Ankle Ticklers/ Air Whips? A How To Build Question

[screamforadream]

Does anyone out there know how to safely build and construct ankle ticklers/air whips? I can't see them costing more than $50 in materials, if not less, but don't know how to do it safely, and that's my biggest concern. How do I know a whip won't whip off and go flying or hurt someone? I think they'd make an incredible scare and definitely a great addition to any haunt but my biggest concern is how to make one safely, and cost effectively? (No offense to any vendors, I understand the importance of turning a profit, but I just don't see how you can spend a couple hundred bucks on them lol).

[BrotherMysterio]

Does anyone out there know how to safely build and construct ankle ticklers/air whips? I can't see them costing more than $50 in materials, if not less, but don't know how to do it safely, and that's my biggest concern. How do I know a whip won't whip off and go flying or hurt someone? I think they'd make an incredible scare and definitely a great addition to any haunt but my biggest concern is how to make one safely, and cost effectively? (No offense to any vendors, I understand the importance of turning a profit, but I just don't see how you can spend a couple hundred bucks on them lol).

I think I have a line on that. Let me look it up and see what I got. I could email you, too.

C.

[naberhoodhaunts]

Hey bobby, look in the other forums. search ankle tickler. you will find a few threads on that subject.

[screamforadream]

Thanks Joe and C., much appreciated!

I hope I can actually put this together haha, it seems so simple but if there's one thing I struggle the most with it's animatronics, mainly solenoids/controllers. I can figure out something that's already assembled, but assembling from scratch is just so difficult for me! I'll post progress pics. I get paid Thursday, and I have the weekend off, so hopefully I can make this an easy weekend project. =)

[BrotherMysterio]

Thanks Joe and C., much appreciated!

I hope I can actually put this together haha, it seems so simple but if there's one thing I struggle the most with it's animatronics, mainly solenoids/controllers. I can figure out something that's already assembled, but assembling from scratch is just so difficult for me! I'll post progress pics. I get paid Thursday, and I have the weekend off, so hopefully I can make this an easy weekend project. =)

To my understanding, FrightProps.com has an excellent supply of pneumatic components and controllers, so you can put together your own animatronic and pneumatic effects quite cost effectively.

You would probably just need a solenoid type thing from Fright Props, plus either a trigger or a motion detector and timer (or however you want to do it), but that list of the parts and all with the fittings should make everything pretty simple.

C.

[zombietoxin]

Funny story... So last year I built my first set of ticklers with 1/2" push fitting Tees and plastic air line as the manifold, or main line,- the tees reduced to 1/4" for the ticklers. I used the softer, more flexible plastic tubing for that and I used a simple 2-way valve to shut it on and off- no regulator... It worked pretty well, but I've seen 'whippier' ticklers. Oh, well- a thousand more things to do so off I went. My biggest problem turned out to be the height I mounted them allowed people to step on the end and then kick the tubing out of the tee. No biggie, didn't happen all that much, but I vowed to make it better this year.

So now I'm back and I'm changing the whips to this really soft neoprene tubing and I'm making them a bit longer because I'm raising the whole thing up so it can't get stepped on... and I'm hitting the trigger, and its going good when all of a sudden they all start swelling up like hotdog type balloons- getting big at the start and then expanding down the length! And they're all sort of out of time, so it's the first one, then the next, etc... And I'm standing there in the middle of them, thinking "great googly-moogly..." all captivated, watching them go up and down, in and out, and I'm starting to think it's like some kind of weird combination of freaky balloon art and s&m type porn, when suddenly- POW! and I get hit in the face with rubber shrapnel! That stung a bit... POW! another! Now I'm moving- getting out of there, but laughing my arse off as I went.

I later added a regulator that tamed the beast.

only in a haunt...

[screamforadream]

As much as that made me laugh, I'm petrified of I build it, I may mess up and have a piece of shrapnel fly off and hit a customer and I really dont want to get sued...lol. That would BLOW.

[BrotherMysterio]

That would BLOW.

Literally.

[screamforadream]

Thank you for catching that lol

[BrotherMysterio]

Thank you for catching that lol

My pleasure.

I'm sure any late comers to the conversation who are not that literate or proficient in haunting terminology will read "ankle ticklers", "air whips", "latex", "blowing", "my pleasure", and wonder "WTF are these weirdos talking about, and am I in the right forum!?!"

C.

[screamforadream]

Wait! This is a haunting forum?


Well....this just got awkward.

[BrotherMysterio]

Wait! This is a haunting forum?

Well....this just got awkward.

I know, right? Big oopsie.

C.