Candy Cane Dispenser

T

toozie21

New member
One of my new props this year is going to be a candy cane diapenser. It is just about ready to be completed and all that will be left is for my wife to help me figure out how to spruce it up. Not one of my more elegant looking designs, but I was able to use a lot of leftover parts and it is super light.

I am still not happy with the exit chute, but that is pretty easy to swap out when I get something I like.

Here is a quick video when I got the guts of it put together:
https://youtu.be/kRDvzhE26QI

And here it is just before I buttoned things up 2 days ago:
https://youtu.be/kZpbeq1rJx0

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That is really cool. I like how it's clear on the side so kids can watch their candy cane come out. Capacity could be an issue depending on how many people you have wanting candy canes.
 
That is AWESOME. My only concern would be capacity of candy canes. Either way that is really awesome and a great addition to any display.
 
Protege94 said:
That is AWESOME. My only concern would be capacity of candy canes. Either way that is really awesome and a great addition to any display.
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Yeah, I had the same question. We are fairly new to this neighborhood, so I don't //think// we will have a ton of traffic yet. But, my wife's opinion was that when we are out, we are out.

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toozie21 said:
Yeah, I had the same question. We are fairly new to this neighborhood, so I don't //think// we will have a ton of traffic yet. But, my wife's opinion was that when we are out, we are out.

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Click to expand...

The second year I had my display up I went through over 250 candy canes. I would check it throughout the night if I noticed a lot of traffic. But when we were out for whatever reason I just put as many in the bucket as I could and then checked it when I got home.
 
garymullen said:
Just saw this and I love it! My wife does too, which means I'll be building something similar for next year :)
Click to expand...
Had another successful year with this. Gave out about 350 candy canes this year. Had some donations from neighbors who kids liked to regularly partake. Mine is only on when the lights are on, otherwise the neighborhood kids would pick me dey when they are coming home from school and out playing (I see them try all the time). Picked up 25 boxes at 50 cents a box from Walmart the other day, so I have a good start for next year.

You can see the completed form from last year about 35 seconds in
https://youtu.be/AounfCC5_DY

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i love all your vignettes.
Very creative and nicely executed.
toozie21 said:
Had another successful year with this. Gave out about 350 candy canes this year. Had some donations from neighbors who kids liked to regularly partake. Mine is only on when the lights are on, otherwise the neighborhood kids would pick me dey when they are coming home from school and out playing (I see them try all the time). Picked up 25 boxes at 50 cents a box from Walmart the other day, so I have a good start for next year.

You can see the completed form from last year about 35 seconds in
https://youtu.be/AounfCC5_DY

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
 
toozie21 said:
Had another successful year with this. Gave out about 350 candy canes this year. Had some donations from neighbors who kids liked to regularly partake. Mine is only on when the lights are on, otherwise the neighborhood kids would pick me dey when they are coming home from school and out playing (I see them try all the time). Picked up 25 boxes at 50 cents a box from Walmart the other day, so I have a good start for next year.

You can see the completed form from last year about 35 seconds in
https://youtu.be/AounfCC5_DY

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Only having it on during the show is a good idea!

My wife bought a whole bunch of candy canes yesterday, so I guess I'd better figure out how to build it now.

Where did you get the motor and spiral from? Is this basically the type of motor I would need? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1129108956.html
 
garymullen said:
Only having it on during the show is a good idea!

My wife bought a whole bunch of candy canes yesterday, so I guess I'd better figure out how to build it now.

Where did you get the motor and spiral from? Is this basically the type of motor I would need? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1129108956.html
Click to expand...

That looks exactly like the motor I am using. The spirals were a conundrum to me for a while. I wanted to make them myself, but ended up just buying ones that were designed for vending machines. If you look at the second pic in your link, the clear circle is what the rings attach to. If you find the brand of rings that go with that motor, it will snap right on. I ended up buying my rings on eBay from someone selling vending parts. I bought the wrong ones at first, so I have some LARGE loops designed more for bags of chips, and then the tighter ~3in diameter ones I am using that would be more candy bar size. It holds 15 candy canes at once.

After some issues, I switched to a lighted doorbell to be the pushbutton. I also use a 555 timer so that the brief button push lasts closer to 2 seconds to give the motor time to work it's magic (I will try to find a precious post to explain what I mean).

One thing I need to fix is, I cannot tell how many canes are left from my house without going down to check on it. That is frustrating beyond belief and on my list to fix this year. Sometimes I would go down and only 1 would be gone, other times it was empty. Think it through when you design yours [emoji16].

Keep us updated on your progress!

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ukewarrior said:
i love all your vignettes.
Very creative and nicely executed.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much!!!!

I never had a good way to explain my little boxes, but vignettes sums it up perfectly. I am planning on making a platform this year to hold the two vignettes and the candy cane machine. There is a small bank next to my sidewalk and leveling the displays every year is a pain in the butt. I figure leveling one platform and attaching them to it will be a lifesaver. I get terrible wind gusts where I live, so everything has to be extremely held into the ground, so I think a large platform will help with that as well.

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toozie21 said:
That looks exactly like the motor I am using. The spirals were a conundrum to me for a while. I wanted to make them myself, but ended up just buying ones that were designed for vending machines. If you look at the second pic in your link, the clear circle is what the rings attach to. If you find the brand of rings that go with that motor, it will snap right on. I ended up buying my rings on eBay from someone selling vending parts. I bought the wrong ones at first, so I have some LARGE loops designed more for bags of chips, and then the tighter ~3in diameter ones I am using that would be more candy bar size. It holds 15 candy canes at once.

After some issues, I switched to a lighted doorbell to be the pushbutton. I also use a 555 timer so that the brief button push lasts closer to 2 seconds to give the motor time to work it's magic (I will try to find a precious post to explain what I mean).

One thing I need to fix is, I cannot tell how many canes are left from my house without going down to check on it. That is frustrating beyond belief and on my list to fix this year. Sometimes I would go down and only 1 would be gone, other times it was empty. Think it through when you design yours [emoji16].

Keep us updated on your progress!

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

What if you rigged a dash cam inside the dispenser 12volt and depending on the distance access from cell phone as I can access my dash cam from my cell phone from inside my house.


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wilmar said:
What if you rigged a dash cam inside the dispenser 12volt and depending on the distance access from cell phone as I can access my dash cam from my cell phone from inside my house.


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Click to expand...
That is EXACTLY what I've been investigating the last week. The motor runs on 12V, so I have the power. Now I just can't decide on what camera to use since it is so close to the canes.....

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toozie21 said:
That is EXACTLY what I've been investigating the last week. The motor runs on 12V, so I have the power. Now I just can't decide on what camera to use since it is so close to the canes.....

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Click to expand...

The one I have would work it’s very wide angle but I can see windshield wipers about 3 inches away . And was only around 60 dollars and is great had for 2 years now . Got on Amazon has a really long cord like 15’ for power .


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wilmar said:
The one I have would work it’s very wide angle but I can see windshield wipers about 3 inches away . And was only around 60 dollars and is great had for 2 years now . Got on Amazon has a really long cord like 15’ for power .


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Click to expand...
I think that is a great idea, but $60 is a bit steep for me for this task. I was going to try to do it closer to $25 just in case I have issues or something happens to it.

The good think about your dash cam idea is that it is designed to be in the cold temps at night, where as an ESP32 cam or a regular wifi webcam wouldn't be....

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toozie21 said:
I think that is a great idea, but $60 is a bit steep for me for this task. I was going to try to do it closer to $25 just in case I have issues or something happens to it.

The good think about your dash cam idea is that it is designed to be in the cold temps at night, where as an ESP32 cam or a regular wifi webcam wouldn't be....

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Click to expand...

I agree ... another option is 10 dollar web cam and 18 dollar 50’ usb extension. Or smaller depending on what you need


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