Beginner project - rotating motor - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: Crumbs
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 17, 2014, 10:46:31 pm
content: Hey,First of all I'd like to confess that I really have no electronics background, so I have no idea about anything in this field.For a friend's birthday, I have bought the Kikkerland Music Box DIY Kit, which lets you punch holes in a music strip, which the accompanied music box plays. However, this "music box" works by manually turning the small lever, you can see a photo of how it looks here:https://www.kikkerland.com/products/make-your-own-music-box-kit/What I would very much like to do is somehow make it turn "on its own", i.e. without my friend having to turn thr lever continuously each time they would like to hear the music.The only thing I could think of is to get one of those small simple motors, and attach a "lever" to it so that it will spin the music box lever. However, from what I know these motors spin very fast, and the music box lever needs to be spinned pretty slowly (imagine as if you're turning it with your hands, it's not that fast.So as you see I have no idae what I'm doing, but this is very important to me and I would really like to find a solution. This means I need to find a solution that will turn the lever in a normal speed - a speed that I cannot define, so it would be great if I could play with it until it is just right. You can see an example of the speed needed in this video (05:10 mark):However it could be a bit slower I guess.I would really appreciate anyone's help in this matter.Thanks!

author: electronics man
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 17, 2014, 10:59:33 pm
content: use a set of gears to step the speed down and the torque up mabe something like thishttp://proto-pic.co.uk/micro-metal-gearmotor-100-1/im not sure if it has the exact specs you want but it will give you an idea.or something like this:http://proto-pic.co.uk/120-1-plastic-gearmotor-90-degree-output/just run it from a few AA batteris and a switch ( you may need a diode across ther terminals of the motor, make sure the black strip is connected to positive and the other side is negative.

author: sleemanj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 17, 2014, 11:18:03 pm
content: You'll probably still need a reduction (gear or pulley with rubber bands) to get enough torque at low speeds, but a 555 timer driver PWM circuit can get you the adjustable speed.First result I found, the douche factor is high before 1m20s and after 3m, but between there it shows you what you need to know fairly concisely.

author: Crumbs
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 17, 2014, 11:24:44 pm
content: Thanks electronics man and sleemanj (lol don't you just want to slap that guy in the video in the face?), that indeed gives me a direction and I now know what I'm looking for. I will try going into some electronics stores around me and will see if I can get these close to home, if not I'll have to order them online which won't be ideal because of the trial-and-error nature of this endevor.

author: electronics man
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 17, 2014, 11:31:16 pm
content: thats a good idea, btw sparkfun sells a lot of good stuff like those motors.

author: pickle9000
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 17, 2014, 11:45:05 pm
content: A rotisserie out of an old oven or a BBQ would probably do the trick.