Step 5: Plot the Poles

I put the music box in the centre as a general visual reference for where the middle of the carousel will be.

I plotted out the positioning of the poles (wooden bbq skewers). There are five outside poles and five inside poles.

The outside poles are 7 inches apart from each other. The inside poles are each placed in the midway point (3.5 inches) between a pair of two outside poles. It creates an almost star-like shape.

I pushed the poles through both the cardboard and the styrofoam.

I then placed the cardboard circle for the top of the carousel (that third circle I said to set aside) beneath the base and pressed the sharp end of the wooden skewers into it to make indents. This is mainly to help me out later when I am trying to line up the top of the carousel with the bottom of the carousel.

The arrow I drew was just to help me keep track of alignment (the poles aren't perfectly symmetrical - to the naked eye, you can't tell). This isn't an important step since it ends up being covered with paper mache later. It was useful while experimenting (I make this stuff up as I go along, you know).