This year we built the first (1.0) version of our stirring cauldron animated witch
for our front porch at our townhouse in Lake In The Hills. We also built a small
cemetery fence with 4 corner pillars. This was also the first year we used our
software product to animate the lights, which
was based off of a prototype proof-of-concept that we used in 2006.
Stirring Cauldron Witch 1.0
Our witch appears to be stirring some sort of witch's brew as her head
slowly turns back and forth.
The witch utilized two motors.
The stirring action is done using a windshield
wiper motor that is hidden in the bottom of the cauldron.
The stirring stick is attached directly to a crank arm
that is attached to the motor. The side-to-side head motion
of the witch is created by a small crank motor that I salvaged
from a lighted wire-frame deer Christmas decoration that I got on clearance.
It has a slow speed and a decent amount of torque.
This motor is actually at the bottom of the torso of the witch,
and it turns a shaft that connects all the way to the head.
[ See construction photos & more video here ]
Cemetery Fence
The cemetery fence was constructed using wooden furring strips and 1/2" PVC pipe.
The pillars were constructed with 1x1 wooden frames covered with 1/2" pink styrofoam.
[ See construction photos here ]