Cardboard Carnival Swing Ride

As a kid, I really loved this carnival ride because it was such a simple motion but so enjoyable at the same time especially with the cool wind and a nice sunset. So I thought, why not make a miniature version on my desk that I can spin?

Foam Board (or Cardboard)

Epilog Laser Machine

Box Cutter Knife

Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks

String

Scissors

Above is a picture of all the parts that need to be cut out along with their dimensions. Either make this similar format on a CAD software or draw it out by hand on a foam board or on cardboard. Once drawn, cut it out or laser it. There is an extra ring and chairs made into this CAD work for wiggle room of errors while constructing.

The picture with the green letter labels is a reference to use in the upcoming steps.

Take piece B and lay it down flat on a table. Using a box cutter, cut along the 2 lines of the rectangular piece until it can fold into a triangular prism shape and hot glue it together. Careful to not cut through the entire cardboard when doing this step.

Afterwards, lay piece A flat on a table and hot glue one end of the triangular piece into the open circle of piece A. This will be the foundation of the entire project so make sure it stands well.

To add on, take one of the rings (piece C) and hot glue it to the triangular prism near the top, leaving about 1 to 1.5 inches of space between the very top and the ring. This doesn’t need to be completely measured out but needs to leave enough room for the remaining components.

Piece D is the part that will contain the string and seats to spin, so we DO NOT want to glue it to the triangular prism. Place piece D on top of the ring from step 2 and grab another ring (piece C) and hot glue it right above piece D. This allows for piece D to spin and move around with the security of the rings around it.

This serves for a very simple wheel and axle machine without using motors to make it easier as an at home craft.

To fold the chair (piece G), take it and lay it flat on the table. Use the box cutter to cut along the lines of that one side. This will allow it to fold upwards into a chair. Again, careful to not cut through the entire cardboard. There are extra chairs in the CAD work for this reason.

Take a roll of string and cut a string roughly 14-15 inches long. Put each end of the string through the chair holes of piece D and hot glue each end of the string to one side of the chair.

Repeat this process 8 times until all 8 chair holes of piece D are filled.

Extra Note: In my finished product, there are some strings that contain 2 chairs on one string. This isn’t necessary but it was demonstrated for fun. It is ultimately the builder’s choice if this is done.

The roof (piece F) has 9 folds, but we only need an octagon shape. Take the 9th side and put it on top of one of the other sides and glue it on top for it to stick. Then place it on top of piece E and glue it together.

Take the combined piece of E and F we made in the previous step and put it on top of the structure and it should be a perfect fit to stick.

Now the swing ride is completely finished. You can spin piece D with the chairs attached with no issue.