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FrozenGate by Avery

My DIY Spirograph

awillis2589

awillis2589

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Jun 21, 2012
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So the other day i seen a DIY spirograph so i figured i'd give it a shot. so thats exactly what i did. I used 3 motors with 1" round mirrors 3 pots and a ebay pen 532nm module. I think it came out pretty nice. it works and i think its really cool. one thing that bothers me is how hard it was to get the mirrors centered on the motor ends, i didn't get them perfect and you can tell because its kinda loud when they start spining so i'll have to keep messing with it to get it right but for now i'm happy with it.

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I dont know much about spirographs, but for a DIY, I like it!
If you want to get rid of having 2 sets of batterys/power supplies, you should look into using a 3v regulator.
Just an idea if you want :)
 
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nice job there--deserving of a +3.

this may help-
I try to glue the mirrors as flat as possible- getting them perfectly flat is almost impossible anyway.

if diff sizes- smallest goes closest to laser.

also flatest mounted also goes first. least flat --last.

and it can help to crowd everything as close together as you can- keep the beam centered as you go from mirror to mirror.
try four motor/mirrors- thats even harder to do.


I have some 3v motors that look the same- did you harvest these from old poliroid cameras??

are you able to reverse the rotation?


we need a LOT more pics too--haha


I save all plastic gears I find- I glue my mirrors to these then attach the gear to my motor shaft- sometimes no glue is needed.


nice
 
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:beer:Yes getting the mirrors flat is very hard. The first is very flat and when spinning makes little to no noise and the middle isn't to bad and for some reason the last I must have glued it on there about 20+ times and still it pretty load and I think it might be because its close to the side of the box. I got all the 1" mirrors from hobby lobby and there glass, and I might try a 2" mirror on the end and see what happens. The motors actually came from radio shack and where only about $3 a price so not a bad deal. I'm also considering trying small fans as they have a little nicer mounting surface. I've also ordered a nice green module and 405nm from fasttech that I've had good power and results with in the pass and am thinking about making it a two color Spiro.
 
small box fans work really, really well with mirrors mounted to them.

For mounting to motors, but costs a little more, are dremel tool sanding mandrels. The ones that hold the little 3/4-inch sanding disks.

Lastly, plastic hobby mirrors enable you to shape mirrors off-center by sanding the edges as they spin.
 
Good job!

Seeing this reminded me of my first "laser show" (spirograph)

Mine has A LOT more messy hot glue in it than yours does :yabbem:

I REALLY need to drag out my old spiro and update it with a 445nm diode

HEY!
100mW of 405nm light was cutting edge technology at the time
We were still paying big bucks for those DVD burners ;)

Peace,
dave
 
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Thanks guys ordered 3 https://www.fasttech.com/products/1201900 and for the price am going to give it a try. also I've got lots of plastic mirrors that i take of eye glass displays and such before i throw them away and am thinking I'll give them a shot because i found a nice tutorial on how to make square mirrors into circle ones and them grind them down to a nice shape after getting them mounted to the fans. buy i couldn't bet the price of the glass mirrors as they where $2.50 for a 24 pack.
 
awillis2589 said:
Thanks guys ordered 3 https://www.fasttech.com/products/1201900 and for the price am going to give it a try. also I've got lots of plastic mirrors that i take of eye glass displays and such before i throw them away and am thinking I'll give them a shot because i found a nice tutorial on how to make square mirrors into circle ones and them grind them down to a nice shape after getting them mounted to the fans. buy i couldn't bet the price of the glass mirrors as they where $2.50 for a 24 pack.
Click to expand...

Do share. Got a linky?
 
Any thought of how I should power 3x12v fans as the 2 AA's from my current setup isn't going to be enough but worked just fine for these 3v motors.
 
Another source for motors are the vibrate motors, out of junk cell phones. You just have to remove the off centered weights.....which sometimes can be a pita.

Excellent for small builds :beer:

As for your question, the only thing I can think of, would be one of those 12v wall warts....but that kills the portability thing.
 
Right on I've got the fan now and am thinking about doing 1 9v per fan and just use rechargeable 9v battery's. The fans are a lot better because there very quite 40mm fans.
 
I am about to add a post to my on-going thread- 'hak's find of the day' came across a busted up tiny RC heli- the twin rotor kind with the to tiny props for fwd movement- dc motors smaller than the end of your pinky. Ideal IMO for a very small spiro--
slightly bigger but much higher quakily dc motors are inside self winding 35 mm cameras-most thrift shops have a box of these and nobody buying- If they want very much just politely say no thanks- and maybe mention that just buying and getting fllm developed nowadays is hard. Then come back another day or try getting a better deal if you take several off thier hands-- also EVERY Poliroid One-step has botha 3vdc motor and a nice thin keystone FS mirror- cutable to smaller size if you are good at cutting glass-I do not EVER pay more than 1$ for these- and they are even harder to get film for- and when I ask who they think will buy-- and how long have hey had it- they often see my point- being nice is highly recommendthat ed-helps too bringing them a box of stuff to sell I have 5 shops that save the poliroids for me- some in the past have been throwing them out- -
The toy section in thrifts can be a treasure trove of RC ( wired RC is cheaper and just as if not more useful)stuff-- dc motors battery holders and more
 
Well, you could always use a radio shack 8aa battery pack....
Nice job. Gotta try something like this but need to investigate more. You always seem to have something going on:gj: Hope the ARGMeter is going well:)
 
Yeah I wish I would have been into lasers and stuff back when we use to do 35mm film because I use to see hundreds of disposable cameras just had that we just would send back for recycling. Makes me sad to just think of all of those cameras I could have got good stuff from.

Pman the only thing about that is it would take up a lot of space and each battery can take a Max of 12v. But I wouldn't probably turn the potentiometers all the way up so supplying them with 9v each would work just right and not take up much space. And yeah I'm always working on something, or at least trying. And the arglpm is coming along good I'll have a review up soon and I think you will like it.

Yeah Jakey I seen your post a week or two ago and was like what the heck is that? So I did some searching and yeah had to make one. Its so sweet you have no idea. I'm thinking of also adding a 405nm with the 532nm for a double color spirograph!
 
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