Chris The Fury
New Member
a few people asked me how i did the blade mechanism on my gauntlet (still in progress) so i put this little demo together. I have NO mechanical knowledge and i had no plans of spending much money(i only spent $6 in balsa wood). So, its hard to explain and i made it out of junk. but here you go.
inside pull down blinds, there is a long positive spring supported by 2 shafts. i dismantled the whole thing (years ago just out of curiousity) and took one shaft and cut the spring in half. then i went into my "box-o-junk" and found the backing to a clock motor. it was a thin,square,plastic piece with a whole in the center for the clock arms. i also found a thin metal rod that i believe was the axel to a remote control car.
i built a long rectangular box out of balsa wood and pieces of a tupperware container lid with an open end. this box has long slits down the length of the sides (made from tupperware) where the guiding rod travels.
the clock piece was glued to the back ends of the blades so they ran parallel to each other, then a hole was drilled through both blades for the guiding rod to go through(then, also glued in place).
ok, shaft with spring is affixed to the back of the inside of the box. shaft is ran through the hole in plastic clock piece, and guiding rod is run through slits in side of box. here the blades can be pulled back and forth down the length of box with the spring as resistance. i cut a piece of tupperware plastic in the shape of a small shark fin and glued it to the outside of the box. it is in the location that it just barely rises over one of the slits in the box, so when the guiding rod is pulled back it will get caught just past the shark fin. this locks the blades in the "retracted" postion.
now i simply cut a rectangle of wood to deviate the blades and partially cover the open end of the box. this keeps the blades from flying across the room into someone's eye.
to activate the blades, i lightly press up on the rod which frees the blades to be pushed down the length of the box and into "extended" postion.
this obviously isnt the greatest way to do this but, its how i did it. hope it helps
inside pull down blinds, there is a long positive spring supported by 2 shafts. i dismantled the whole thing (years ago just out of curiousity) and took one shaft and cut the spring in half. then i went into my "box-o-junk" and found the backing to a clock motor. it was a thin,square,plastic piece with a whole in the center for the clock arms. i also found a thin metal rod that i believe was the axel to a remote control car.
i built a long rectangular box out of balsa wood and pieces of a tupperware container lid with an open end. this box has long slits down the length of the sides (made from tupperware) where the guiding rod travels.
the clock piece was glued to the back ends of the blades so they ran parallel to each other, then a hole was drilled through both blades for the guiding rod to go through(then, also glued in place).
ok, shaft with spring is affixed to the back of the inside of the box. shaft is ran through the hole in plastic clock piece, and guiding rod is run through slits in side of box. here the blades can be pulled back and forth down the length of box with the spring as resistance. i cut a piece of tupperware plastic in the shape of a small shark fin and glued it to the outside of the box. it is in the location that it just barely rises over one of the slits in the box, so when the guiding rod is pulled back it will get caught just past the shark fin. this locks the blades in the "retracted" postion.
now i simply cut a rectangle of wood to deviate the blades and partially cover the open end of the box. this keeps the blades from flying across the room into someone's eye.
to activate the blades, i lightly press up on the rod which frees the blades to be pushed down the length of the box and into "extended" postion.
this obviously isnt the greatest way to do this but, its how i did it. hope it helps
I came up with something similar on paper but using elastic bands. Your method could work well! 
