oscillating fan motor

[jdubbya]

Hoping to incorporate one of these into a prop next year. Does anyone have a picture of one w/o the housing, as it would be used for a head turning mechanism? Are they difficult to adapt?
Thanks in advance.

[Vlad]

jdubbya, I hate replying on something I don't have first hand knowledge on, but here goes. I've set aside a few fans also for these projects but haven't had a chance to work on them yet. If I start one more project Black Cat will kill me, lol.
I've had them apart, and taking off the fan is no big deal, and neither is cutting off the rotating bolt the blade attaches to. There really is no benefit to removing the plastic housing around the electrical parts, it'll just make it more dangerous to use. The big problem as I undertsand it with these units, is that without the fan blade on to cool them, they are subject to failure from overheating. Many people have reported getting around this trouble by locating the unit lower in the body of the prop where it has more air circulation.

[ScareFX]

Hey jdubbya,
Wil has some pics that show using a fan in a pvc dummy on this page:
http://deathlord.net/DeathLordDummy/dummy1.htm

[Dr Morbius]

I love wil's PVC dummy, and his fan motor use is the best way to go, however, if you want a lighter, less permenant version, I built one that took all of 5 minutes..It uses a hose clamp to hold down a PVC Tee to the motor housing...same effect, less durable however...

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b364/DrMorbius02/fanmotorclamp.jpg

The PVC tee on the bottom was used for bulding up shoulders to match the height of the head..I used a styrofoam wighead on the neck, but you could mount whatever...The cat actually helps, as..uh..wait, no. He doesn't help at all.

[ScareFX]

Nice solution Dr Morbius. Simple can be so much better sometimes.

[jdubbya]

Those are some great suggestions! I also like the "simpler" approach and may try it to see if it can work. The prop will be a spin off of woody's witch, and also the "sisters" witch prop available. I plan to have two witches at a cauldron, with one having a stirring movement, and the other having the head motion. I figure I might have more luck trying only one animation on two witches rather than two movements on one.
I built the pvc frames (minus arms) a couple days ago. Project will be shelved until after the holidays but I want to make this my stand out prop for next year and will have time to troubleshoot/ask questions/fix screw ups etc. It will be my first animated prop. Thanks for the info! Much appreciated!

[Dr Morbius]

you are welcome.