A search for “animation motors” reveals many hits for movie cameras. (Ordinarily, I’d be interested; but not this time.)
A co-worker is into Halloween big-time. She would like to have an animated figure in her decorations. Specifically, she wants a witch figure stirring a pot. Presumably, her SO can make the figure and armature if she can find the motor. I’m guessing that she needs a 20 rpm AC motor. The truth be told, I’d be interested in such a motor myself. I thought the Rosco motor could be adapted, but at over 300 clams it’s a bit expensive. Price is an obstacle.
Who makes them, and where does one get them for a reasonable price?
There are sure to be surplus electronics places near you. They’d be my first stop. You can also check the ads in magazines like Nuts & Volts. There are also a few very well known national not-so-surplus suppliers like American Science and Surplus or Edmund Scientific who may charge maybe twice what a local shop or small mail-order outfit might, but have a stable stock, and are still affordable (e.g. under $20) incl shipping. Shipping tends to even out the differences between surplus suppliers on small orders anyway.
How about a motor from an electric rotisserie? Here is a Halloween project that uses one to animate a spooky figure. I think some rotisseries are even variable speed; you should be able to find one at a thrift store.
Another scroungable source of motors for building animated figures is oscillating fans. Here is some directions for adapting oscillating fans to make Halloween figures move. Thrift stores are your friend.
How big/heavy is this thing supposed to be? For small scale, I’d rip up an old VCR - some of the loading motors go pretty slow. Cassette players are also ok, be sure to save most of the gears for speed adjustment. For larger size… I dunno.
The fan is a good idea - in Edmonton I like Princess Auto for surplus electric motors and such. They normally have a good range of both RPM and voltage. If you live in a place big enough for more than one newspaper, there’s bound to be a place like this nearby.
Another option - call Surplus Center 1-800-488-3407, and ask for a catalog. They’ve got lots of small cheap AC gear motors, as well as other useful mechanical bits.
