Moving signs

[marksniles]

How do you make a figure like the captain in front of Wonders of Life move their arm up and down? I want to make a wooden cutout of the 3 hitch hiking ghosts for halloween but I can't figure out how to make their arms move. If anyone has a link to the thing that I can attach to the arms to make them move would be great! Thanks in advance!

Mark

 

[FamilyMan]

It's simply a motor that moves a circular piece. that circular piece is attached to a pole, and the pole is attached to the arm. Since it moves, the arm moves with it, but not in a circle, just up and down.

 

[marksniles]

True but where does one get such a motor?

 

[Figment1986]

any major hardware store should have such a motor...

it just moves sometihng in circules, that something is connected to the moving piece...

motor, moving arm, then stationary piece...
(though I dont know if that even works how i said it..)

 

[Dr.Seeker]

You can do it yourself without a motor, just a lot of arm work.
See, i did a simple clockwork toy for shop class in 10th Grade:
BAsically when you turn the wheel with yourn hand it turns an axel capice? on this rod there is an oval disc called a 'cam' another rod rests on this. (See pic) This converts the rotational (turning motion) to vertical (up and down) motion.
Then you simply attach the arm onto a lever. An dta-dah, a cheap, quiet hitchhiking ghost, you can always attach a motor to do the work fopr you.



Cam pic: www.geocities.com/boffboff2004/cam.bmp

Possible uses of cam: www.geocities.com/boffboff2004/idea.bmp