Kevlar
0
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2010
- Messages
- 1,353
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I've seen a lot of spirograph builds, and quite honestly, better than mine but I decided to post anyhow. Hopefully it will help some people in regards to these builds.
First I'd like to say I built this as cheap as I could, and it's certainly not the smallest.
I decided to make it 4 motors, and if I had to do it over again, I'd stick with 3. I really didn't notice very much difference between 3 and 4 motors as far as patterns go but sometimes lining up that 4th motor isn't worth the trouble.
The pic above shows the top. Red circles = pots. Blue circles = DPDT switches. White circle = switch between batteries or DC adapter. And you can see the binding post for connecting the DC adapter.
Here is a pic of the underside of the top:
All four motors are reversible. IMO, this is a must for spirographs. The ability to reverse the motors gives many more patterns.
The above pic is of the insides. The black things are "D" size battery holders. I purchased 3 tenergy 10,000 mAh NiMH batteries to run it but they still don't provide enough current. I believe tenergy makes a 20,000 mAh, those might work.
That is one thing I suggest for anyone building one is to measure the current load of the motors BEFORE soldering it all up because not only did my batteries not provide enough current, neither did my DC adapter!!!
I was using the adapter picture below:
rated at 1A but that wasn't enough. So I dug in my box of junk and found this one:
It provides enough current but too much voltage so I ended up using two 1N5401 rectifier diodes in series to drop the voltage and it worked perfect.
For the layout I placed the 50mW 532 module in there first. I then used double-sided sticky tape to hold the motors on the blocks, positioned them and marked their position with a pencil.
I had trouble getting good mirrors. I ordered some round front surface mirrors and they were the worst quality I've ever seen so then I decided to try to make my own using hard drive disc platters. But with my motors sitting far away from each other the HD disc platters were too small. Finally I ordered a square sheet of good quality acrylic front surface mirror. I used a drill press to cut out the size circle I wanted. (I still have some left over if anyone is interested).
Mounting the mirrors was another issue. I tried using hot glue but It just wouldn't stick well enough or I couldn't get it to set with the mirror at an optimal angle. So this is what I came up with:
I glued a poker chip to the back of the mirrors. The motors I used have a gear on them. I heated up the gear with my mini-torch and pressed into the poker chip. Worked like a charm.
I'm didn't post and pics of the patterns or video because there a hundreds of videos of spirographs on you tube, mine doesn't look much different.
I used a 3 position (center off) DPDT switch for each motor. Here is a diagram on how to wire it so the motor will spin in both directions:
And to spiff it up I painted it, put handles on it, latches so I can open the lid easily, and of course, warning stickers.
I learned a lot building this. If anyone feels I've left anything out please let me know. If anyone has any questions I'll try and help.
Thanks for looking!! :wave:
EDIT: I originally found this helpful guide on a different website but the author has also posted it on LPF, here is the link:
http://laserpointerforums.com/f51/tutorial-four-motor-compact-laser-spirograph-51363.html
EDIT, here a a couple of vids. Sorry about the quality, I can't find my video camera so I had to use my Nikon point & shoot.
First I'd like to say I built this as cheap as I could, and it's certainly not the smallest.
I decided to make it 4 motors, and if I had to do it over again, I'd stick with 3. I really didn't notice very much difference between 3 and 4 motors as far as patterns go but sometimes lining up that 4th motor isn't worth the trouble.
The pic above shows the top. Red circles = pots. Blue circles = DPDT switches. White circle = switch between batteries or DC adapter. And you can see the binding post for connecting the DC adapter.
Here is a pic of the underside of the top:
All four motors are reversible. IMO, this is a must for spirographs. The ability to reverse the motors gives many more patterns.
The above pic is of the insides. The black things are "D" size battery holders. I purchased 3 tenergy 10,000 mAh NiMH batteries to run it but they still don't provide enough current. I believe tenergy makes a 20,000 mAh, those might work.
That is one thing I suggest for anyone building one is to measure the current load of the motors BEFORE soldering it all up because not only did my batteries not provide enough current, neither did my DC adapter!!!
I was using the adapter picture below:
rated at 1A but that wasn't enough. So I dug in my box of junk and found this one:
It provides enough current but too much voltage so I ended up using two 1N5401 rectifier diodes in series to drop the voltage and it worked perfect.
For the layout I placed the 50mW 532 module in there first. I then used double-sided sticky tape to hold the motors on the blocks, positioned them and marked their position with a pencil.
I had trouble getting good mirrors. I ordered some round front surface mirrors and they were the worst quality I've ever seen so then I decided to try to make my own using hard drive disc platters. But with my motors sitting far away from each other the HD disc platters were too small. Finally I ordered a square sheet of good quality acrylic front surface mirror. I used a drill press to cut out the size circle I wanted. (I still have some left over if anyone is interested).
Mounting the mirrors was another issue. I tried using hot glue but It just wouldn't stick well enough or I couldn't get it to set with the mirror at an optimal angle. So this is what I came up with:
I glued a poker chip to the back of the mirrors. The motors I used have a gear on them. I heated up the gear with my mini-torch and pressed into the poker chip. Worked like a charm.
I'm didn't post and pics of the patterns or video because there a hundreds of videos of spirographs on you tube, mine doesn't look much different.
I used a 3 position (center off) DPDT switch for each motor. Here is a diagram on how to wire it so the motor will spin in both directions:
And to spiff it up I painted it, put handles on it, latches so I can open the lid easily, and of course, warning stickers.
I learned a lot building this. If anyone feels I've left anything out please let me know. If anyone has any questions I'll try and help.
Thanks for looking!! :wave:
EDIT: I originally found this helpful guide on a different website but the author has also posted it on LPF, here is the link:
http://laserpointerforums.com/f51/tutorial-four-motor-compact-laser-spirograph-51363.html
EDIT, here a a couple of vids. Sorry about the quality, I can't find my video camera so I had to use my Nikon point & shoot.
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