Low Budget Mechanised Movable Eyes

Hellooo Instructables!

Halloween is fast approaching once again and I would like to share with you a cheap way to add movable eyes to your cosplay, props or puppets.

To be fair this can be used at anytime of the year not just Halloween

This is a really cheap and easy instructables that requires no specialist tools and costs next to nothing for materials.

Let's begin.....

Materials

2x empty rollerball deodorant (or buy to and empty them out but that's wasteful)

5x lollipop sticks.

Tape (doesn't need to be gaffa, it's just what i had closest to hand)

A thin Paper clip.

Glue or glue gun.

Tools

Scissors

Craft knife

A thumbtack or something else that can make a small hole in a lollipop stick.

Additional

Paint and paint brushes to decorate

Now different brands of roller all deodorant may be constructed differently but most have a similar set up to the one i am using.

Take off the lid and separate the ball and it's housing from the main body/deodorant chamber. You can usually squeeze/pry it out but if you are having difficulty you can soak it in some warm water to soften the plastic.

Once you have the ball and its housing separated, remove the ball (you should be able to just pop it out from the back and give both pieces a really good wash and make sure they are completely dry before the next part.

The housing should have a cross section similar to the one pictured, cut these out with your scissors.

You can ignore this next step if you are using a glue gun.

Using your craft knife carefully trim away a section of the ridges at the back end of the housing (the part that would have been inside the main body). This is just to make a flat surface for a more secure attachment if you are using glue. Do this on opposite sides of the housing.

Using a lollipop stick as a "base" glue both of your housings in place. The spacing of which is up to you depending on your needs but a good ratio is to have the width of one housing between the housings you are gluing.

Attach another lollipop across the top.

If you want you can trim off any excess.

Lay out your lollipop sticks with one running parallel to the housings/eye sockets and two laying straight out of the back of the housings/eye sockets onto the parallel one. It should form a square.

Using your thumb tack, make a hole at the end of one of the sticks coming from the housing/eye socket. Be careful not to split the lollipop but if you do its not the end of the world as you can tape it up.

Keeping the pin in the lollipop stick use it to mark where the hole will be on the stick that runs parallel to the housings. it should still be at a right angle.

Remove the thumb tack and make a hole in the lower/parallel lollipop stick and repeat for the other side.

Take your paper clip and straighten it out.

From this cut two smaller pieces (depending on your paper clip size this may be in half or you may have a third bit of excess)

Feed the paper clip wire through the top hole so it sits roughly half on each side and fold on side flat against the lollipop stick.

Put tape around the wire and lollipop stick. It doesn't need to hold the wire in place its just to stop any pointy bits.

Feed the other end of wire into the hole of the parallel lollipop stick, bend and tape as above so it forms a moveable joint.

Repeat for the other side.

You Can trim off any excess/shorten the lollipop sticks if need be.

Most of the roller balls will have a "seam" that goes around the circumference. Making sure that you have a smooth section with out the seam to the "front", use the craft knife carefully to cut a line in the "back" of the ball, roughly the same width as your lollipop stick.

Push the lollipop stick that would go into the housing into the cut to make sure it fits. Remove it and repeat for the other ball.

Push both balls/eyes back into the housings/sockets with the cut to the back.

Push the lollipop "stems" into cuts.

And that's the mechanism

You can now paint/decorate them but be sure to move them about as you do so so you dont miss any bits.

As always I hope you enjoyed this instructable and as always, thoughts, comments and even photos of your own eyes or where they end up are always welcome in the comments section below.