A random zipper?

[Pinkbottom]

I've been playing with clothespin zippers lately, and found a wonderful method of using an ice/weight release here on the forum

http://forum.boundanna.net/board/viewto ... 02&start=0

I dipped several cords into an ice cube tray so I could have a bunch of cords to experiment with but I accidentally dipped one of the cords into two separate compartments. It gets a little confusing when your trying to dip a half dozen cords into one ice cube tray Once I realized that I had two ice cubes on one of the cords I got to thinking. Perhaps you could set it up to pull the clothespins off in a series of random spurts - staccato style.

So I think I have an idea worked out. I haven't tried it yet, I was hoping to get some thoughts on anything to watch our for.

I suppose if it works as planned it will pull off a couple of clothespins at a time interspersed with pauses of unpredictable times. This should add some uncertainty to the scene which I tend to like.

Any comments or ideas are welcome.


Pink

[BondageGames]

So as the cubes melt, the weight falls down the chain and it only pulls off 2 or 3 per cube.

Since you can't see the cubes melting (assuming it's either dark, or you have a blindfold on) that gives you your uncertainty factor.

If I'm not missing anything, I like it

[Kronopticon]

please bear in mind, that all the ice will start melting at the same time, so it'll be very likely that they'll all go at once.
so i'm not sure that this would even work, as it'd just rip them all off. you could probably vary melting times by using other liquids for freezing. drinks, saltwater, even foods like custard? so you'll have to do some experimenting to find out which melt first.
good luck pink and BG

[BondageGames]

Well I was speaking about the ideal situation lol as well as being really tired at the time >.<

[Kronopticon]

dont worry BG, i wasnt just referring to your post, the diagram shows a similar problem too, so it needs work good luck to all of you. i'll try to help when i can.

[Pinkbottom]

So I hung up a prepared cord today and the results are...

The top three failed in order. The top one first - after about 20 minutes, then the second - maybe two or three minutes later, then the third which held on for about Five minutes more. Once it dropped from the third it snagged up a few times on the way down, but the remaining three weren't strong enough to cause more than a moments stop.

I think the top ones failed in order because it was warmest near the ceiling. Those three started to melt right a way, and the top cube started melting as soon as I put the cord on the hook. The bottom ones would have lasted longer I think, but water was dripping on them from the cubes melting above them. This next batch I am making the bottom three larger cubes than the top ones and I'll see if that helps.

I hadn't honestly thought about it in advance, but the air is noticeably warmer once you get above the door frame and it's very warm right next to the ceiling. I'm sure that's what kept the order.

One more thing, a couple of the bottom cubes more or less shattered when hit and sent small chips of ice and water around the room. I have carpet so a few chips of ice were no big deal, but if you have hardwood floors I know even a drop of water can leave a mark.


Pink

[BondageGames]

Wow I can;t believe I forgot about the age old Heat Rises law. I must be having an off weekend

[RADER]

As the ice melts, it drips onto the one below causing faster melting of the
ice ring below. It might work if you varried the size of the ice rings; making
the lower ones larger in some way, so it would take longer to melt them.

[Lost Soul]

The easiest thing that occurs to me, in addition to varying the cube size, which you have obviously already thought of, is to vary the distance between the cubes, if you haven't thought of that already. Maybe skip one here and there, or just space them farther apart. That will give you a longer drop, pull more pins, and then a nice long wait on a big cube, then a short drop, then another long one, etc... I'm sure you get the idea by now.

[Pinkbottom]

The easiest thing that occurs to me, in addition to varying the cube size, which you have obviously already thought of, is to vary the distance between the cubes, if you haven't thought of that already. Maybe skip one here and there, or just space them farther apart. That will give you a longer drop, pull more pins, and then a nice long wait on a big cube, then a short drop, then another long one, etc... I'm sure you get the idea by now.

That's a great idea Lost Soul. The truth is, I don't really even want to know when exactly a cube will melt or whether it will fail or not. I much prefer the idea that each drop will be a surprise. That's also the reason I used a loop style zipper. These are also a bit random. A given short jerk may pull one, two, three or four clothespins, I'm not measuring any of the cord lengths precisely so there is no way to know for sure.

Now that I know how to keep it a bit random I'm going to try it out for real.

Pink

[Pinkbottom]

It works!

I've been busy, but I finally got a chance to try it out.

I filled the first three slots about 2/3 full and the last three to the top. I also put a little plastic wrap around the bottom cubes so melting water would not fall on them.

It took about almost an hour I think, and it was very exciting. The last two cubes failed within a few seconds of each other, but since I couldn't see them it was still quite thrilling.


Pink