How can i make a carnival strong man game?

Carnival games can be fun. Little carnivals can be set up as fundraisers or community activities. Also, carnival games are used at theme birthday parties. The strongman game, also called the High Striker, can be built out of wood, wire and with a metal bell. Making it will be challenging, but if you have some basic woodworking skills, and a place to store it, you can make your own High Striker.

Making a High Striker

You'll need two pine boards, approximately 10 feet tall. One board should be cut to a width of 3 1/2 inches. This narrower board will be mounted on the back board for support. Make sure the boards are sanded and smooth. Finish them with paint to mark the various heights/scores up the board to indicate how high the weight was knocked (and how many points were earned) when in play. Typically, 100 points is the bottom score. For every foot, go up another 100 points. Or, establish your own point system.

Run a sturdy metal wire up the narrow board, attaching it to the board with screws, held on by braces. At the bottom, run the wire through a screw eye before attaching it. With the screw eye and matching nut, you can twist to adjust the wire tension, thereby making it harder or easier for the spool to travel upwards. Thread a large wooden spool on the wire as the weight. Make sure the holes in the spool are enough bigger than the wire that it can slide up and down freely.

Construct a striking base at the foot of the vertical boards so the High Striker can stand. Construct a striking arm on the striking base, at the bottom of the wire. The striking arm is a basic see saw so that the resting position has the see saw under the spool weight and the other end sticking in the air to be struck by a mallet. When struck, the see saw tilts, knocking the spool up the wire. At the wire end, you'll need to have a slot cut in the see saw so it does not interfere with the wire. Cover the mallet end with rubber to protect the wood from the constant pounding. At the mallet end, place an additional piece of rubber-protected wood beneath the see saw so that the striker arm only has 1 inch of free play. This, combined with the wire tension, governs the height the spool travels when the striker arm is struck.

At the top of the vertical boards, mount a metal bell for the spool to hit. Use the sort of bell used at wrestling rings.

Source:

Modern Mechanix: Boys Can Have a Carnival of Fun with this Simply Built High Striker