# Above Ground Tomb animatronic



## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

I've been quietly tinkering in my garage for the past few weeks working on a new take of a prop tutorial that I saw at ravenmanor.com. It originated at the Hallowed Haunting Grounds here in L.A., but Raven Manor had a nice video tutorial and I wanted to give them credit as well.

That being said, I really love the design and I wanted to replicate it, but wanted it to be an above ground tomb/slab. So here's a few pictures to get started and I'll be documenting it as I go.

If you want to jump ahead and see how they did it at Raven Manor, click HERE

First things first, I do not take credit for the design of the animatronic. I'm am replicating it almost exactly as they have done at Raven Manor with only minor modifications.

*The "Tomb"*

Parts List -

3 - 2'x4'x1/2" sheets of MDF
4 - 1"x1/2"x6' planks (I used pine, which came in the 6' length and made it possible for me to get it home without having to wait for someone at Home Depot to come to the cutting area)
7 - 3"x1/2"x6' planks (again, used pine - not the cheapest option, but I hate waiting for the employees at H.D.)
8 - Door hinges with removable pins
1/2" screws
compatible sized washers
Wood Glue


For reference, this is what we're building and what it looks like assembled.










I started this project by building the "cap & base" of the tomb. They are made from the 1"x1/2" pine on the bottom and the 3"x1/2" pine on top. I chose to do it this way so that I could create an inside lip for the vertical walls to fit into once the tomb was assembled. I also figured it would give it an additional point of stability and would help to prevent the tomb from going out of square once the motor was attached and powered up.










It's got a nice coat of drylok on it to help give it a more authentic stone/cement look.


For this build, the walls are composed of 2 full size sheets of MDF (2'x4') to make up the sides and 1 sheet cut in half to make up the ends. You could use smaller pieces of wood and skin it with pink/blue foam. Unfortunately for me, they don't sell it in Los Angeles. So I used MDF instead.

Will it be heavy? HELL YES. Will people be able to walk off with it in the middle of the night? Probably not. Plus, the hinge pins will allow me to store it in pieces, rather than one huge box, so the overall weight doesn't matter quite as much to me.

I squared up my pieces of MDF and locked them into place with corner braces.










Once I had them aligned, I took some scrap pieces of the 1"x1/2"x3" pine (this measurement is completely dependent on the size of your hinge) and attached the door hinge to it with some 1/2" self tapping screws and washers, since the holes on the hinges were larger than the head of the 1/2" screws. I repeated this step 8 times, so that each corner would have two hinges.

When all my hinges were built, I took some wood glue and glued the blocks/hinges into place.


















I repeated this step on all 4 sides.

Once everything had dried, I gave it a test fit and also numbered the hinges to make it easy to reassemble.











More to come....


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## grimreaper1962 (Jan 11, 2012)

Looks good so far! Please keep us updated on your progress.


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## crazy xmas (Dec 30, 2008)

Looking good Dminor!


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## murtermanor (Mar 11, 2012)

very cool!


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

Looks great so far!


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## Raven's Hollow Cemetery (Jul 3, 2011)

I like the direction your taking with the ground crypt Dminor  If you've never spoken with him, Dave @ Raven Manor is a really cool guy btw


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

Thanks Raven's Hollow Cemetery! I think I've done all the hard manual labor parts, so now it's onto the mechanical ones. Actually, most of that is done too, haha. I just have measure the length of the push rod to make sure I get the opening that I want without any alignment problems.

I have spoken with Dave and he was a great help. 

I'm in the process of doing a feature on Raven Manor for my website www.betterhauntsandgardens.com. It was supposed to be done almost a month ago, but work has been hectic and I haven't had a chance to dedicate any time to it.


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## Raven's Hollow Cemetery (Jul 3, 2011)

You're very welcome!  I've been a fan of Raven Manor for quite a few years, and I'm definitely looking forward to your article. Hectic, oh I can definitely understand that one, no doubt!  Wow, nice site you have there, I'm going to have to save that one and read it at length tomorrow. Thanks for the linky.


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

This is gonna fun to watch the evolution.


_<off to do a little spam clean-up...>_


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

Dminor said:


> Plus, the hinge pins will allow me to store it in pieces.



Now why didn't I think of that?!?!?!


Look forward to seeing the rest.


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

Unothodox, it was actually someone else on the forums that had suggested it (unfortunately their name skips my mind right now).

It's a great solution and makes storage super easy.

Hopefully over the long weekend I'll be able to post some more on the project.


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

A quick update:

I had a chance to do a mockup of the motor/pulley/rod system and figured I'd show you all what it looks like. 

The parts used here are a Monster Guts FCG Motor, a 1/4" threaded rod, 1/4" aluminum tube, two 1/4" clevis pins, two cotter pins and two 1/4" heim rod ends. 










In the photo above, the rod is much longer than it will be in the final prop. The aluminum tube was slid over the threaded rod to give extra stability to the threaded rod, since it seemed a bit weak to be used to push the lid of the tomb. 

The rod end bearings/heim joints are an interesting part. They create a point of articulation for this prop and help keep the prop and motor from binding up due to an improper alignment. 










They're super useful and I'd recommend them highly. 










The rod/pin is connected to the pulley wheel through a 1/4" hole that I drilled through the outer edge of the pulley wheel. 

This whole rig will be mounted inside the tomb frame.

To be continued...


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## VirusHaunt (Oct 9, 2011)

Looking Good. I have been away for a bit very glad to see your making progress


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## Lazy D (May 14, 2011)

looking good. i cant wait to see the finished product. its going to look great i bet.


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## 22606 (Aug 11, 2008)

Dminor said:


>


If you don't finish the project in time, you could always have the zombie taking a bubble bath

Looks excellent so far.


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

Had a chance to do a bit more work this morning...I managed to convince my boss to give me 2 days off this week, since I had worked through two weekends and Memorial Day. I know it doesn't seem like a fair trade, but considering how much I do around the office, it's a huge victory.

Anyhow...

Here's where we are today. I've added another layer to the top of the slab. This is both for stability as well as it allows me to add a cross brace where the motor will be attached.



















I doubled up the cross brace (glued and nailed together) to allow for clearance for the pulley wheel and nailed it into the frame.










Now that I've got the cross brace in place, I've attached the motor.



















I plan on doing a bit more this afternoon, but that's where we're at right now.


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

Here's a bit more progress from this afternoon...

Added on rollers to help cut down on the friction that will occur once I add on the tomb "lid". These are nylon rollers with small ball bearing hubs in the center. They're attached with small nylon washers and a wood screw. I believe they're for closet doors.










They're mounted so that there's a 1/16" reveal, which allows the lid to rest on top of the wheels rather than possibly dragging on the lower part of the tomb "cap"










I also added in these 90 degree brackets so that I have a spot for the small speaker/subwoofer that will be inside the tomb.










In the off chance that someone is wondering why I'm not mounting the hinges or the angle brackets directly to the MDF, it's simply because I don't think it has the strength to hold it if I were to just use nails. So my solution was to mount them with screws to scrap pieces of pine and then use wood glue to attach them to the MDF.

So far, it's worked great. Elmer's Wood Glue is super strong, especially if you follow their directions (rather than just squirting some onto the wood and pressing it to something else)

Lastly, I've cut down the rod that attaches to the pulley and the tomb lid. It's roughly the same size as the pulley wheel. I'll post photos of that once I attach the lid to the base.

More updates tomorrow or over the weekend.


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

On a side note, hey Terra, want to come out to California to help me paint this beast? haha. I'm super envious of your talent and skill.


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## kimcfadd (Oct 6, 2010)

Hey Dminor,

If Terra heads to Cali, send her up north when shes done. Would love to have some of her work in my yard haunt. LOL. Hell, you can come too as your stuff is top notch as well!! Can't wait to see this project completed. Very nice build!

Happy Haunting!!


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

Hahaha, will do!

As for my work, truth be told, it was the acquisition of a few new tools that have really helped my builds look a lot more professional. That and the measure twice cut once approach!

I received a nail gun for my birthday this year and it's been a real life saver. No more waiting for glue to dry, etc. So between that and really making good use of a metal construction square, I've been able to make sure that my cuts are exactly 45° and that everything is securely in place.


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## Diabolik (Apr 10, 2006)

This really looks good. I'm looking forward to seeing it come to life.


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## RattandRoll (Sep 6, 2007)

Looks awesome so far what kind of motor are you using?


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

RattandRoll said:


> Looks awesome so far what kind of motor are you using?


It's the Monster Guts FCG Motor.

All the parts used, for the most part, are listed in the thread. :-D


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

Made a tiny bit more progress today. I was able to build the small inner shelf that will hold the speakers and subwoofer.










And with the actual speakers and subwoofer in place...










Hopefully this coming week I'll be able to finish off the frame for the lid and then we're just about done on this build. 

Thanks for reading!


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

Here's a quick video that I shot when I did a dry run this evening. 






Now I've got to solidify the mount for the opposite end of the rod to the tomb top frame. After that, it's a layer of blue foam, some embellishments and a few coats of drylok.


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## Saruman of Many Colours (Sep 8, 2010)

^ Has a nice fluid motion, and the speed seems just right.


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

Thanks Saruman!


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

Looks excellent! I agree-nice movement!


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

Thanks Dave! Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to attach the rod to the lid frame. I'm thinking it may be a piece of angle aluminum so that I can set a few anchor points and be able to adjust how far open the lid goes.


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## Raven's Hollow Cemetery (Jul 3, 2011)

Great job D! Like the others said, you nailed it perfectly on the movement.


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

Thanks Raven's Hollow! I'm think I've figured out the best solution for attaching the rod to the lid. An eye hook! We'll see how that works tonight.


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## Raven's Hollow Cemetery (Jul 3, 2011)

Dminor said:


> Thanks Raven's Hollow! I'm think I've figured out the best solution for attaching the rod to the lid. An eye hook! We'll see how that works tonight.



Yvw!  I think I know exactly how you intend to do that, and that is brilliant!


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

So here we go...










It was just that simple. Not sure why I was overcomplicating things.

So I pre drilled the hole slightly smaller than the eye hook and then screwed the eye hook into the lid.


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

Looks fan-tastic!


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## Raven's Hollow Cemetery (Jul 3, 2011)

Heh heh! That's exactly what I thought you had in mind D.  Great idea, and execution!


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

Yeah, it worked perfectly. I had to make a slight adjustment to where I had it screwed in because the rod was rubbing up against the pulley wheel. Nothing major, but I'm really sensitive to sound and it would have driven me nuts if I didn't adjust the eye bolt higher.

All I have left now is to figure out how to best attach the foam lid to the wood and build up enough of a lip so that the pulley wheel and rod aren't rubbing up against the foam. I'm trying to minimize the number of "steps" from the base of the lid to the foam top. Right now it's at 3. The foam will make 4.


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

Finally got the lid on this prop. I've added cracks and have painted all but the area where the epitaph will go. Unfortunately my printer is out of ink, so I won't be able to print out my scale epitaph to trace onto the top until next week. 

Here's a few pictures of the cracks:



















To allow for the pulley and rod to move freely, I had to create a relief for them in the underside of the blue foam that I used to cover the tomb. It's two layers of 1" blue foam, gorilla glued together and filled with wood putty where needed. Then I sanded the edges to even everything out, put a nice rounded edge on the top. I used a Drexel tool for all of the cracks. 

More to come...


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## savagehaunter (Aug 22, 2009)

It is looking good.


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

Finished up the epitaph last night. That was a process. Creating the layout was a piece of cake, since I'm used to photoshop and Illustrator. The tracing process left a bit to be desired, although I was able to get the basic design on the tomb and used a pen to darken in the lines so that it was easier to see once I started cutting. I used a Dremel tool with a #194 Dremel bit to cut it out, which worked, but left a bunch of rough edges that reminded me of torn paper.

I decided to put a coat of drylok over it as is (because I want to finish this prop and move on to the next thing) without sanding down those rough edges. I figured if anything it would give it a more worn look. We'll see how I feel about it tonight when I have a chance to work on it some more.

One thing that I learned from this process is to make sure that you do all your cracks before you paint. Drylok can really muck up a Dremel bit.

More pictures tonight.


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

So here's the first shot of the painted epitaph. It received another coat of black and drylok to help darken and even out the texture. For some strange reason the epitaph looks crooked in this picture, but its not in person.










And here's a close up of the weird edges that I have around my letters. They don't look half bad in the picture, but for some reason they just look odd to me in person.










I had to stop with the painting because it started to rain all of a sudden. Hopefully I can finish up the paint tomorrow, add some moss and then we'll give it a test run.


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## Deaths Reach (Aug 7, 2009)

Looking great - why Gracey?


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

frughoul said:


> Looking great - why Gracey?


It's in homage to Yale Gracey, one of Disney's imagineers, who designed much of the Haunted Mansion. He died tragically in 1983 when he and his wife were shot to death in their bed by a burglar.









He also has a tombstone at the mansion:


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## Raven's Hollow Cemetery (Jul 3, 2011)

Looking really good there D! Sorry to hear about the rain, same story over here too...for almost 2 weeks straight. :S 


It's the paint I think that makes the edges look rounded I think. My plaque lettering on my entrance columns looks rounded too, even though they were cut with an exacto (no dremel router bits fine enough for the font I used. Taking short cuts...yeah, I wish), and they definitely aren't rounded. 


No worries though, old lettering would be worn from the weathering anyway.


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## Phantom Blue (Sep 28, 2008)

Awesome prop Dminor!

PB


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

Raven's Hollow, the paint actually helped to cover up the weird issue I was experiencing. The problem I had was that the foam wasn't being etched away as much as it was being torn. So the edges of the text looked rough and not at all crisp. 

I used a tapered engraving bit for the lower part and the edges there were perfect, not sure why, but the tapered bit vs the straight bit definitely had different outcomes.

I think in the end it'll be great. No one looks at the details as closely as I am, so I'm literally sweating the small stuff. I just have to remind myself every once and again to not have such a critical eye for details that will go unnoticed by the ToT'ers.


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## Raven's Hollow Cemetery (Jul 3, 2011)

Interesting, which bit did you use specifically? I'll be sure to avoid it like the plague. Also, I should've been more specific and said "slightly" rounded in my earlier post about my plaque. Definitely don't sweat the small stuff, and it's all small stuff. Lol!  


That has to be a first, plaque & plague used within two sentences. Prolly a world record.


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

As a point of reference, here's how the section where I used the tapered bit (#117) turned out:










and here's another shot of one of the letters that was done with the non tapered bit (#194) which I believe is the one that everyone recommends using.










You can see how it almost curls up around the edges. Not sure what caused it other than possibly setting the depth too deep. Thinking about it now, that seems to make the most sense. The bit was essentially making an under cut and because there wasn't an abrasive surface to smooth out the edges it just left it behind.


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## Raven's Hollow Cemetery (Jul 3, 2011)

Yeah, I see what you mean. That edge feathered, and I suspect you might be right about the cut depth. Experimentation is a %!*<# sometimes. The local dump is full of my failed experiments.  Don't give it too much thought though, the dark hides a multitude of sins, and the ToT's will be to busy running past for candy to notice. Much less, microscope the details.


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

Here we go everybody!

I still need to touch up the paint, add some moss, etc., but this is what it looks like:


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## mxmarsh (Jul 17, 2011)

Dminor that look GREAT!!! Thanks for the great tutorial. Looks like Ill be adding this one to a future build for my haunt.


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

That turned out super! Fantastic job!


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

Thanks mxmarsh & daveinthegrave!


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

Looking at the way your lid moves sideways, I thought it would be cool if there was some way to have a skeletal hand mounted under the edge of the lid that would rotate upwards as the lid starts to move. Looking like the hand was moving the lid.
Then as the lid started to close, the hand would drop back down again.

This effect would mainly involve mounting a stationary rod or something similar in the lower part of the crypt for the hand to hit against and cause it to rotate up.

Just something I thought of. Your prop already looks amazing as it is!


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

I'm always open to suggestions and improvements! Not quite sure that I understand the mechanism though.


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## Sssgarry (Aug 29, 2009)

nice work ! and a great prop - i've been trying to think of a way to add more movement to my cemetery , think i'm gonna have to build one of these  well done !


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

Thanks! I can't thank Dave at Raven Manor enough for having created such a great tutorial and providing me with the sound fx for the prop as well as the folks at the Hallowed Haunted Grounds for creating such a great effect.


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## JustWhisper (Nov 16, 2008)

Great workmanship. It turned out very nicely. All that hard work paid off.


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

Thank you JustWhisper. There's still a bit to be done, mostly weathering, but I'm definitely happy with how it turned out and can't wait to give it a full test run with sound, lights and fog!


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## Raven's Hollow Cemetery (Jul 3, 2011)

Great job mate! Can't wait to see how it finishes out with the weathering, but it's looking outstanding already.


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## foolishmortal42 (Sep 5, 2010)

This turned out great. Very well done. I can't wait to see it with the weathering and the fog. The tutorial was also very good and easy to follow.


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

Thanks FoolishMortal42! I'm hoping to spend some time on it tomorrow and will post pictures with the progress.


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## CreepyCreations (Oct 16, 2011)

A fantastic prop! Love the engraved lettering and the fake cracks... really adds to the effect! Nicely done!


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

Not quite finished yet, but thank you for the compliment! I had hoped to spend some time working on it this past weekend, but I didn't have a chance to, and next weekend isn't looking any more promising! LOL


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## Nepboard (Sep 21, 2009)

Very, very nice!


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## LittleBlueBMW (Oct 9, 2010)

I was thinking about building something like this with a wiper motor... feeling inspired! Looks sharp!!!!


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

Thanks for the compliment. You could absolutely do it with a wiper motor. It would be a much faster action, but it would work.


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## thatguycraig (Jul 15, 2009)

looks awsome dude........ add in a nice blue or green light inside for when the lid opens and its gonan be a cracker!


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## ravenmanor (Sep 1, 2004)

Your project turned out awesome! I love the above ground box cleverly assembled with door hinges, brilliant! I also like those closet wheels you used to float the lid, much simpler than what I had done. This is sure to be a hit. Nice work!


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

ravenmanor said:


> Your project turned out awesome! I love the above ground box cleverly assembled with door hinges, brilliant! I also like those closet wheels you used to float the lid, much simpler than what I had done. This is sure to be a hit. Nice work!


Thanks Dave! I couldn't have done it without you and your great tutorial!


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

thatguycraig said:


> looks awsome dude........ add in a nice blue or green light inside for when the lid opens and its gonan be a cracker!


That's exactly what I was planning on doing. It should be really eye catching!


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## Treacherous (Oct 21, 2012)

That's just brilliant!!


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

Just wanted to post a quick video that I shot on Halloween night of the tomb in action with lights, sound and fog. It's not the greatest video, but the reactions of the neighborhood kids is pretty great.






Thanks again to everyone for their kind words!


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

Great video, D ! Makes me want to make one myself.

If only I had some storage space left...........


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## HaunterMom (Jul 31, 2014)

Thanks for the tutorial! We are in the process of making one for this year. Got it framed & the motor working, just need to carve a top and paint it. We also need to figure out sound. Did you use an MP3 player? Where did you get the sound file?


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## zombieprincess (Nov 1, 2013)

One more prop to put on my list for next year. I love the kids reactions. This year we're focusing on an elaborate fence and making our own tombstones.


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

HaunterMom said:


> Thanks for the tutorial! We are in the process of making one for this year. Got it framed & the motor working, just need to carve a top and paint it. We also need to figure out sound. Did you use an MP3 player? Where did you get the sound file?


I used an mp3 player and I made the sound file. I just recorded myself dragging a cinder block across a concrete surface.


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## Yorkshire Ghost (Jun 22, 2009)

as others have said - good job and it looks the part.

my additional thoughts were to maybe have it vertical so the board move sideways and then you can see a skeleton or whatever inside.

thanks for the tutorial though.


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## djgra79 (Sep 6, 2017)

Sorry to dig up the ghost of an old thread, but any chance the pics or videos could be updated? I cannot view them and I clicked through via a Pintrest thread - I'm interested to see what this actually looks like.


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## Dminor (Jul 21, 2006)

djgra79 said:


> Sorry to dig up the ghost of an old thread, but any chance the pics or videos could be updated? I cannot view them and I clicked through via a Pintrest thread - I'm interested to see what this actually looks like.


Sorry, I had a major purge of all my content awhile back and this project was one that got removed.


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