Post #817264 by MadDogMike on Mon, Oct 27, 2025 6:09 PM

Thank you Wendy
I see what you did there hang10tiki LOL

I blame my friend Joe Fellmeth actually. He has been telling me about his plans for drink activated special effects - you order a specific drink off the menu and it triggers a series of lights, sounds, smoke, pyrotechnics, etc.
Quite frankly, I was jealous. So I devised an idea. My table is in the Mayan Temple area of my backyard. So I want a Mayan Revenge drink, served in a skull and conquistador helmet, that lowers from the ceiling amid Mayan war chants and maybe smoke and lightning.
"A goal without a plan is just a dream" so here's the plan. I mix the drink at the bar next to the table, pour it into a receptacle on the bar, and pump it into the mug in the rafters. An electric mini winch lowers it down But then the problems arise. I couldn't find a suitable mini winch. Joe says "Just lower it manually on a cord. Duh!". Then there's the issue of ice, I can't pump the ice with the drink. So I made the concealment container for the mug out of insulation foam, added a gel ice pack, and use a large ice cube already in the mug. So I can set it up before guests arrive and it should be good for an hour or more without significant ice meltage, laying in wait like a sniper, for someone to order Mayan Revenge.
More progress pics later LOL

Box made of 1 1/2 inch XPS foam.

Painted to match the ceiling and screwed in place.

Space for a gel ice pack, lowering cord extending down.

Cord leads over to the bar

I 3D printed a skull and helmet with a glass liner. The skull is just a few percentages too small and the glass doesn't recess all the way down. I'll reprint the skull a little bigger and the helmet a little shorter.