Pop-up Dragon Toy

This amusing toy- sometimes called a "morality toy" when the box is formed in the shape of a forbidden book, with covers, spine and title- requires few hand tools and materials to build. It does however require a power drill and a table saw.

Step 1 The dragon's action

I based my design loosely on a simple souvenir sold at the Hong Kong Pavilion at the New York World's Fair in 1964-65.

Also shown is a more elaborate antique carved example in "forbidden book" form, where the more common snake or viper figure is used. It has a wickedly-sharp spike where my dragon features a softer material. Note the wood "binding" on the bottom of the toy (photo credit: ebay user bubbleking)

Comments

[apdog4]

hmmmm, how did you get that much subscribers with 1 instructable..... xD i dont even have A subscriber

[Win Guy]

Not to pop your bubble, but they have this at my local oriental shop for $2.95 - Thanks for the 'ible, though! Win Guy

[Denger]

I had seen plans for a toy like this many years ago in a woodworking magazine, and I've been looking for the plans ever since. Thank you for sharing this!

[playfulplans]

Wow... I'd love to see those plans, for sure. I collect clips from old woodworking and crafts magazines from the 40's through the 60's but have never seen that one.

The mechanism is simple, but requires careful attention to details. Of course there are any number of variations on the same basic mechanism. Thx Denger.

[Denger]

I think the plans I remember had appeared in Fine Woodworking, Wood or some such magazine back in the early 1980s.  It may have been called a "surprise box" (?).  As I recall it, that design was fundamentally the same as yours, (even featuring the dragon, with only slight cosmetic differences).

[playfulplans]

Yes.

I find the snake version seems to be generally the most common I've seen in the US.

I was so happy to purchase the 1960's World's Fair dragon version on eBay for a few bucks.

Unfortunately I damaged (broke!) the neck of the dragon figure while dismantling to map out the mechanism. Should not be a difficult repair though!

Thx Denger.

[Goodhart]

I like this a lot. Not just the idea of doing this "in this way" but the mechanism gives me lot of ideas (almost none of which will come to fruition because of time), and because of the splendid detail of the ible itself. Thanks for sharing, and looking forward to more.

[playfulplans]

Many thanks Goodhart... from a newbie to a true pro...

[Goodhart]

Well, I probably won't "come into my own" until I am able to retire from an 8-10 hour a day job, but thank you. I do try with my limited resources :-)

[squirrelMLM]

Just built it! But I probably spent half an hour longer than I should have:

Couple things:

1. I didn't have a table saw (I'm only 14 years old lol) to make the grooves, so what I did is I took a piece of 1/8 inch plywood the size of one of the sides and cut a second piece into a 1/8 x 1/8 x 3-1/2 piece and a 1/8 x 2-1/4 x 3-1/2 piece. I glued those pieces onto the first original side piece so that there is a 1/8 inch gap in between, making a groove. (hard to explain, see picture)

2. I found that when I drilled the 1/16 inch hole in the center of the dragon, it didn't turn on the nail very well, so I ended up making a 7/64 bit I had, and it turned perfectly.

3. I had to cut a sort of V into the center of the top of the "front end" piece because the string that I had glued onto the bottom of the slide kept crashing into the front end, which stopped the dragon from rising properly.

Overall, a great instructable!

[Goodhart]

1. Yes, I was thinking along the same lines because, even though I am 52, I still don't own a table saw (I barely own a hand circular saw LOL). I was trying to think of a way to build a jig, so I could use the ancient hand router I have, but the idea of your way takes less time and effort (always an incentive LOL).

[playfulplans]

Wow- excellent work!!!

1. Great idea.

2. You're so right- as I mentioned, the exact size of the bit will depend on the diameter of the nail you use... I think just going with the 7/64th" should be in the plan in the first place...

3. The V would work... my front end piece allowed like 1/16" space for the thin string so it wasn't a problem.

Show us a photo or two!!

Thanks squirreMLM.

[Ratfink]

I made one years ago, the mechanics are more or less the same as this one. I built a box approximately 4" x 6", with knob that slides the door open. I used a realistic looking mouse(a cat toy) instead of a dragon, and used a stiff copper wire as the mount. I scared my sister in-law out of a chair with it!!!

[playfulplans]

Yikes...

and gotta love the Rat Fink.

Huge fan of Big Daddy Roth since middle school in '67.

[Bubbler]

I have one of these toys, but it is a snake, and the maker inserted fine copper wire for a forked tongue, which can actually prick a small child on the finger. I could never figure out the mechanism without pulling it apart, so thanks for this Instructable.

[playfulplans]

Glad to do it.

Honestly, i had to remove the paper label "bottom" from the World's Fair example shown above to figure it out myself... at least it's an easy fix to fasten the label back on!

[Mark Rehorst]

This is great! You could modify this by adding one of those electric shockers from a gag pen or lighter. One electrode is the side the box (it would need to be metal), the other is the dragon's tongue. A switch can be arranged to send power to the shocker when you start to open the door. I'd also add a spring to automatically reclose the door when you let go of the box.

You probably couldn't tell the exact source of the shock so maybe just put the two electrodes on the side of the box (fingers touch one contact, thumb the other) and have power turn on when the dragon is all the way out of the box.

[playfulplans]

Awesome concept.

In high school we did the "shocking" thing with our chemistry professor where he had the box with the crank and each of us in turn got our hands wet and held the wires in our hands, seeing how much juice we could take... pretty sadistic!

The element of surprise you suggest would be a lot better!

[rbormann]

I seen one of this when I was really young (long time ago...) and the woodworker that did it explained me that it was made for a psychology lab that was interested in the measurement of reaction under sudden stress. And it was just like yours, but with one single difference. The snake, not a dragon, came out all of a sudden because of an elastic band that was used to pull out the snake. Even if you pulled the cover slowly, the snake would come out quickly, right after the elastic band was taut enough to pull the snake out. That was really uncontrollable and snap like. Sorry for the english, I´m a brazilian portuguese native speaker.
Nice instructable!
I like it very much.!

[playfulplans]

Wow, very interesting.. I like the rubber band idea!

[aznbenn]

Hm... is there any way this could be modified to make it a toothpick holder? like have some way for the dragon to hold toothpicks in its mouth...

[srilyk]

It would be incredibly complicated - you'd basically be doing what a clip-fed gun does with bullets - only with toothpicks. But it sure would be neat!

[playfulplans]

Ha... but I haven't a clue as to how...

[Minifig666]

Only afterwards do you realise the dragon wad laced with a deadly neurotoxin...
Nice project, for assassinations.

[playfulplans]

Could be...

I imagine the pointy end on that snake in Step 1 would seriously put the hurt on you, with or w/o a neuro...

[lobo0x7]

neat instructable.

there is a way to avoid the table saw for the groove: use and old drawer, wooden box or anything that has allready the channel for the slide. Many drawers has the bottom part living in such slots.

i also tryied with a knife and a metal ruler and it is not so dificult to carve it if the wood is not too hard. if you have a nice thin enough file for finnishing the slot you are all set.

but i picked up last night an old, nice wooden drawer with slots in both sides in the street and it will be just perfect for my dragon box.

thanks

[playfulplans]

Interesting idea. If the groove is wider than 1/8" you can certainly adjust your wood thickness for the Slide part.

Thanks lobo0x7!

[playfulplans]

AndyGadget, thanks. What was I thinking?

Added action vid to Step 2: The dragon's action

Thanks all for your encouragement, this is my first Instructible after lurking for a while!

More to come, Kev

[AndyGadget]

Brilliant!

[brunoip]

Awesome, I have to make one of these.

[Biggsy]

Kev this is a fantastic I'ble thanks for sharing, can't wait what else you come up with!

High Five for you!

[AndyGadget]

I love this - It has an old-fashioned charm to it.
(Any chance of a video of it working?)

[dragonsniper]

nice

[zack247]

these are really cool, i remember my parents having one of these, i never could figure it out.
Great instructable!