Do-it-yourself swing-scales: how to make wood and metal, diagrams and dimensions + photo

A do-it-yourself swing-balancer is made from boards, logs, car wheels and other materials available on the farm. For the attraction, the presence of a long lever is important, and any suitable object will act as a support, even the stump of a cut tree remaining in the clearing. In order to properly build scales, you need to know their feature of functioning.

The principle of operation of the swing-balancer

To understand how the swing works, you need to consider their device. The basis of the balancer is the support. It can be permanently fixed by concreting or digging into the ground, or simply stand on the surface of the earth. A long lever with seats for people to sit is fixed on the support.

Based on the description of the swing-balancer, the operation of the attraction resembles a pendulum swinging from side to side. The device is made on the principle of the simplest scales. The center of the lever acts as the place of attachment to the support. The resulting two opposite wings must have the same length and mass in order to maintain balance. When the children sit on the lever seats, under their own weight, they begin to alternately rise and fall. It is desirable that a child with approximately the same body weight sit on opposite seats of the lever, otherwise there will be an overbalance in one direction.

The rolling of the balancers occurs by pushing off the ground with the feet. To get a soft landing, a shock absorber is installed on the back of the lever under the seats. The role of this node is played by a piece of plastic or rubber pipe, a piece of an automobile tire, a thick spring.

Pros and cons of a balancing swing

The main advantage of balancers is the possibility of adapting the child in society. The swing is intended only for collective skating. Alone with all the desire to have fun will not work. During pair skating, children find a common language, learn to communicate in a team.

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Another plus of the swing is the development of children. Rolling on a balance bar requires physical effort. Children develop the muscles of the legs, back and arms.

If we talk about the minuses of the swing, then the unpaired number of children in the team sometimes causes a dispute over the sequence of skating. Alone, such an attraction is uninteresting and useless for a child. When children have significant differences in body weight, the balancer is difficult, and sometimes even impossible to use. The disadvantage is the age limit. Too small kids cannot be rolled on a swing. The balancer is not suitable for children with poor physical development.

Types of children’s outdoor swing-balancer

By execution, there are many varieties of balancers. Craftsmen create designs with additional options with their own hands, but they all work according to the same principle of weights:

1. The classic swing balancer for the playground is a long log, beam or board with two seats at the edges. Usually they are equipped with handles. The lever is mounted on a support, which is a concrete block, a dug-in post, a sawn tree stump, or any other suitable object.

   

2. A complicated design is considered a balancer on springs. A feature of the swing is the device of the working mechanism. From the bottom of the lever on both sides of the support at the same distance, powerful springs are installed, working in compression. It takes less effort to control the balancer. It is important to keep balance and lightly push off with your feet.

   

   Advice! Spring balancers are suitable for children under the age of five.
3. The tire attraction is considered a mobile structure. The support of the balancer is half of the wheel, to which the board is fixed from above. Children themselves can carry the swing around the playground.

   

4. Rotary balancers have a special support device. It is made of metal and necessarily has a hinge rotating on a bearing. It is to him that the swing arm is attached. During entertainment, children can not only swing, but also rotate on the balancer around the axis of the support.

   

   Important! Rotary balancers develop motor skills in children, improve coordination of movements.
5. Double balancers have one common support, but two levers installed in parallel. Each of them is equipped with one seat on one side. Four children can have fun on the swing at the same time, but each pair is independent of each other.

   

6. Paired balancers are made according to the principle of the classic swing design. The difference is the presence of two seats at each end of the lever. The swing can accommodate 4 people at the same time. Since the seats are located on the same lever, both pairs of children ride at the same time. They cannot be independent of each other.

   

Do-it-yourself pendulum swings considered can be made by each parent for their child.

What you need to make a swing-balancer to the country

To make an attraction for children with their own hands, only two types of material are used: wood and metal. If we consider in a general concept, then the balancers are still plastic or combined. Each design has its own positive and negative qualities:

1. Wooden balancers are most often assembled by hand. The popularity of the swing is due to the availability of material, ease of processing. The design is lightweight and easy to manage. Wood is a natural, environmentally friendly material that is safe for children. However, wood quickly disappears if the swing is open all year round. Staining, antiseptic treatment helps to shed the life of the balancers.

   

2. Metal in terms of strength and longevity outperforms wood. However, the material similarly needs to be painted for corrosion protection. It is more difficult to make a balancer with your own hands. You will need a welding machine and experience with it. In addition, metal is more expensive than wood. The swing turns out to be heavy, more traumatic for children.

   

3. Plastic balancers are light, safe, do not disappear in dampness. The disadvantage is the impossibility of making it yourself. Plastic swings are bought at the store. With your own hands, you only need to assemble the attraction according to the attached instructions.

   

Combined swings can have all three types of materials. For example, do-it-yourself support is made of metal, the lever is wooden, and the seats are plastic.

Dimensions of children’s swing-balancer

For hanging swings, the dimensional requirements are displayed in GOST. State regulations do not apply to balancers. When making an attraction with your own hands, they individually determine what age it is designed for.

Approximate sizes are determined in the following ranges:

1. The length of the lever depends on the height of the swing support. The larger it is, the longer the board is needed. If you put the short lever on a high support, you get a large angle of stroke. Children will be able to climb higher, but it is more difficult to control the swing. Typically, the length of the lever varies from 2 to 2,7 m.
2. The swing height of the balancer depends on the support, and this parameter, as discussed above, is related to the length of the lever. However, you need to take into account the growth of the child. If the support is too high, it is difficult to climb onto the seat, push off the ground with your feet while swinging. If the support is too low, the stroke angle will be reduced. On such a balancer it is not interesting to ride. On average, the height of the support varies from 0,5 to 0,8 m.
3. It is equally important to equip comfortable seats on the lever with your own hands. The following dimensions are optimal: width – 40 cm, length – 60 cm, while the height of the arms is 20 cm, and the height of the back is 30 cm.

It is optimal to calculate the dimensions so that during the rocking of the balancer, the seats rise to a height of 50-60 cm from the ground.

Seesaw schemes-balancer

How to make a do-it-yourself swing-balancer

Before starting production, you need to decide on the purpose of the attraction. In other words, it was decided to assemble a swing balancer for adults or children with their own hands. The choice of material depends on this so that its strength matches the load, as well as the dimensions of the structure.

In the video, an example of children’s entertainment in the country:

How to make a wooden swing-scale with your own hands

For a children’s attraction, wood is considered the best building material. The lever is created by hand from a long log of a beam or board. For support, only a beam or log is suitable. The board can be used if its thickness is at least 50 mm. The principle of manufacturing balancers from any lumber is the same.

To support the swing, you need to install two racks parallel to each other with your own hands. The distance between them is equal to the width of the lever plus a small gap, providing free rolling. If the swing balancer for children is made stationary with their own hands, then the racks are dug in or concreted in the ground. To build a portable attraction, stops are attached perpendicularly to the lower ends of the racks. Each stance becomes shaped like an inverted “T”. The jibs connecting the rack to the stop prevent it from loosening.

Do-it-yourself coaxial holes are drilled in the upper part of the racks. A similar procedure is carried out with the lever. The hole is drilled strictly in the center of the workpiece to maintain balance. The lever is wound between two posts. Connect it to the support with a metal threaded stud, fix it with nuts. The lever should swing freely from the force of the hand.

Now it remains to fix the seats from the pieces of the board, handles, and, if necessary, also the backs. Wooden balancers are sanded with sandpaper, treated with an antiseptic, painted or varnished.

How to make a metal swing-balancer with your own hands

At the metal attraction, the role of the lever is played by a pipe with a diameter of 50 mm. The choice by section is increased if the swing is designed for adults. Profile is a good choice. Due to the edges, the square pipe can withstand a large load.

The support of the stationary swing is a pipe concreted in the ground with a diameter of 75-100 mm. For a mobile balancer from tubes and elbows with a diameter of 32-40 mm, they weld a cruciform support installed on the ground with their own hands.

To fix the lever, the top of the support is equipped with a U-shaped bracket in an inverted state. Coaxial holes are drilled on the side shelves. In the center of the lever, optimally weld a sleeve across the pipe, through which the pin is passed during fixation to the U-shaped bracket. Instead of welding the sleeve, you can drill a hole in the center of the lever itself with your own hands, but the pipe will weaken at this point. During a heavy load, it will bend here, and may break.

Do-it-yourself seats on the lever are fixed from wooden boards. Ready-made plastic chairs from children’s bicycles are suitable. The handles are bent from a tube with a diameter of 15-20 mm. Ready swings are degreased, primed, painted. A rubber hose is pulled over the handles to make it more comfortable for children to hold on.

How to make a do-it-yourself pendulum swing from tires

Old car wheels are considered good material for balancers. Moreover, the swing can be made for pair skating and, as an exception, single skating.

Do-it-yourself classic swing-beam is created from half a tire and a board. The wheel acts as a support. The tire is cut in half. One part of it is fixed with screws to the center of the lever with the help of embedded bars. The second half of the tire is again sawn into two equal parts. Each of them is fixed with their own hands to the board under the bottom of the seat. Elements will play the role of shock absorbers. Each seat is equipped with handles, the board is polished, painted along with the support. The option of balancers is mobile. The swing can be moved around the site, hidden for the winter in a barn.

For stationary classic balancers, the support posts are dug into the ground. Tires here play the role of only shock absorbers. The wheels are dug in vertically at the points of contact of the ends of the lever with the ground. While riding, the tire bounces off.

The wheel is the only exception that allows you to build a single balancer with your own hands. To make a wheelchair, it is enough to fix a piece of board to the half of the tire, the length of which is equal to the diameter of the tire. On such an attraction, the child is able to have fun on his own.

On the video, a swing from an old tire:

Useful Tips

Balancers are considered interesting entertainment, but for the safety of use, you should listen to useful tips:

1. For skiing, it is optimal to allow children themselves over the age of 5 years. At this age, their coordination is better developed. Reduces the chance of a child falling.
2. Children under the age of 5 ride under the supervision of their parents.
3. Shock absorbers are required under the seat on the lever. The elements additionally play the role of limiters that prevent pinching of the legs by pressing the lever to the ground. The shock absorber must create a gap of at least 23 cm.

A few simple rules will ensure the safe entertainment of children on the playground.

Conclusion

Do-it-yourself swing-balancer in a simple design can be built in a few hours. If a complex design with springs or a swing arm is chosen, you will have to allocate 1-2 days of free time.