Cardboard Vending Machine

I made a cardboard vending machine that 100% works with common house hold items

My machine is built using only cardboard, tape, a glowstick and staples.

Basically when you put your quarter in the coin slot it falls on a seesaw making the other end go up on top of a piece of cardboard that prevents you from moving the push and pull button. once that is up you the push the button which slides a container with a hole in the middle underneath the bucket that holds the candy. then, when you pull the button out it slides the container over a hole and the candy falls out of the container onto a ramp that brings it to where you grab your candy.

basically want you will need is :

-Two big Cardboard Boxes

-A hot Glue gun ( I used tape but a glue gun will be way easier)

-Scissors or a craft knife

-A cutting mat

-A wooden skewer ( I used a glow stick)

First, cut a slit for your coin towards the top of one of the cardboard boxes. To make sure you got the right size, take a coin, lay it flat on your box and draw two lines. One on each side.

Next you want to make the seesaw. take a popsicle stick and cut it into 5 pieces, they don't have to be the same size. glue those pieces to one end of a new popsicle stick, stacking them on top of each other. Then take a strip of flimsy cardboard and take your skewer, put it on the middle of the strip of cardboard, fold the cardboard over the skewer and turn the skewer in the little hole you made with the cardboard. Glue this to your stack of popsicle pieces. stick your skewer in the hole again to make sure it fits and then remove the skewer. On the side of the popsicle stick without the hole for the skewer, place a piece of popsicle stick stand up. you want to set that aside

You will now make your push and pull button. take a piece of cardboard that is roughly 25cm by 10cm. cut as shown in picture (make sure hole are just big enough for the skewer to fit through).The lines are cut through halfway to make it easier to fold. fold along the cut lines to form a square. glue or tape it together.

now you are going to make the thing that catches the candy and pushes it into the hole, on the ramp and out to where the candy comes out. Take 3 popsicles sticks and position them so that they form 3/4 of a square. place your candy in-between the popsicle sticks to make sure that your hole is big enough. where your candy ends, place a piece of cardboard so that your customer gets only one candy and not two. glue your pieces together and cut off any excess popsicle stick. set this aside.

Take a piece of cardboard and place your candy on it. mark off where the candy ends. Sideways then long ways.

Partly cut and fold in to a rectangle like you did with the button. glue it together.

Place the skewer through the seesaw, then through the button and at the end, glue it to the candy holder thing. At the end, where the seesaw is, glue the skewer to a piece of cardboard the height of your button. This will prevent the stuff from falling off the skewer.

place a piece of cardboard roughly 10cm under the coin slot in the box. (Make sure there is space underneath the cardboard) This will hold the mech. place the seesaw under the coin slot. Mark where the button is and cut a hole for it to go through. Pull the button through the hole. Make sure the coin falls onto the seesaw by placing your coin in the coin slot.

Then attach the candy holder above the cardboard part of the candy container. Do this by attaching strips of cardboard to the holder and the box.

Right in front of the seesaw put a piece of cardboard high enough so that the seesaw is blocked and cannot move until you drop in a coin and lifts the seesaw up.

You the have to cut a hole underneath the hole in the candy container. Then cut a hole in the front of the box where the hole you just cut is. connect a piece of cardboard from one hole to another. this will be your ramp.

If you have done it properly then your machine should be completed and working. Have fun!