Music Box Sculpture

Hi Everyone !

I am looking for someone who could help me on the construction of my musicbox sculpture. I am using music boxes which are biscuit tins from Fortnum&Mason that needs to be turned anticlockwise in order to trun and play the music.

I will habe them together in a shape of a castle and I would like them all to be linked to a single crank . I can imagine I would need some kind of a ' clock' system to link them all.

in Addition to this brief description I am uploading a picture of the first idea of how it would look, a sketch and a youtube link where you see the muic box I am using!

Thank you very much for your help and advise,

Best Wishes

Camille Alena

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzcD44u6E78

Edited By JasonB on 06/10/2017 13:15:33

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 06/10/2017 18:41:25

Does each box turn independently or as a whole? I suggest you look at Meccano which would enable you to experiment with different setups without being stuck on one configuration.

Thank you for your reply! Each box turns individually! I am sorry I am not sure what meccano is? Thank you

Perhaps you should google "meccano".

Thank you, oh yes sorry I was not sure if it could have been something else!

Just a thought: if the tins are directly geared together some will turn one way and some the other. I imagine this would be a problem so far as the music is concerned.

Two ways of getting the tins to turn in the same direction, if geared together they need to be linked together with an idler gear. The other way is to use a belt drive, probably a toothed belt so there is no slip, or a small chain drive, like a miniature bike chain.

Ian S C

As I doubt the tins need to be co-ordinated isn't the use of plain belts going to be easiest?

I guess that one of the tins will contain the music-box proper, and the others will just need to revolve. Or might the tins be empty with the tune device below the turntable? That would make sense from an engineering point of view, as the weight of the clockwork will otherwise complicate things.

One fairly basic way to 'drive' the tins would be to mount each one on a vertical pointed rod resting in a dimple inside the tin lid. You would need a big hole in the base of each tin. The top would be cut into louvres (like a fan shape) and a single small candle burning in each one would create a draft, turning the tin. In this case, you would not need gears, or a handle, etc, but you would need skill in cutting the thin steel of the tins. And there would be a distinct fire risk if the device was moved or jolted while in use ...

If you can make the base thick enough to hold the music box, it could also hold a small electric motor, run off a small model battery. Like the ones used in model drones but less powerful. This could drive a series of small, vertical spindles, rotating fairly quickly, with the tins each driven by a rubber band round the tin and the spindle. The difficulty would be in mounting the tins so that they could rotate freely but not be pulled to one side (etc) by the drive.

Perhaps you could advise us - how much skill do you have in such things? Or are you asking if one of us might do the work for you?

Regards, Tim

In my view your tins should be attached to a revolving platform within the dome. Underneath you could position a

small 30 note Reuge music box movement from e-bay and adapt the winding and control lever tp the perimeter

of your item i.e a static platform that supports the revolving platform