Miniature trapeze

[BigWeasel]

I would like to make a 1/12 scale trapeze swing by itself. Unfortunately, my knowledge on little motors and things is almost nil. I did make a carousel and a ferris wheel spin using microwave turntable motors. For me, that was a major achievement. Any help anyone could offer would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dr pepper]

Have a look at some clock movements, you can get battery powered pendulums, just the pendulum itself, you might be able to adapt it to do what you need.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Quartz-P...670258?hash=item58f356bdf2:g:h3kAAOSwc-tY7kzD

 

[BigWeasel]

Thank you for the suggestion. I thought of that too, but they swing way too fast for what I'm needing.

 

[gophert]

Thank you for the suggestion. I thought of that too, but they swing way too fast for what I'm needing.

Buy a gear motor on eBay. I think they have little motors geared down to 10 to 16 rpm. Price under $5 last I looked.

**broken link removed**

You can turn down voltage to slow it down. That fear ratio should allow you to move a fairly heavy load smoothly.

 

[BigWeasel]

How would I get it to go back and forth?

 

[gophert]

It depends on the design of your trapeze.
How big is 1/12 scale?
How fast should it swing to look natural? (How many per minute?) (How far is the arc for each swing)
How long is the rope?

 

[dr pepper]

There was something remotely similar asked last year.
This might give you some ideas, the switches might be better stationary rather than being on the swing.

https://www.electro-tech-online.com/threads/motor-reverser.154873/#post-1343274

 

[gophert]

Also, how is your device built? Is it really rope/string or a rigid plastic material?

 

[BigWeasel]

Wow, that's a lot of things that I never gave any thought to before asking for help. I will attempt upload a diagram of what I'm wanting. Thank you for offering your assistance.

 

[BigWeasel]

I tried uploading a drawing of what I wanted but it said the file was too large. The swing hangs 14 inches. I used 1/4 dowels painted to look like rope in stead of line so they would be rigid. The arc is 10 inches either way. I'd like it to swing around 5-6 swings per minute. My wife calls it 1/12 scale because she says 1 inch equals about a foot. I appreciate any help you can offer

 

[BobW]

A 14 inch pendulum will have a natural period of 1.2 seconds, about 10 times faster than what you want. So, you'll need some kind of motor drive in order to go that slow. Could be tricky to make it look natural.

 

[BigWeasel]

Somebody suggested a windshield washer linkage system using one of the microwave turntable motors that I already have. Do you think that would be feasible?

 

[ClydeCrashKop]

An off center crank pin on your turntable motor and a connecting rod to a dowel should work and it will look natural.

Simulation of a Four-bar Mechanism

 

[BigWeasel]

I'm gonna give it a try. Thank you very much for your help.