The Doll Forum

For a while now I had plans in my head to build a proper doll stand/crane for my doll (who is quite heavy at 47 KG). I figured it will make life easier with regards to dressing and will also give her ass a rest from time to time as she spends most of her life either laying or sitting down.
And the last thing I want to do after finishing a hard days work is to lug a heavy doll about and risk hurting myself. (I'm sure a lot of you know what I mean!).

This isn't really a DIY project (maybe for some). I am a professional metal worker/finisher/welder, so I have tens of thousands of pounds worth of welding and cutting machinery, etc. But maybe some of you can create something similar with stuff you can find at the hardware store.

The entire crane is TIG welded together and made from 304 L stainless steel (will never go rusty). The winch is capable of pulling 2000 LB! It has a reversable 3 X position switch for lifting, lowering and free spool.

The straight upright it bolted to the base so if needed can be taken off for transportation, also the winch can be unbolted from the straight.

Here are some photos:







The support at the front was just an off cut, so came to good use:

Bar welded to the front and back of the top piece helps the belt slide nice and smooth and doesn't catch or snag.



Warning!! Not for lifting HUMANS!


I've tested it with 52 KG of liquid, the front carboy is full of hydrochloric acid!
The crane did not budge so I'm satisfied it will be very safe. Some minor things to do yet like install a soft butt pad, but thats generally it.
A top tip always test your inventions before risking on your dolly!


If anyone wants to use this design or parts of it please feel free.

Regards, Flash.

Wow, that is one impressive doll crane !!

Some casters and you're good to go

WOW flash, thats beautiful a lot of craftmanship, could I make a suggestion, how about 6in. wheels on the base , is that possible, or no. would you have to expand the base for the wheels?

That's a great looking stand!! Looks very sturdy And it's kinda ironic with the winch saying "not for lifting humans", as it's for lifting a human-like doll

Re:wheels, not sure that would work unless you had a counterweight or extended the forks to pass well past the center of gravity, otherwise you'd be providing a fulcrum to toss the whole thing forward...but I am not an engineer...

Cheers guys!

I did think about having castors on the base and it could be done no problem. Would just need to weld plates onto the 4 corners and have the castors just outside the edges of the base. (Kind of like outriggers). That would provide the stability needed.

But.... Most of my house is carpeted and I don't like the dents castors leave in the carpet. Plus castors don't work too good on carpeted floors. Basically I've built this stand mostly for the purpose of dressing and giving her butt a rest, not really for transporting around the house. The stand itself is not mega heavy on its own, its pretty easy to move it around.

The only modifications I might make are adding a couple of short blocks to the back of the base, because when the stand is unloaded the weight of the winch makes the stand very slightly unbalanced at the rear. (Just for when its not in use).
Although as soon as the stand is loaded its as solid as rock, it didn't move at all lifting 52 KG!

Another modification I'm thinking of is adding is a folding seat/butt protector to the front of the upright. In standing position the folding seat will be used as a butt protector, but can also be folded outwards to provide a seat, (would make putting stockings on very easy as she will be at a good height).
I'll update when I have time to do the modifications.

Should be a real back saving device though!

Regards, Flash.

52 KG, that is impressive. How heavy is the turning of the winch?

Mistress wrote:52 KG, that is impressive. How heavy is the turning of the winch?

Cheers Mistress. The winch is geared so the handle is very easy to turn under that sort of load. Even a small child could winch up this kind of weight.
The capacity of the winch is 2000 LBS which is roughly 900 KG! That roughly 19 X Izzy's!

Very well done
the welds are so better than mine but you're a professionnal
Just the strap which is larger than a wire/rope (photoshopping purposes )
More than giving her ass a rest, you'll discover some new games with her now, for sure

Elle

That's a stunning piece of machinery!

Cheers Elle and Andy_J.

Elle sounds like you've done a bit of welding yourself. Some of the problems involved in welding stainless steel is it moves and deforms under the heat of welding. So with some of it I had to back weld or use oxy/acetylene to get the shape back. A bit like when you put heat to one side of a bit of plastic it will curve to one side, the same applies with metal, so the other side must be heated to get the shape back. (Just one of the problems with welding metal).

Probably one of the advantages with head suspension compared to neck suspension is that photos can be taken without any cables in the way, so the strap wont be visible because its over the top of the head.

I haven't got photoshop, this was just how it was taken using an older stand, just cropped the stand out.


I made her a new head bracket as well. The actual head bracket can be left attached to the doll, there is a hook which is slid onto the head bracket and a screw just to stop the bracket falling off. All the weight is on the hook and not on the screw. Again this is also made from s/steel TIG welded together. It saves having to unbolt a bracket every time I need to hang her up.




Excuse the big scar on her neck! I had to perform life saving surgery just recently, but she's OK now. (You can view the surgery in my gallery).

how do you get her into position to use the lift? would you still need to pick her up and move her or maybe use a rolling chair and slide it underneath?

bellcaptain wrote:how do you get her into position to use the lift? would you still need to pick her up and move her or maybe use a rolling chair and slide it underneath?

Yes I can just wheel her over to the crane in an office chair, wheel her underneath and lower the hook from the crane and winch away, then remove the chair. The reverse for getting her down again.
Also if she's in bed in a sitting position the crane base can be slid underneath the bed so the hook is directly over her head and winched up to standing/dressing position.
A lot easier than trying to pick her up and hook her head bracket onto a free standing fixed stand. And a lot less dangerous!

Hi Flash,
I´m sure Izzy is happy and proud of her stand. Your lovely lady deserved this fine craftmanship.
Hats off,
Chris

FlashGordoll wrote: Also if she's in bed in a sitting position the crane base can be slid underneath the bed so the hook is directly over her head and winched up to standing/dressing position.

I don't understand ? What good is this winch if it doesn't have wheels ? If the bottom is slid under the bed and you start to lift her up how can you get her into a standing position without moving the stand out from under the bed.