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Here's the clock in action with the hand spinning backward! -- AVI video 508K
Parts list:
1) You'll need a white plastic lid from a 5 gallon plastic bucket. You can find these at any hardware store for around $4. This is the clock face.
2) You'll need to go through your own junk drawers (free) or a yard sale (cheap) or a discount store ($15 or so new) to buy a personal cassette player. It has to work...well, before you tear it apart!
3) A 3 volt power supply (make your own or buy one at a discount store at $12 or so). To replace to two AA batteries you won't anymore on the tape player!
4) Two Radio Shack Project boxes. One for the power supply and one to house the "converted" tape player.
5) Assorted nuts/bolts/screws/speaker wire
6) Chunk of wood to mount the clock
STEP 1
Gently pry apart your tape player using a screwdriver between the two halves of plastic. You'll have a few plastic pieces probably fall out. Relax. You'll end up with something that looks like this
What you'll see a little 3 volt motor that drives two rubber pulleys with a bunch of gears to reduce the speed. The motor will typical have a red (positive) and black (negative) wire hooked to it to get power from the batteries. You'll snip those off at the battery contacts. Be careful with the wires on the motor. They are fairly fragile and you don't want to have to re-solder them. Now, you know why I chose the cassette player. You'll need something to drive the minute hand on the clock...and it has to be relatively slow speed. The little DC motors you can buy--- run very fast and you'd spin the hand right off...and wouldn't be even able to see the hand spin. However, if you hook the hand to the little cog that drives the cassette tape...well, the gears reduce that speed to what we want!!
Step 2
Time to make the shaft connection. I used a steel threaded connector for a desk lamp (available at hardware stores for about $1). I used my Dremel to CAREFULLY grind down the little driver cog on the tape player to allow it to fit in the end of the shaft. Take a little bit off at a time until the cog just fits snugly in the end of the shaft. The little spring just below the cog will kept it turning OK as it rolls when the clock is face side forward. Wait to cutoff the other end of the shaft.
Step 3
Now, you need to do a little engineering to fit the player "guts" into the project box. I used three wood dowel spacers at just the right length to raise the player "cog" to just under the project box lid. Epoxy the dowel to the bottom of the box and use screw through hole through the player circuit board. Find some or make some. Don't drill through any mechanical parts! But the circuit board itself is fair game. Nothing there is needed anymore. Cut off chunks of it to allow it to fit into the project box. You'll want to shear off any plastic parts that stick up (the non functional ones!). Use your Dremel tool with cutting wheel. Works great. You can also use the Dremel to make a hole in the box lid. Just big enough to allow the shaft to rotate inside without rubbing.
Step 4 Time to create the clock face. Use your Word processor to come up with a big number 13...and transfer to a stencil (an old folder works great or construction paper). I then used a protractor to lay out the 30 degree angles to put little diamonds the other 11 points of the clock face. I used black epoxy paint (appliance spray paint with a brush) to fill in the 13 number and the diamonds. Or use the new "spray paint for plastic" paints. Whatever. You can also paint on the hour hand. It's not going anywhere! Have it point to the 13 always. Let the paint dry overnight.
If you don't like this simple clock face, you can look at this one. I kind of like the numbers falling down bit. You can add some wood around the face to make it look more like a nicer clock..or if you want to have this thing run inside instead. Whatever.
Step 5
Now, it gets a bit of trial and error. You find a chunk of wood to attach all this...I used a 12 inch by 16 inch chunk of cedar. Holds up well outside. I painted it green. I measured out 4 hardwood dowels of equal length and drills hole for them to fit into...at four equal points around the bottom of the clock face. Make the dowels long enough to allow the project box to fit under...plus some gap to allow the hand shaft to go up through another hole in the center of the clock face. Dremel to the rescue again.Push the shaft through the hole in the project lid box and the hole in the center face. Mark where to cut it off...have it about 1/2" about the level of the clock. Mark the edges of the project box onto the chunk of wood. Remove the clock face. Drill two hole in the back of the box to attach it with screws to the chunk of wood. Put some silicon caulk on the screws to keep this fairly water proof.
Step 6
Create a minute hand. I used some old brass sheet metal I had it my shop so it won't rust. I just marked the design up (have it so it's long enough for the hand to fit inside the circle of the clock face.)..and used my Dremel cutoff wheel to cut it out. Sand off the rough edges and then put a hole in the center at the end. Paint it black and let dry. I used JB Weld to attach a nut to the end of the shaft...that allowed the hand to screw into. You may want to use something else.
Step 7
Test this puppy out! Drill a hole in the side of the case to run your speaker wire into. Smear some JB Weld around it to keep water out of the box later. Connect up your 3 volt power supply to the motor two leads. You'll find that if you hookup it positive to negative one way, the motor will go clockwise. If you reverse the wire connections, it will go counter clockwise (Backward). I chose to let it run backward.You can put the project box lid back on. And use clear plastic storage tape to seal the box from rain later on (tape all four sides at the top).
Step 8: I put 4 C7 light sockets attached underneath the clock face on each wood dowel. I used green bulbs for the spooky look. And attached them all to one power cord (soldered and insulated with a strain relief knot in the cord). I connected the 120V cord to a Infrared motion detector and the 3 volt battery eliminator. And put the detector in Test Mode, so it only is active when it detects motion. You don't want your tape motor to be running constantly. <
And then I put stiff wire through holes I drilled in the top and bottom of the chunk of wood to hook it to a bush. You'll need to power the player motor with your 3V battery eliminator (power supply).
Step 9
Done. The small hole for the minute hand shaft may allow rainwater to get into the project box with the 3V motor. Better if you don't leave the clock out in the weather and just run it on a dry Halloween night! Now you have a lighted spooky green clock with a spinning backward minute hand that is activated by the TOTs as they approach your doorway!!
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