The Texture Rocks......again

With the Time Machine gone, were back to finishing up some projects before our next set build.
First up was the texture rocks display. It was left at the point where the rock was constructed from fiberglass reinforced bondo over a styrofoam base. I had hogged out all the foam so I would have an empty shell for the motor.

I punched a whole through the top for the butyl tubing that the 1/4-20 rod will run through.

I had a 12v gear-motor set aside for just this gig. It had a rather large pully pressed onto the shaft, and I had no desire to remove it. The plan was to just cut the pulley down to size on the table saw. The pulley has 4 radiating strengthening ribs molded into it. These are what I'm going to use to turn the top portion.

I made a quick coupler from the many offcuts of sintra that were left over from the coils on the time machine. I would have cut them on our Techno cnc, but today was feeling like a lazy day, and I couldn't be bothered to fire it up. You'll notice the grooves in it, these are going to sit over the ribs on the pulley . I also rounded them over so if anyone was to grab the rotating part of the display, it would bump up and jump slots, saving the gear-motor from damage.

I added a piece of 1/8 aluminum flat stock, drilled to fit the existing threaded holes on the gear-motor box.
I tacked it with crazy glue so it wouldn't move. I also drilled some divots in the HDU that will act like a mechanical lock for the reinforced bondo that will eventually hold the flat stock permanently.
The other side is pretty rough due to the styrofoam buck melting a bit with the bondo, so I didn't need to add any divots on that side.

This will definitely hold the flat stock in place!

With the assembly all together and rotating properly, it's of to paint. But not today, I'm going home to finish some 3d modelling.
8)
JO