snow drum

[lilflip]

what is a snow drum?

 

[derekleffew]

Sorry for the tardiness. See the glossary entry snow drum, created just for you.

Does anyone have any pictures of a shop-built snow drum?

 

[icewolf08]

A snow drum is basically a big tube that has holes along its length at random intervals so that when you load it with fake snow or rice or gelcaps (or anything else you might want to drop) and then rotate the tube, the snow drops out. The rotation agitates the contents and lets them fall out through the holes at an organic looking rate.

 

[Van]

I've got a couple of "home made" snowdrums in the garage, er, um, "Storage Area" of my shop I'll go take a picture later.
I built mine by cutting two rounds out of plywood about 18" in diameter. Then I connected the two circles by stapling 2"x2" at the four quadrants of the circles. Drill a 1" hole in the center of each circle. Install a piece of gas pipe through the holes and cover the thing in 2 layers of Chicken wire. It works like a dream.

 

[00AVD]

A couple of questions:

How do you "load" the snow into the drum?

Do you lose much of the snow before the effect is run? (loading and hanging)

 

[jamesarnold140]

I was asked to build a small snow drum for a window cutout a few years ago. Once again Sonotube came to the rescue. A 4' section with two plywood round ends. Run a threaded steel bar down the center and leave about 6'' atm least stiking out each end.Bolt the unit inside and out with a washer and locking style nut so it won't work loose. Don't worry you can reach inside because you''re going to cut a rectangular hole towards the center of the tube for loading it. Afew small hinges and hook eyes with rubber bands make a secure latch. A trip to the local "Ax Man surplus provided a small motor and small bike gears for cheap. The support is simply a box around it of 2x2s and plywood ends to hold surplus bolt-on bearings. The base is similar,a rectangular box but hinged to fold for storage. Mount a 2x2 upright at each end for height,when you have what you need cut them in half. Then cut lengths of PVC to sleeve them,you can alter height easily or just suspend the upper unit. The amount of snow released depends on speed of your motor and size and number of holes in your tube. The use of the locking nuts is important to keep the drum in line if it's not going to wander or work loose after running during a series of performances.We throw a sheet inside the base and refill about every third show.

 

[lilflip]

can i get some pics

 

[derekleffew]

The closest picture I could come up with is of a "raffle ticket drum," which might even work depending on the size of the holes. Just need to devise a safe method of hanging and attaching a very slow variable speed motor, or a sheave and operating line. This might work if the rain/snow is outside a window, but for a full-stage effect one would need a much longer drum, or a snow cradle.

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