Spooky Backwards Spinning Clock Made from Cassette Player Motor

This is a prop that I made for my daughter's elementary school haunted house, which I run with my husband. The clock is constructed from a cheapo thrift store clock and an old kid's cassette player. It shows thirteen o'clock and the minute hand spins backwards.

Step 1 Materials & Tools

The things I used for this project are:

Materials
An old clock (doesn't need to work)
A portable cassette tape player (not a micro cassette)
Enclosed battery holder ( I used Radio Shack #270-409)
Wood ( I used 3/4" thick poplar)
Wire
Electrical tape
Wood screws
White glue
Epoxy glue
Plastic spacer
A set of Fancy clock hands
Paint
Super 77 spray adhesive
Wooden finale
Small wood molding (I got this at Michaels Arts & Crafts)
Styrofoam
Duct tape

Tools
Screwdriver
Soldering iron
Saw
Miter box

Comments

[BadTable Manor]

Excellent how-to, and your clock is beautifully done. Would've loved to see your haunt; you have quite the Gothic Martha Stewart touch!

[ChrissyStarr]

Thanks!

[DIYDragon]

That's pretty cool. I'd have that in my house all the time just to get weird looks from people. "You know your clock is spinning.. backwards.. right?" Yeah, so? :)

[cwii]

it is from Walt Disney Land, The Tower of Terror.

[Doctor What]

not so much spooky as geeky.

[ewilhelm]

I love the visual look of the number piled up on the bottom of the clock. Nice!

[ll.13]

ditto, Great Instructable. It might look even spookier if it wasn't going so fast, maybe like a mournful slower speed. :-)

[TheCheese9921]

Or go normal speed clockwise then have a motion sensor and when you get near it it slows down to a stop, then it goes super fast backwards. What would be even cool is if you tied it in to music so the music would slow down then when it goes backwards so does the music.

[stro]

i have an idea ... you said there were 2 cogs in the cassette player? one that moved faster. . . i bet you could hook up the hour hand to it