stilt construction

8/4/2019 Stilt Construction

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CreditsCover Illustrations, ReigningFyre

http://www.youtube.com/user/ReigningFyrehttp://reigningfyre.deviantart.com/

Cover Saytr PhotoA. Bjorkman Johnson, "Sevinkei

Q&A for Kids with Big IdeasInterview with Ethan Nelson

Stilt Experiences

Tathi, Ghost Cat Studios, http://www.furaffinity.com/users/tathiSquiggyleeBen, http://www.youtube.com/gryphern

blackcat2086, http://www.blackcat2086.deviantart.com

How-to Illustrations, Unlabeled Photos, Text by Gryphernhttp://www.youtube.com/gryphern

Fonts used are Times New Roman owned by Linotype and Centaur by Monotype ImagingFormatting was done in the free program Open Office Writer

Models were made in the free program Google SketchUpAll photos used with permission
http://www.furaffinity.com/users/tathihttp://www.furaffinity.com/users/tathi


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Contentsi Suppliesii Credits1 Table of Contents2 Designing, Planning3 Designing, Structure4 Wood Construction, Cutting Wood5 Wood Construction, Using screws6 Metal Cutting7 Furring & Shoe Mounting8 Tips for Kids, Q&A with Ethan9 Stilt Experiences10 Stilt Experiences


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DesigningYour design should start with your character concept. In the left sketch the character is hunched and has

very angled legs. The character on the right has a tall, straight posture.

The calf muscles have to do a lotof work. Strong bungees cordsare needed to pull the wearerupright and reduce the work doneby the calf muscles and ankle.

The tight angle allows for thewearer's center of gravity tobetter line up over the floor plate.

This wearer will have lots of extraheight.

The weight is centered behind the edgeof the floor plate. The wearer will haveto pay attention to make sure the wholestilt contacts the ground, or the stiltswill walk on their heels, but is easier onthe calf muscles.

Consider how the character's features will impede movement. Very long toes will inevitably be stepped onor bent backwards. A tiny hoof may cause balance issues. A very narrow leg may create a stilt that's too delicateto be used safely. Will a tail or heavy head make balance difficult? If using a mask, will there be someone toassist the wearer in case limited vision becomes a problem? If there's too much weight on the back (like a tail andwings) the wearer will have to use their muscles constantly (a bad thing) to balance forward?

After your character is designed you need to identify who will act as the character. How you make thestilts depends on their body and how large the stilts should look compared to the wearer. The kind of wood boardused will depend on the weight of your wearer. Each stilt set will be unique: One set of dimensions will only workfor another person of similar size in a similar costume. Don't be afraid to truly design the project. Get out paper,draw sketches, write out word pictures to help visualize what you want.

There are clear limitations to this design. I've found adding nine inches of height to the wearer makes thestilts very tiring to walk in and is bes for short appearances. Though, I've received photos of taller stilts, withglowing stories about their ease of use, but I prefer to be conservative in my designs. Shorter stilts that raise thefoot only a few inches off the ground can be worn for hours with no discomfort.

Try to keep as much of the wearer's foot over the foot plate as possible. The biggest drawback of thisdesign is that the wearer's foot is mounted behind the foot platform instead of directly above. This tends to causeweight to be put on the back edge of the floor plate when walking.

How you mount a shoe to the stilt is up to you. I suggest using wood screws or bolts with locking nuts.Washers on the inside of the shoe spread out the screw or bolt's grip. You could also buy replacement bindings forski boots or snowboards, or other straps if you don't want to sacrifice a pair of old shoes.

Floor Plate

Foot PlatePivotToe Piece

Calf Pads (Just below the knee)

Bungees

Triangles

Eyelet ScrewsMetal Brace


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DesigningBungee Cords make this design work, otherwise the wearer's

legs would get tired very quickly trying to keep the wearer upright.Hooked into two eyelets at the end of the stilt the bungees pull the

wearer upright. Strong, or multiple bungee cords can make a tight anglework comfortably. The more distance between the pivot point and theeyelets, the better the bungees will be able to pull you up. The top exampleoffers more assistance to the wearer, so it's more comfortable. The bottom exampleis a more streamlined stilt, but offers less assistance. Stronger (or more) bungeeswill be needed. Mini bungee cords' thin wire hooks will deform over time. Biggerbungees last longer, worth the extra cost for a pack. You can shorten bungees by tying aknot that forces the little metal hook further up the cord. You will have to experiment tofind the right amount of pull. A 180 pound man in stilts with 9 inches of height and a footplate at a 45 angle will need four mini bungees per stilt, and will wear them out quickly.

The leg brace it pretty simple. Metal with at least onefolded up edge (to add strength) has a hole in the bottom and twoholes the top. A single wood screw holds the metal piece at thesame place the wearer's ankle will be. Washers on either side ofthe screw provide "wiggle room" so the brace can move side toside a little bit. Because the stilts extend the human foot they alsocreate new kinds of terrible ways to injure the ankle and knee. Theleg brace and leg band are very important for supporting the ankle.The washers allow the stilt to twist a bit rather than forcing theknee to rotate during a fall. Two thickrectangles of furniture foamor car washing sponges are attached to a piece of Velcro tape withzip ties. The foam and Velcro tape are then attached to the metal

piece with more zip ties.

Foam or rubber padding silences the stilt and prevents damage to thestilt as well as protecting delicate floors. For the foot plate I suggest usingfoam flip flops with TRACTION TREAD on the bottom, cut to shape withscissors and screwed in place with three little screws. Between the toe pieceand foot plate a strip of craft foam silences the toe and prevents damage. Thetoe piece can have thinner padding as it does not have to bear weight. Did Imention TRACTION TREAD? Without treads linoleum or smooth concretewill cause new forms of pain when you fall flat on your shapely butt.

The toe piece is mounted with a hinge. This gives the illusion that thefoot of the costume is bending and reacting to the ground. You can also lift theleg and make the toes flop around, such as pretending to lash out witha raptor kick, or shaking water off the stilt. How extreme the toe'smovement is depends on the mount of space between the toepiece and the foot plate, as well as how much slack fabric isleft during the furring process. By limiting slack youcan prevent the toe from flipping backward.


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Wood ConstructionWhen cutting wood plan how long each piece needs to be before you make any cuts. You may be able

to arrange your cuts more efficiently to prevent waste. Reducing waste means you buy less, and that makes yourproject cheaper.

If you needed...(2) 2 foot pieces(4) 1 foot pieces(1) foot piece

...And you planned ahead, you could getall seven pieces out of two six foot boards.But if you just randomly cut out pieces,you'd have to buy an extra board, then endup with an entire board's worth of scrapwood.

If you have a hardware store that will cut boards for you (the big U.S. chains like Home Depot andLowe's will) have them make all the straight cuts you need. It will save you time and you won't have to clean up.

If you want a line to cut along (helps to make super straight cuts) measure the length you want along theedge of the board and draw a dot with a pencil or marker. Do the same thing on the opposite side, then use astraight edge to draw a line that goes through both dots.

This stilt design requires two small wood rectangles to be cut into triangles, so you'll need to cutdiagonally on two small pieces. To do this you need a clamp or a vice to hold the wood piece. (You can often findcheap vices or clamps at flea markets.) You'll be cutting against the grain of the wood so you'll have an easier timewith saw with a stiff blade...

...like a crosscut saw or... ...a backsaw.

(That's why it's called a crosscut saw, for cutting across wood grain.) The saw should be sharp, the teeth should allbe the same length, and the saw should have all its teeth If not, you'll need to get it sharpened, or borrow/buy asaw that's in good condition.

How long a rectangular piece of board is when you split it into triangles determines the angle your stilt

will sit at. You can guess at it, or you can be precise by using basic geometry to determine angles produced atdifferent lengths. If you don't have a good knowledge of geometry Google search for Side angle side and abunch of online calculators and webpages that show you how to do the math will pop up. Since you're workingwith a rectangle you'll always have a corner with a 90 angle to work with, making the math easier.


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Wood Construction

When driving a screw, you may split your wood piece!

To avoid splitting the wood, drill a narrow hole a little

shorter than your screw is long. Drive the screw into the wood,but leave the head of the screw above the wood.

If you force the head of the screw into the wood there's achance it will split the wood. If you don't pre-drill a hole and youdrive a screw in it might make cracks you can't see, or put stresson the wood. ...So when you'restomping around in your stilts the woodis more likely to split. The stronger thetype of wood you use, the moreimportant pre-drilling becomes.You might get a way without pre-drilling a soft pine

board, but not withmaple or oak.

To safelydrive the head of ascrew flat into yourwood piece, firstdrill a narrow hole.Then, use a largerdrill bit the that's the same diameter as the screw head. Using the larger drill bit drill a shallow, flat bottomedhole for the screw to sink into. This hole is called a counterbore. You can buy special drill bits that make anarrow hole for the screw and a cone shaped countersinkfor the screw head at the same time, saving work.

How To Start A Saw Cut

Place the saw blade on the endof the line you want to cut. Draw thesaw toward you. Put the saw blade backon the end of the line and draw it backagain until you have a groove. Don't

push the saw at first, the teeth will biteinto the wood and make the saw bladebounce to the side.

Use short saw motions to turnthe groove into a cut. Once the cut isall the way through the wood beginsawing with the whole saw blade. Tryto keep your wrist straight. The sawshould be an extension of your arm.

When you make the cut the sawshould be making a diagonally line, not

a straight up and down cut. If the sawis on an angle pushing down make thesaw teeth tear through the wood. If thesaw is straight up and down you won'tbe able to push the saw into the woodand it will takeforeverto make a cut.


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Metal CuttingFor my first pair of stilts I didn't need to cut metal. The

metal drawer tracks I found were the right length. I did have todrill holes in the metal for the pivot point. That was easy, I just

bought a drill bit for my power drill that was made for drillinginto metal (it says on the packaging of the bit when you buy it.)

For my second pair of stilts I couldn't find a perfectmetal piece so I bought inexpensive metal rails made for trackshelves (shelving often used in closets, see pictures.) The metalwas too long and to make my washers fit I would have to cut the sides off,pictured to the right. (Even though the sides got in the way I wanted a metalpiece with folded sides so it wouldn't bend like thin, flat metal would.)

The simplest way to cut thin metal is a rotary tool. A hack saw cancut through metal too, but is best only for simple cuts like cutting a straightpiece of metal into two pieces. A rotary tool is like a power drill but withattachments like cuttings wheels, sanding discs, and cutting heads. The discs

for cutting metal are a few dollars per pack.When mounted onto the rotary tool the spinning edge of the metal

cutting wheel eats at metal when it touches, digging in and throwing red hotsparks everywhere. You need eye protection that will stop sparks from getting toyour eyes, normal eye glasses are NOT good enough. The sparks are tiny, so ifthey land on your skin you may feel a hot prick but you won't get burned. It'sbest to work in an open area where the sparks can't land on anything, like adriveway or concrete floor of a garage. You press the cutting wheel onto the metalwith similar pressure to cutting through cold butter. Too much pressure will breakthe cutting wheel, sending wheel pieces flying and leading to lost control of therotary tool.

The metal cutting wheels get worn down quickly. When you first cut

metal you may accidentally wear down an entire wheel with each cut. Alwaysreplace it instead of trying to use the last little bits, you don't want launch pieces

of broken wheel at yourself.

You have to be aware of metal burrs; tiny, twisted piecesof metal left over from cutting on the edge of the metal. They cancut skin and do terrible things to eyes. Use the spinning cuttingwheel, or a metal file to remove burrs. When you're finished besure to sweep/vacuum your work area to get rid of burrs.The metal will also be burning hot when it's been cut, but won'tglow or steam or anything. Don't touch it, and don't try to pick upthe cut off pieces right away. Let the metal sit for several minutes.

You can hover your hand above it to see if it's still hot beforetouching it.

Rotary tools are sold by brands including Dremmel andBlack&Decker. The small, less expensive hand-held rotary toolsare perfect for this kind of project. Heavy duty rotary tools like theRoto Zip line for construction projects (triple the price of a

Dremmel tool at the time of writing this) are more powerful, but have way more power than is needed and thereare fewer stores that carry accessories and replacement parts for them. They're also a much larger investment ifyou're just exploring what you can build yourself. If you don't want to make a purchase the lower-powerDremmel tool and other rotary tools are very popular, you can probably borrow one if you ask around.

A rotary tool cut off wheel can slice metalUsername Albert, Wikimedia Commons


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Furring & shoesFabric skin can be done however you want, but should be done after mounting the shoes. You will be

best off buying faux fur off the bolt, which is buying fabric from a cardboard roll at a fabric store. A rough

amount is a yard and a half per stilt. Furry fabric can range in price greatly. The really expensive stuff (more than$17 a yard when bought at the fabric store) tends to have many hairs per square inch, but is not as good for hidingseams: the fake hairs are so smooth and organized it's easy to tell where two pieces have been joined. The mid-price craft fur seems to work the best since it hides its seams well, and you don't have to deal with specialbackings or anything weird. With cheaper faux fur you also won't start sobbing if you fall in a mud puddle andcoat the faux fur with grime. Dry cleaners are not going to dry clean your stilts, so don't spend 100's of dollarsgiving them a skin. (You can, however, buy a dry cleaning pad, which is dry cleaning chemicals in a little bag thesize of a kitchen sponge. Artists pat the bags on their papers to remove skin oils and grime. Sold at art stores andsome dry cleaner/laundrymat businesses.)

Based on your character sketch, plan out any features. Will you make a hoof out of paper mache? Willyou make toes out of an old couch cushion's foam or some car washing sponges? Do you want to make a musclebulge? Sculpt your features before adding any fur. Construct your features and add the fur around them.

How to add the fur? For my stilts I cut excess hairs away where I wanted the faux fur to fold tightly onitself, between the foam toes of my stilt. Then I wrapped a big piece of fabric around the stilt, cut it into a squareand used hot glue to hold everything in place. I trimmed the excess off when I was done. Then I cut slits into thefur so the leg of the stilt could be peeled down and allow access to the shoe, stilt, and bungee cords. I hot gluedVelcro tabs along the slits to hold the fur closed while being used. Any parts left bare I cut and added scraps offur to. You can also work acrylic paint into the fur and comb it out with a comb or toothbrush to add color.

If using a hinged toe piece your fabric will determine how far in either direction the toe can move basedon how much slack you give it. Test it by pinching the fabric in place and moving the toe piece, then glue.

Where your foot is placed on the stilt greatly effects balance and ease of walking. As a general rule thecloser the shoe is to the ground the easier it is to walk in the stilts. An imaginary line from the middle of the shoeinto the ground illustrates where the stilt will contact the ground. If the line crosses behind the floor plate then thestilt will tend to balance on its back edge.

Mount the shoe by placing the shoe where you want it on the stilt first. Optionally, you can duct tape theshoes in place and try them out to make sure the shoe position is good. Remove the insole from the shoe. Placethe shoe on the footplate where you want it and drill a hole through the heel of the shoe, into the wood board.Then, place a metal washer over the hole, and insert a wood screw into the metal washer. Drive the screw into thewood, repeat this process in middle of the shoe and in the toe of the shoe. If you can only find small washers youmay need to layer a larger washer under the small washer, that way there's a lot of washer surface to grab and holdthe shoe.

Once mounted you will need to pad the screws. You can cut layers of craft foam to make a very thickfoam insole in addition to the shoe's original insole. Optionally, a silicone putty like Melt Art Mold-N-Pour orAmazing Mold Putty will create thick rubbery rings around the screws and washers.


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Q&A for Kids with Big IdeasQ&A With Ethan, who recently turned 13. Ethan's passion is movie making, and having completed a number of projectshe has a strong perspective on what it takes for a younger person to be successful from plan and completion. As many ofthe people who make costume props intend to use them for movie special effects or photo shoots, Ethan's perspective on

movie making is especially relevant.

1. Funding a Project

A lot of kids don't have their own money, so they need toconvince their family to pay for supplies. What tips wouldyou give for keeping projects cheap, and convincing parentsyour project is worthwhile?

If you are planning on spending some money onyour next project, I would make sure that this is a projectthat you will stick to. If you are bored on a Saturday andjust have a sudden idea, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT, goout and spend some money. I have done this and it hasturned out horrible. [For movies] first start off by writing asolid, easy to-do script. Do not put in big budget car chasesor fight scenes. I doubt that you or any kid can afford toblow up some cars. Then look through the things you needsuch as a werewolf costume, a machine, or some otherprop or costume. Make a list of all of the things you needand then make plans on how you are going to make someof these things. Show your parents, and if that doesn'twork then save up all of your money. Make sure to findsales at different stores. If you are making a zombie bloodbath, then go to the halloween stores in the beginning ofNovember when they start to close. If you are making acomedy music video, you can probably find things aroundyour house.

2. Finding Alternative Support

Sometimes parents don't, or can't support their kids' creativeprojects. Where can a young person go for information andhelp?

Try to find people around your school that havethe same interests. Maybe some of the kids in your schoolhave very nice cameras, make-up supplies, and betterediting software. Pretty soon you've got yourself enoughsupplies to make a nice film. Also, if your school has aFilm class or Drama Club, then ask for support. Usually,they might not have the best supplies but enough to getyou by.

3. Presenting Your IdeaOften, doing a project requires commitment from otherpeople that's outside their normal routine. For example,convincing a teacher that you should be allowed to do yourown project instead of the class assignment. How would youpresent an idea for a project to someone whose support youneeded?

Prove to this person that you are serious aboutwhat your doing. Show them a script and what you havedone so far. Make sure that you ask this person ahead oftime so they have time to decide if they want to do this.

4. Recognizing Your Limits

How do you know whether you need to ask for help, or if youshouldn't try something?

I have run into this problem a lot. When I startedwriting my first scripts, I had ideas that I couldn't ever dounless I had a couple millions of dollars and a studio. Ifyou have a hard but good idea, go for it, but it might notturn out as you want it to.

5. Big Ideas, Little Kid

Often a kid has a beautiful, perfect idea, but doesn't have theskills to make that idea real because they're still learning. Sowhen the finished project turns out cruddy they feel veryfrustrated. How do you deal with seeing lots of perfectprojects other people have done (like movie effects) then notbeing able to do it as well as the professionals?

This I think has been my biggest problem whenmaking my films. Try to avoid doing any projects unlessyou really know what you are doing. The people you seedoing some cool project probably planned of that a monthor two before even building it. For my new film BlackoutsI was planning on having this machine transfer the peoples'organs and blood from body to body (I know it's gross)and I had many problems come up. I made a design for it

but the dimensions were WAY off so my dad had to helpme figure out the height and width of the machine. Thenwe got some wood to make it, when we realized our sawwasn't big enough for the wood, making me have to prettymuch give up on using that idea and think of an easier wayto do it. Just try to keep your projects simple and easy.

6. Good Advice or Bad Advice?

How do you judge the quality of information you find?Sometimes teachers, books, or people on internet forumsaccidentally give out really bad advice. How can you tell ifinformation is good or bad if you don't know very muchabout the subject?

Make sure to learn information about this person.

If the person has made great films and effects, then trustthem, but if they make horrible films and are not wellrespected, then I wouldn't listen to them at all.

7. Feeling Proud About A Job Well Done

When you do a project that turns out really well, how do youexpress your pride in your work to the world?

Show your work to everyone you can. Tell yourfriends, your family, tell your parents to go tell some of thepeople they are friends with. Also put your videos intocontests and be confident. If you do this you will get far.


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Stilt ExperiencesBen

The shoes, the shoes makes the stilt. I wastotally comfortable except I used a five year oldpair of sneakers instead of buying a new pair ofcheap sneakers for 15 bucks. I ended up having towear two pairs of wool socks because no matterhow tight I tied the shoes they were still loose andmy foot slipped forward. (I could have tried whatSquiggylee did and added a block of wood to helpsupport the foot. Maybe next time.) It was aworkout on my calf muscles, but I was also doingcrazy things like running up a steep hill and a halfmile march across a huge university campus, alsouphill. Those were exhausting. Definitely havesome muscle on board before trying to wear thestilts all day, I'm an avid hiker and it still made mylegs sore after a couple days of wearing them in arow. Doing toe curls or toe bounces to strengthenthe calves would be a good idea if you're going touse the stilts for an all day event. I wonder if thefact that my stilts added nine inches of height to me added to how much work mylegs had to do.

I wore out the bungee cords every time I used the stilts. I should haveused the thick bungee cords instead of the stupid mini-bungees. I learned tocheck the stilt each time I was done using it because the metal hook on my

bungee on my right leg bent and the bungee popped loose one time. It was likesomeone sliced my achilles tendon, or a tore a muscle in my leg... except the tearwasn't in my body but was in the fake extension of my leg I'd built. My legbuckled and my thigh started burning because I was suddenly supporting myself with muscles I didn'tknow I had. I could barely stand. I mistakenly believed the bungee cords didn't help much, but Ichanged my mind when I saw what it was like to suddenly not have them.

blackcat2086Building the stilts was actually very easy, and I'm not a power-tool savvy person (I did learn the

importance of drilling your holes first before drilling in the screws though.) I managed to make them ina day, from start to finish.

I practiced walking in them in the hallway, really afraid that I might trip, but I was surprised thatthey were really quite easy to walk in, and a whole lot of fun. I was even able to go up and down stairsin them (very VERY carefully).

I do have advice though... Do NOT duct tape your feet to the stilts! It's fine at first for a shortperiod of time, but I pranced around in them for two hours and (I swear it's the truth) my feet weredeformed for a day or two. I'm still looking for a cheap pair of sneakers to attach to the stilts.

SquiggyleeI adjusted by not putting any toes (rather a paper mache hoof,) not bolting my Docs down (rather

Above, werewolf vs. Jesus, the tallest manat the university. Below, a view from threestories up at night.Username Gryphern, YouTube


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used eye screws to hold the heel in place and bungees to hold the toes down.) I placed a small block ofwood under the toes so the weight would go to the ball of my feet rather that the toes, and I didn't put onany drawer sliding thingies. I was able to carry my 22 pound son on my back for hours!!

TathiWe found everything we needed to make the

stilts at Lowes/Home Depot/your hardware store of

choice. The cost for all the materials came out to justunder $50. We followed the blueprint from Gryphern'sYouTube video and website instructions, and modifiedthem from there for smaller feet by using wood thatwasn't as wide. It was ultimately designed with the ideaof attaching foam around most of the structure andcarving it into a shape that would hide the framework,and then fur would be added on top of it all.

In the end, the foam and fur did hide thestructure and the wood shape very well. I even managed

to devise a way to make it so that the metal supportswould still be able to rotate on the washers and workcorrectly with the bungee cords without having to takethe fur off. Essentially, it fit like a boot; you had theshoe inside with a cuff of foam and fur surroundingyour ankle area, and then the supports were hidden bypants.

The bottom of the stilts had flip-flop foam cutinto the shapes of doglike pads. These were both foreffect and to quiet the stilts. They did not adverselyaffect balance or movement. However, the toes of the

design did catch on rough ground and eventually tearoff, even when we nailed them in place. I would try to find an alternative method to create this effect infuture projects.

The greatest pitfall of the stilts was actually wearing them for long amounts of time. We consideredbuilding hard, supportive c-shaped cups or braces on the top of the metal supports (like the kind you see onsome kinds of crutches, that cradle the arm). We reasoned that these we help keep the metal supports in placebetter, because the bungees tended to pull the supports to the back of the calf and then walking became-quite- painful as they dug into the back of the knee. However, at the time we weren't sure how to attachthem-- we would have made them from PVP pipe and padded them with extra foam for comfort-- and weopted to skip them. Turns out we should have made them, because after about an hour in the stilts at the localRenaissance Festival, the backs of my knees and calves were bruised and nearly bloody.

The other problem that presented itself was wearing the stilts while in a mask with low visibility.When you have no mask, you have good peripheral vision and can sense the ground in relation to you-- howeven or uneven it is, where to step, obstacles to avoid on the ground like sticks and potholes. When you arewearing a mask, even one with -good- visibility, you are still losing much of that peripheral vision of yourterrain immediately in front of you. In short-- they are easy to wear for just walking around on their own. It is-much- more difficult to wear them in a full costume. Especially outside. Bring a walking stick and a spotterto help you get around and keep your balance. I just about fell down several times, and was glad I hadsomeone to grab on to to keep me from going down. I get the feeling that wearing them on concrete orcarpeting would be much less challenging, of course, but all the same, it's good to have someone to help youout.

Minotaur legsUsername Squiggylee, Photobucket, YouTube

stilt construction

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