This instructable will tell you how to make a candy vending machine. I have made several vending machines in the past and even now I still marvel at the mecanics and how they can be made with a material like cardboard. Not all the supplies are pictured at the start of the tutorial but you will see them later on when it is time to make the section they are included in.

Supplies

cardboard
pencil
ruler
tape
hot glue
scissors
thin dowel ( or reed diffuser stick )
craft knife
things for decorating

Step 1:

First you need to cut the cardboard like the above picture. One 10x18cm peice that is devided into three equally with lines (like above) and two 6x6 cm pieces. The 6x6 piece with a hole is the piece where my sweets will come through. The hole is cut to the size I wanted it to be but you can cut it to any size you want as long as the hole is in the middle. The other piece that doesn't have measurments will soon be a regtangular pipe the same size as the hole in the 6x6 piece. You will need to make this peice according to the size of the hole in your 6x6 piece

Step 2:

Take your 10x18cm piece and cut about halfway through the cardboard along the three lines you have drawn to split the piece equally. Now fold the carboard and stick it on the 6x6 cm piece ( without the hole) like the above picture

Step 3:

Now glue the 6x6 piece with the hole on top.

Step 4:

We are now going to make the main part of the machine. Cut out two equally sized circles and one rectangle. The width of the rectangle needs to be shorter than that of the machine. If you are following my instructions the width of the rectangle will need to be shorter than 6cm. Now make partial cuts through the rectangle on both sides to make it flexible. Punch holes through the cardboard circles.

Step 5:

Hot glue the rectangle to the circles so it is like the picture above.The cardboad rectangle needs to only go part of the way around the circles so it creates a stucture that can hold things.

Step 6:

Now take a reed diffuser stick or some thin dowel and cut it so you can poke it into the holes in the circles on each side. Put hot glue on one of the sticks and push it inside the hole of one circle. Ignore the fact that the picture has two sticks sticking out of the main structure. My mistake :)

Step 7:

Next comes the hard part, you have to put the finished stucture from the last step inside the box part. This is why you need to have only one stick coming out of the weel structure at this point. Punch a hole in the sides of the box structure.You should be able to squeeze the weel structure inside and if you cant, make holes behind the ones you just made. The further back the holes are in the box structure, the easier it will be to install the weel. Make sure not to put them too far back though. Once the weel structure is inside, you need to poke the other stick through the other side of the box and into the other hole in the weel. You will then need to hot glue this from the inside of the weel structure. It should look like the structure above. Leave the sticks coming out of the sides.

Step 8:

Now take another 6x6 panel and install it on the front to hide the mechanism behind.

Step 9:

Take some cardboard and cut a handle out of it. Punch a hole in the handle and hot glue it to the end of one of the sticks that is coming out of the edge of the main structure. Cut the stick on the other side off so it is not sticking out.