A Sneak Peak at How the Carousel Build Will Look and Project Update - Part 29

 This week I was able to put some of the parts of the carousel together to see the shape of things to come for the carousel.  I won't keep readers in suspense.  I am blogging about this first because I know that most readers will want to see that.  This is the first picture.  Although nowhere near completed, it gives me some inspiration for the future of the project.

The bottom platform holds the rotating mechanism (see previous posts for photos of that).  I will post more pictures of it in future posts.  The second platform will be for the animals and will have a plank wood floor overlaying the plywood.  I have not yet decided on whether to cover the first layer with a curtain or leave it open so people can see how the mechanism works.  I cannot completely close it in because the rotating mechanism has an on/off switch and an eye so it can be turned on and off by remote control.  Either way, it needs some kind of access.

At this point, the top looks a little high, but that is because the horse is not yet fitted to the pole.  It is just propped up against it.  Once the horse has the holes drilled for the pole to go through it, the horse will not be standing on the platform.  It will be about a half an inch off the ground.  It needs some head room to make sure that when the horse is moving over the higher section of the bumps below that it has enough clearance to make it look right.

Although the animal forms are complete, they do not yet have the saddles, bridles, or the flower and ribbon decorations.  I did not want to start that part of the project yet until I knew where I needed to drill the holes to mount the animal on the pole.  I cannot begin the painting of the animals until all of that is complete.  For those new to the carousel blogs, I say animals not horses because there are different animals on this carousel.  It will have two horses, a house cat, a tiger, and a ram.  I had seen a carousel once that had those animals and more, and that carousel was an inspiration for this piece.  Although now, seeing this prancing horse on the carousel makes me sort of wish I had made all horses.  I hope that will pass.  I don't want to spend months making more horses, but I remind myself that there is still time.

Imagine the future top of the carousel.  It will not be flat.  I am thinking it will have a multi-colored top that will look like a circus tent.  The protruding parts of the dowels will be cut down to an inch or half an inch above the ball on the roof.  More on the reason for those balls will be in future posts.

The center pillar, which at the moment is a full box of oatmeal to make it sturdy enough to hold up the plywood, will be the oatmeal box reinforced externally and internally to make it strong enough to carry the weight.  It may have some other filler in the center for extra support (but not oatmeal).  Once that is completed it will be painted and probably have some mirrors on it to reflect the animals as they go around the circle.  

Anyway, this is the first glimpse I have had of how the carousel might work.  It is just the basic start of the project, but it has given me a lot of encouragement.  I needed it.  In long term project like this it can be discouraging at times.  When I think of how much work needs to be done to complete it sometimes, I just want to crawl into a corner somewhere.  The only way to combat that is to focus on just the next step.  That is all I have to do today is the next step.  The project will finish in its own time.  

I do sometimes sell a piece when I have held it long enough to become bored with it, but I do not like to do things on commission because I don't like to be under pressure to complete a project.  Some people thrive on pressure, but I am not one of them.  Making things is my "happy place" where I go to escape the stresses of life.  I don't want to complicate that.

Today's project update is to show that the holes have been drilled out for the balls to fit onto the dowels that will be the poles for the horses and the ones that will sit on the roof.  The craft store did not have the balls and wheels with the size hole that I needed.  That is probably just as well, because I am finding that the dowels are not exactly uniform throughout its length.  Even after drilling, I am finding that I need to do a little filing with a small file to make the balls fit where I need them to fit.  Some of them have to be tight enough to hold when glued in place.  Others need to be loose enough to support the dowel but allow for free movement.  

So, as I said earlier, I only need to focus on the next step.  One step at a time this project is moving forward.

Check back next Monday or Tuesday for the next blog post.

Testing and Fine Tuning the Base - Part 28

 I gave the base its first test.  It was difficult and I hope my post today will save my readers some time and aggravation should anyone decide to try it.  The problem can be described as "which came first the chicken or the egg."  The test was difficult because the bumps were only held down by tape.  The other part was that without the rest of the structure built, holding the ball and stick in its proper position was not easy, the stick kept shifting position.  And a third problem is that since the platform that would hold the animals was not yet glued to the rotating platform, the drag from the ball sliding across the bumps pulled the base off center.  So, we had to come up with a solution.  My husband and I had to come up with a way to test the design.  We knew that it could require some fine tuning.  But I am getting ahead of myself here let me back up a step and to from there.

This photo is a showing the top two carousel platforms taped together with the pattern on top.  The holes were drilled through both pieces at once.  My husband also added a few registration marks so they could be matched up again in case it became a problem later and it was important to use the holes matched together with their original partner.

We tried to use them with the first test by setting the rotating stand in place and putting the ball and stick between the platforms and turning the rotating platform on while holding the stick in place by hand.  That did not work.  The tape was not strong enough to hold down the bumps, and the drag of the ball and stick pulled them up and out of line.  Without the internal pillar that will be the main support of the roof holding up the third platform, we could not get the stick to stay upright and the ball in the center of the bump.  I will also add that we had not yet drilled the hole to make the stick fit into a ball and were using an unglued prototype. 

We knew that the bumps, cut from a 2x4 plank would need a little fine tuning.  It was better to cut them a little large and cut them down as needed.  We had to make sure they were in correct position before we made any cuts.  My husband came up with the solution.  We place the two platforms with the pattern on top of the rotating platform and put a flashlight on top of a hole.  The light shining through the hole showed where the stick would sit when it was straight up and down.  With that we were able to see where the bumps needed to sit for it to be going over the center of each bump.  My husband was able to determine which pieces needed to be cut or repositioned.  He put tape down on the wooden platform and marked each piece that was out of line.  

After that, he was able to cut a little off some of the pieces as needed to make them fit.  After that we did another flashlight test.  When all the pieces were deemed to be in line, I marked the positions and glued down the bumps and the center platform.  (In case you missed this in a previous post, it turned out that the rotating platform by itself was about a half inch too low for my project. The center piece is the workaround for that.)

I just wanted to say another word about the rotating display stand that I am using to turn the carousel.  It has an electrical plug.  It is not battery powered.  This platform comes with a remote control.  That was important for this project because it would be difficult (but not impossible) to reach under the carousel to turn it on and off otherwise.  It is weight rated for 45 pounds, so there should not be any issue with the weight of the plywood.  It also has some features that I will have no need for, such reversing the rotation and also having the rotation pause at degrees of your choosing, and more that I have not even played with yet.  

Anyway, with those tests complete, I marked the new positions and glued down the bumps and the platform for the rotating stand.  That is where I left off on the project this week.  I wanted to give the glue time to dry before going further.

Check back next Monday or Tuesday for the latest on the project.

The Wooden Carousel Base - Part 27

 I am making progress on the carousel base.  The three round plywood platforms have been cut.  It took so long because the weather has been crazy around here.  We had two days that were beautiful with temperatures at 85 and 87 degrees Fahrenheit (29.44 and 30.55 C.)  I admit that it was so nice to be able to get outside, that my husband and I decided to take some time off from everything and get outside and enjoy the nice weather.  The day after it was 87F. out, it snowed.  We only received an inch, but we had to wait for the snow to melt before sawing the wooden circles.

This photo shows the first platform with the bumps that will make the animals go up and down.  At the moment they are only taped in place until we make a full test run.  The test was delayed because I found that the bumps are about half an inch too high once the bead that will hold the dowel that travels over the bumps was added.  The height of the bead made it about half an inch (12.7 mm) higher than the height of the carousel turntable.  I will post more about testing the carousel on the next post.

Anyway, the solution to that problem was to add a center platform to raise the base of the turntable. Again, this caused a delay in the project due to rain.  We don't have a space that could be used indoors for this type of work.  

Once we test the carousel, the center platform will be glued in when I glue in the bumps.  At some point, a hole will have to be drilled into the base so that the electrical cord can be threaded through it.  This base will have feet attached to the bottom to lift it up enough to keep it off the electrical cord.  I do not want to drill the hole until we know exactly where everything will sit.  

Hurray! The most intimidating part of the project has been completed.  After the test, we may have to fine tune the humps just a little bit.  

Check back next Monday or Tuesday for a new update on this project.

Starting to Build the Carousel Base

 After a few weeks of getting nowhere on this project, I am finally starting to get back on track.  The parts have arrived and the weather has at least temporarily cleared.  One of the bigger hurdles has been reached.  The humps that will cause the animals to go up and down have been cut.  Many thanks to my husband for helping me design the bumps and cutting and sanding them for me.  He took my basic design idea and helped me to figure out what needed to change.  This part of the project is going to be so much better for his input.

The photo shows the wooden bumps on a poster board mockup of the base for the carousel.  They will eventually be glued (and possibly screwed into) a half inch (1.27 centimeters) plywood.  I am waiting for my husband to cut out the plywood circles.  I will need three of them.  One for the base that the bumps will be glued to, one for the floor that will have the carousel animals on it, and one to be the base of the roof.  

The platform that will make the carousel rotate will sit in the center of this bottom base and will also be the primary support for second level.

We also decided that I could fit five animals on the carousel.  I had been thinking of just using four, but the odd number actually looks better.  Right now, I am thinking that I will use the two horses, the tiger, the house cat, and the ram.  The rabbit will be turned into a free-standing figure as a stand-alone project.  I was still considering making the base larger to accommodate the rabbit, but the issue is that this is already a large project and I just do not have the room for the larger carousel.  Currently, the base is eighteen inches (45.72 cm.) and would have to increase to (60.96 cm) in order to add the other animal. 

(Sorry for the open space.  The blog platform will not allow me to post the pictures where I want them.  Another paragraph or so will be below.)

This photo shows the rotating platform I will be using for this project.

Some of the carousel animals that will be used.  The house cat is missing from this photo.  The horses are temporarily supported by some props as they do not stand alone.  

Hopefully, my husband will have time to cut out the plywood circles this week.  I am looking forward to getting through the mechanical part of this project so I can get back to working on decorating and painting the animals.  

Check back next Monday or Tuesday for the next post.

 

Parts are Here - Getting the Carousel Project Back on Track

 So, apologies for no post last week.  I was surprised to find that the last blog post had been saved as a draft rather than published when I signed on to do the blog today.  There was not much to report.  It was mainly a rant about delayed shipping of items I needed for the carousel and about the wretched weather we have been having.  We had another snowstorm last week and are expecting freezing rain and snow once again tonight into tomorrow.

The good news is that the rotating base for the carousel arrived just yesterday.  It took a couple of weeks for it to arrive.  Some combination of bad weather and parts not in local warehouses had keep it in limbo for 15 days.

The rotating base will sit on top of a wooden circle that will hold the shaped wooden bumps that will make the animals go up and down.  

A second wooden circle will sit on top of the rotating base.  The carousel animals will be mounted on that level.  A center column will hold up the roof.  I may or may not need extra supports on the edges of the roof.

A third circle will form the base for the roof of the carousel. I plan to put a tent type top made of paper mâché over that.  

I suppose that the good part of having the parts delayed was that it has given me time to rethink how the animals will be mounted onto the posts that will hold them up.  I am not sure that it was going to work as I had thought in my original plan.  I think I was missing a piece that needed to be there.  More experiments will follow.  

This photo shows the cat with a brace underneath it.  The cat does not stand on its own.

I am also considering whether I want to replace the cat and rabbit with the two horses on the carousel.  The cat and rabbit may end up as freestanding sculptures.  At one point I had considered making two carousels, one with horses and one with animals.  However, I am losing time on this project and really need to get a carousel finished.  I have so many other projects that I want to get started on, and I do not want to start another one with this project unfinished.

Check back next Monday or Tuesday for the next post.