A rotisserie motor will work for this project if you keep the top light as possible. It worked for the previous opening tombstone except for when we added the styrofoam head. To make things lighter we could of used a simple small cross for the headstone and glued the mask to the lid without the styrofoam form. For basic instructions on the box and tombstone go back to Opening Tombstone. This page deals with the rotisserie motor only.
MOTOR
CRANK
The rest of the instructions are the same as the previous page. Go to the step titled "BOX" to finish this project.
Please remember with a rotisserie motor to keep the lid relatively light.
Using a barbecue rotisserie motor we mounted it on its side to some wood. We took the metal bottom plate off of the motor, marked and drilled holes in a piece of wood and replaced the plate with the wood between. Motor - wood - bottom plate. The motor is also set on a block of wood that is screwed into the bottom of the base. This keeps the motor stable and secure. Make sure you don't screw the bottom plate back in too tight as the crank won't turn.
Here it is with the motor mounted in place. A hole is drilled in the back for the cord. We drilled the hole a little lower than the motor in case of rain so the water wouldn't run down the cord and ruin the motor. I will also put a roof (not shown) over the motor for added protection.
The crank shaft is an "L" bracket. On the top you can see we drilled two holes and attached a piece of 5/16" square plate steel . The free end of the steel is what inserts into the motor so make sure you get the right size. We took the motor with us to be sure. On the bottom of the L bracket we drilled another hole for the aluminum angle stock to attach.
Here is how it looks with the stock attached. We used washers and nuts which you can see better in the large picture.
You will have to experiment to get the right length for your particular project. The other end of the aluminum stock will be sitting in a PVC elbow that's screwed into the lid.
