength" of the motor, which you cleared up. So far my rendition (wip) is doing okay with the $3 12v, but I will know more once it is done. I did pick up a few of the deer motors though, for props that the 12v has a hard time running. Thanks for the insight.
> 
> I do love those 12v since they are so cheap, but the deers run on 120ac with a built in plug, so are a lot easier to power. No wall warts.


I love those 12V motors too. Although they can be used in reverse, most people use a 1/4" threaded rod or bolt to make a crank arm. In reverse that bolt might loosen, unless you add an extra "Jam nut".

I always open mine up and solder my own leads directly to the little 12V electric motor inside. The metal contacts that come with those motors are a PIA and often need some tinkering to get them to make good contact. I just remove them completely and bypass that whole setup.

I also noticed that the way the worm gear is designed, it seems to "want" to be run in it's standard direction (Clockwise). The motor might not last as long running it in reverse, but I've not done any testing nor do I care to LOL.

The Deer motors will "Auto reverse" when the encounter resistance. They will often run in the opposite direction when plugged in.



> MildAvaholic If you "carefully" take the vent motors apart and add a little more grease to the gears, they seem to stay quiet


I noticed that they were a little skimpy on lubrication. I'll have to try adding a little extra dab of grease to the gears on mine.\

IT'd be nice to see some Vids of the OAGG using a Vent motor. They certainly are cheaper and should be powerful enough to do the job. Has anyone built one yet using this motor??


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## jaege (Aug 23, 2009)

I am building a grave grabber and using this motor. Once it is done I will post. I used one for my fcg and it works great. Also for a few animated tombstones and an animated blucky. I find that so long as you have the motion horizontal rather than vertical, they tend to work a bit better.


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## kevin242 (Sep 30, 2005)

Good job on the video, I get a lot of requests for exact measurements and other details that have since been covered over by fabric and gore so its nice to see there is another step by step tutorial out there to work off of. It really is a fun/easy prop to build. Well done.


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## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

kevin242 said:


> Good job on the video, I get a lot of requests for exact measurements and other details that have since been covered over by fabric and gore so its nice to see there is another step by step tutorial out there to work off of. It really is a fun/easy prop to build. Well done.


Thank you Kevin, I think the thing that makes it special is that the movement is different than other simple props.

I've been wanting to ask you if you had issues with your deer motor in the "auto-reverse" mode. I originally used your design concept, but my deer motor showed signs of heavy stress after only a few hours of use. It actually failed to auto-reverse after only a few hours of constant operation. Since you used yours on Halloween last season, how did your deer motor perform??

Thanks for your inspiring prop.


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## kevin242 (Sep 30, 2005)

niblique71 said:


> It actually failed to auto-reverse after only a few hours of constant operation. Since you used yours on Halloween last season, how did your deer motor perform??
> 
> Thanks for your inspiring prop.


I had two deer motor props running last year, one peeper that ran all night and the one armed gg, which ran off a motion sensor w\ auto-reverse, I had no major problems with the motors. I did notice that they seemed sluggish after running for long periods of time and that they were never as strong as when they were first hooked up, but they ran. Ideally, I would like something a bit heavier to run my props but with the sealed case and at less than 1/3 of the price of a wiper motor, these deer motors are a great alternative.


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## MattCoon (Sep 7, 2009)

MildAvaholic said:


> If you "carefully" take the vent motors apart and add a little more grease to the gears, they seem to stay quiet


What kind of grease should be used for this?


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## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

MattCoon said:


> What kind of grease should be used for this?


I thought someone else would answer this....But here;s what I do.

You could use any Grease that is safe for plastic gears. Usually a Di-electric grease, or white lube or grease.

Instead, I just took the existing dab of grease that was already inside and distributed it nicely along various gears inside. The Manufacturers just add a small blob on one section which usually just get's squeezed to the top of the gears and not in the teeth. Just doing this would probably make the unit last twice as long. Oh, and it ran quieter once I did this.


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## Jaybo (Mar 2, 2009)

You can find the di-electric grease at any auto parts store. It's the same stuff they try to get you to buy when you replace headlights or taillights on your vehicle.


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## weaz (Sep 11, 2010)

I love this build. I have the mechanics done on one. I'll soon get to the asthetics.


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## kprimm (Mar 14, 2009)

Great tutorial, I am so making one of these after Halloween this year. Thank you for making and posting this.


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## [email protected] (Aug 25, 2012)

I'm late to the party, but found this thread after seeing this project discussed in the make n take section. I really like this. The head movement is great. Are deer motors still scarce?


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## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

[email protected] said:


> I'm late to the party, but found this thread after seeing this project discussed in the make n take section. I really like this. The head movement is great. Are deer motors still scarce?


Normally you can find them at Kindy's , but they are currently sold out. Also I just noticed that the discontinued the old style that we used but the new one shouldn't be a problem.

If you ever want to come out to visit the NJ Hookerman MnT group.. I think I still have one or 2 motors left and quite a bit of precut and drilled parts which I supplied to NJ/PA when I hosted that build over there. Bob built one at our very first Hookerman MnT a few years ago. to add to the 14 or so that were built at that group meeting. ine has at least 200 hours on it without any failures.. It's a really rock solid prop. Keven 242 built the first one and I believe my reasons for redesigning it are mentioned earlier in this thread. Thanks Keven for some great inspiration.

Stari3oy, it might seem like a Huge drive to get here, but it should be 99% highway for you and I'd be it's just over an hour portal to portal. Besides I saw you are into gardening. Check out my new Modular Greenhouse in the all season Garden thread.


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## [email protected] (Aug 25, 2012)

See below.


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## [email protected] (Aug 25, 2012)

The grave grabber is great and I'm going to stay on topic.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Stari, you'll be better served asking about the Make and Take in the link Niblique provided in his post above you. That way this how-to thread won't get off topic


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