To
create the Haunted Books I stared with an old set of encyclopedias. I
used an identical shelf like the one it will replace in my living room.
At the back of the shelf I mounted a small motor and attached a long
shaft that extended the length of the shelf. From Plywood I made 5
cam's, they look more like fingers. These were mounted on the rod. I
tore out all the pages from the books and just used the jackets,
starting at one end of the shelf I mounted each book one by one. To
mount the books I cut pieces of wood the same thickness as the books
inside pages. These were glued and nailed to the shelf the book jackets
were glued to the piece of wood. I had to cut the backs of some of the
books to fit around the motor and hide it. For the moving books I made
tracks out of wood for the book to slide in and out of. These were
mounted on either side of the books. When the rod turns the cams, (or
fingers) they push the books forward. Attached strands from a bungee
cord return the books to their original position.
This
picture is of the Haunted Books mechanism. You can see the rod with
cams. The black string like things are pieces of bungee cord. The cord
is attached to the book and also the back of the shelf. When the books
are pushed forward by the cam they spring back by the elastic cord.
This
shows a close-up of one of the book tracks. These are made from a piece
of wood with a grove routerd in it. I mounted the wood flush in the side
of a stationary book.
The sliding book has a strip of wood glued to the side the slides inside
the groove. The books movement is about 3 inches out. A total of 5 books
in the set are animated.
I staggered the moving books along the shelf. The cams are at different
positions so that the books more randomly in and out.
The
motor I used is around 7 rpm. It is a little slow but I like the effect.
The books also tend to be a little noisy when the snap back into place.
I should be able to hide this with the loud sound effects and music in
the haunt. They will also be far away from the guests. If I get
ambitious I may build a few more shelves of HAUNTED BOOKS!
