Spookyblue's Flying Crank Ghost

September 2, 2002

Our whatsits hang from string we threaded through three eyebolts. (Whatsits are more commonly known as pulleys) Believe it or not, we were actually able to successfully test the motor and pulleys.

Our basic premise was sound. Our choice of materials was...unfortunate. But that was all soon to change.

Some old particle board makes a great surface on which to mount our way-cheap 6RPM motor.

We weren't about to shovel out $60.00 for a Dayton Industrial Gear Motor.

Instead, we sniped some old electric rotisserie motors from Ebay. Using a grinder, we cut a steel skewer down to manageable size and JB Welded it into the removable sleeve that fits on the shaft.

Remarks from the
peanut gallery were incessant

Sage Advice

Measure your crank arm before you attach it to the motor shaft to make sure it won't hit your support structure. We did that.

Also (and this is important) make sure your arm is shorter than the distance between the motor and the pulley that supports the head of the marionette.

It's vital to the well-being of your ghost that the crank arm not touch any of the pulleys during operation.

Trust us on this one.

A large metal plate turned out to be a better solution than this particle board after it contributed to the unfortunate FGCide upon it's first test run.

Some ingenious engineering by my brother married a 3' long wooden dowel to our metal rotisserie shaft at 90°.

Rumor has it that he was heard to mutter something about this
wedding being only slightly less painful than his own. This rumor is
unequivocally NOT true.*

We used some particle board for the first version of the...doohickey that hangs from the crank arm to which the strings are attached.

* The owner/operator is not responsible for editorial comments supplied by third persons that we thought were funny and had to include.