Spirograph

iv seen rogs small spirograph in the tutorial section and i want to make one.

i havnt seen too many specific tutorials on the subject, so i wanted to ask, anything specific to know about, any perticualr build.

what i found so far is that u should use surface reflective mirrors like acrylic mirrors.

so what i am building now (that is complete but very messy) has 2 6-12v dc motors with glass mirrors (not the best  :-/ getting the triple beam effect) connected to a 9v adaptor and 2 (i think) 5k pots (CTS 026T332R502B1A4) and a on off on toggle switch. iv got the thing to reverse and slow down but the speed isnt to well controlled. for now it works but i inted to build my next one much better with i suppose 3 - 4 mirrors instend and use a 12vdc adapter insted.

what pot should i use and where can i get acrylic mirrors ( having a hard time finding it localy and i hate useing ebay (just a personal prefrence))

il upload pictures if i ever get my darn camra to work  

I cannot give any other source for mirror materials than ebay as I always go there first.
You will need to find pots that are 1k or preferably less(100omh are best for the motors I use) to get good control over the motor speeds.

Regards rog8811

There is a great tutorial posted below that shows you how to make your own fs mirrors. It works really well and very cheap to do! I bought a bag of 20 or so 1" glass round mirrors at a craft store and used them instead of the acrylic sheet in the video. They're perfect size for spiros.

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-front-surface-mirror._1/

thanks.

rog what kinda motors ar u using? can u get ur motors down to like say 1 rpm

spikec, that is a nice tutorial and i think im using the exact same mirrors u are =P im getting a split beam effect tough. the beam is reflected 3 times cuz its not a surface mirror

They are vibromotors from mobile phones, again from ebay.
I can get them pretty slow but not 1rpm, you will find that once stopped you need to turn the pot quite a way to restart the motor.

Regards rog8811