Continuing the march! I posted my last “Circus Train” project about a month ago, but it took about 3 months to make. This one only took a little over three weeks. But that may be discounting the fact that I have thought about it and made several preemptive attempts at making one over the past few years. What is it? A moving carousel for my granddaughter. I don’t remember exactly when, but about 3 or 4 years ago I saw these really cute copper and brass charms of Zebras and some elephant head beads at a Ben Franklin store and had to buy them for possible future use. At that time, I had been thinking of making a circus diorama (a Big Top tent, Ferris Wheel and other carnival stalls) and was going to use these little silicone circus animals that I had got when I made the King Kong globe to dress it up. I did make a Ferris Wheel, a Strength Tester and a tent that I never put up and just didn’t put it all together into the diorama. So, after the train I wanted make this carousel and make it a very special legacy gift for Evie. Unfortunately, these really small projects are hard to make with the detail that I want. For this one I wanted it to be motorized and to have a music box. I also wanted the horses to be more detailed, and to look like carousel horses but I can only work with what I have and within my abilities. So, this carousel turns and the zebras go up and down, but it is not motorized and there was no place to put a music box. I should help you understand the dimensions we are talking about. The zebras measure only ¾” long and the whole carousel is only 3” in diameter by about 6” high. The tent top is made from some cloth that I also got at Ben Franklin’s. I had to make a design for the overall tent top shape on paper so that I could scale it to fit and then trace the pattern to the material and sew it on my machine. As with all my projects there were many challenges, some failures and a very steep learning curve. If these scratch projects would just come with directions, it would be much easier. There were no notable special/recycled pieces used on this one, but lots of left overs from other projects got used up. Probably the hardest part was figuring out how to make the zebras go up and down as it turned. The real carousels use gears and so I was leaning that direction, but how do you put all those gears into such a small space? Then I thought of “wiggle board”. What’s that you ask? It is wood that is cut in waves to fit the corrugated waves in fiberglass and some aluminum roofing sheets. Gives you way to securely nail through the material without damaging the it. So, I made a wiggle disc that went on the bottom of the base and I glued very small BB sized copper orbs to some very thin brass wires to slide along the disc and then to rise and fall as the orbs touched the waves in the disc. The weight of the zebras and the wires pulls them back down as they turn on the base. I won’t go into all the detail of how I made it all work and problems with aligning the whole thing, but when all was said and done, it works very smoothly. Perhaps the hardest thing to do was to drill a hole through the center of the zebra backs down through the chest area to put the wire through. Never buy cheap drill bits made in China. They won’t even drill balsawood. I had to reorder new American made cobalt bits to drill the charms and I had to use a huge magnifier in order to hit the center of the charm. They are only 2 mm wide or a squeak over 1/16th of an inch. But it is done and it works so I am happy. I am already planning to make a bigger carousel with 4-inch-long decorated horses and to use a motor and gears to make it work and of course, it will have a music box to make it festive.
Yes, there is a way to download a video. Look at the line above and click on the little video camera. This will let you download a video.
Please let me know if if does not work for you or if you need further instructions. We are all looking forward to seeing your carousel in motion.
Yes, there is a way to download a video. Look at the line above and click on the little video camera. This will let you download a video.
Please let me know if if does not work for you or if you need further instructions. We are all looking forward to seeing your carousel in motion.
