Trommel Build

[JDH429]

Originally Posted by Efroeh

looks great now. what belt are you using to spin it? Also on the drum is it ribbed for the bet or just tension grip spins it?

Thanks, I went with a timing belt with teeth and printed a gear to slide over the drum. Got the belt from servocity. Also switched to a 100 rpm gear motor which sounds really fast but looks to be just right. Still trying to finish a few things before I start testing with dirt. The rollers need to be machined out of alum next and going to use a Picoboo prop controller to run the motors. They are pretty neat because you can program sequences and use lots of different triggers to start the operation. I've used them in the past for Halloween props that work off 12v wiper motors. They also play sound files you can load. For even more realism I might try to record some machinery sounds from around our shop and mix them together. For example, record the lathe starting with the chuck on a high rpm, which winds up for a few seconds and use that every time the trommel is triggered to start.. I'll have to play around with it.