Witch Stirring a Hanging Cauldron

The Cauldron

This is the finished hanging cauldron with the stirring stick. This is a pretty large prop standing about three feet tall at the rim. It is "suspended" above the ground on a base of three 2x8 boards. All of the "hardware" is made of foam so the prop is quite light and easy to move around.

The cauldron started off as a plastic 55-gallon drum that I got from a local food manufacturer. This used drum had been filled with soy sauce so the ride home in my Trooper was deliciously fragrant! I had to settle for a blue drum since it was free. But if you can find a black drum, it will save you from having to apply a base coat of paint. If you cannot find a free drum from a local source, www.usplastic.com does sell new black drums.

I cut the top of the drum off with a jigsaw just above the top "strap". Make a starter hole for the jigsaw blade with an appropriately sized drill bit.

I had to clean the interior of my used drum to remove the residual soy sauce. You should clean the outside as well. I discarded the top piece of the drum but you might find some other use for it.

I painted the bottom part of the drum with a spray paint made for plastics. I used Krylon® Fusion Satin Black. While the instruction state that no sanding is required, you can rough up the surface of the drum with some 80-grit sandpaper. It took the entire can to cover this big hunk of blue plastic. If you can find a black drum, you can skip the painting.

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