Here’s a fun new project for you to try in the run-up to Halloween. This pair of cute, but slightly spooky, bats is powered by the bellows on the back of the base. Proper pneumatic power! It’s a fun project to make and a perfect table topper for the spooky season.
The project comes as a downloadable pdf file ready for you to print out and make. The bellows parts are printed onto paper, the rest onto thin card. The remaining pages of the pdf contains the illustrated step by step instructions. If you are a premium subscriber to this newsletter, you can download the pdf from the foot of this page, thank you for your support! Not a subscriber yet? You can still download the file from my website here.
I tried a few different ideas before settling on the final design. My first attempt was a single bat mounted on a card tube, with the bellows underneath (1). This worked well, proving the theory of the air powered mechanism but the finished model couldn’t stand up on its own.
Moving the bellows to the back of the air box (2) solved that problem and the mechanism worked just as well. In fact, there was plenty of power from the bellows, so I reckoned I could probably add another bat (3), or even two (4).
I also toyed with the idea of using two air boxes and opposing bellows (5), so that the bats would move up and down alternately. In the end, I decided against it. Halloween was fast approaching and I wanted to get the project finished and up on the site!
One problem I ran into with the prototypes was the bat sticking when it reached the bottom of its travel. I suspected the square corners of the bat’s body were catching on the corners of the air tube.
A quick modification proved the theory. By adding a curved top to the air tube, the bat stayed clear of the air tube corners and the sticking disappeared completely. With that little problem solved, the Air Bats project was ready to take flight.
Whilst we’re on the theme of Halloween, there are a few projects on my site that you might enjoy. If you’re an annual paid subscriber to this newsletter, I’ll be happy to set you up with a premium membership on my website too so you can download these and all the other projects on the site for free.
Once you’ve taken out an annual subscription to this newsletter, visit the membership page on my website and create a free account there. Let me know your username and I’ll activate your premium membership for you.
I did have a go at automating the process, but it turned out to be beyond my meagre web-programming skills!
Make your own haunted battery! You’ll need a couple of powerful neodymium magnets which you can see attached to the bottom of the battery in the animation. You’ll also need an AA battery and some non-ferrous wire such as copper wire.
It’s a fun little project to make, and the ghost will keep spinning for days! You can easily adapt it into a circling witch or another Halloween character by simply swapping the ghost for a different figure on the end of the wire.
Download the Homopolar Ghost here.
The Fluttering Bat is a pure paper-engineering project that’s full of character. Download the file, print out the parts and follow the step-by-step instructions to bring this delightfully fluttery bat to life! Find out more here.
The Running Skeleton is a STEAMjunk project (STEAM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics). The paper skeleton’s feet are connected to a paper-clip crank, which is mounted onto a jar of sweets using coffee-stirring sticks. Download the full instructions and make your own running skeleton here.
Another STEAMjunk project, this time a ghost mounted onto a cork and brought to life via a bead and wire mechanism. Find out more here.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter. If you decide to make the Air Bats project, I’d love to see how it turns out!
Have a wonderful Halloween, happy making, and don’t forget to subscribe if you’d like more paper-engineering projects, automata, and mechanical making adventures delivered straight to your inbox.