A few weeks ago, curious gadgets in the shape of a three-pointed star have appeared in our lives that only rotate on themselves, as if they were spinning tops but with a different shape. Children and not so children have been dazzled by this gadget which is called Fidget Spinner. These Fidget Spinners are the fad of the year for school children but they are also a silly toy for many adults.
In recent days this fashion is generating thousands of euros, but many say that this "fashion" is not such since the Fidget Spinner gadget has already existed for years, but What really is a fidget spinner? What models of Fidget Spinner are there? Can we build ourselves such a gadget?
What are Fidget Spinners?
A Fidget Spinner or just a Spinner is a stress-relieving toy that is made up of a central shaft that contains one or more bearings and that two or three arms come out of the central axis that end with bearings each. The material of these fidget spinners can be very varied although the most common is to find spinners made of plastic or similar materials.
This stress-relieving toy was born in 1993 as a result of a chemical engineer who had trouble communicating with her daughter due to illness. This engineer is called Catherine Hettinger. And despite the fact that many of us may think that he is currently one of the richest people in the world, the fact is that he is not because the patent lost him years ago. After this, several medical institutions have used this "hand spinning top" as an instrument to working with children and / or people with autism, attention deficit, stress, anxiety or depression.
What models are there of Fidget Spinner?
Currently there are many models of Fidget Spinner, since in addition to being a fashion, it is also being a collector's item. Generally, to make a distinction between models, users usually take two elements: the type of material and the bearing. Regarding the material, we have to say that metal spinners are considered high-end, having good bearings and profiled finishes. Then there would be the plastic spinners, these spinners are the most common and the ones with bad bearings. It is not a general rule, that is, there may be a plastic spinner with very good bearings, but there are also "bad" models that have bad finishes and bad bearings that make the experience with the spinner not so good. It must be emphasized that the most important part of the Fidget spinner is the bearing. Depending on the type of bearing that the Fidget Spinner has, the spinner will be of higher or lower quality and therefore will have a higher or lower price. In Gadget News you have a guide to the Fidget Spinner models as well as a link to get each model that they indicate to us.
How can I get a Fidget Spinner?
There are currently two ways to get a Fidget Spinner: Either we buy one of these spinners or we build one ourselves. Since we are in Hardware Libre, it is normal that we opt for this last option, which we are going to talk about in detail, but before that we will stop at the Fidget Spinner that can be purchased.
The success of the toy has been such that the Fidget Spinner behaves in many places like gold itself. That is, it has a price that fluctuates depending on the stock, the number of places that sell it, etc ... a usual price of 3 euros but reaching the figure of 10 euros in a matter of days or even hours. Fact that does not stop attracting the attention of many, not only because of the effects that the Fidget Spinner produces but because of this change in price and the sales that it causes.
Now we can always build our Fidget Spinner. If we choose this option, option I really prefer, we have two ways to do it: or we use recycled materials and we built a Fidget spinner that no one else will have; O well we choose the Hardware Libre to create a personal Fidget Spinner that hardly anyone else will have but that will have a more “industrial” finish compared to home construction.
How can I build a homemade Fidget Spinner?
Building a Fidget Spinner is an easy thing to do. First we have to get the general shape of the spinner, we can do this on cardboard, wood, hard plastic, etc ... Any material will do. Then we use bearings that we can buy at any hardware store. Need at least one bearing, this will be in the central part of the spinner.
But we can also use bearings at the ends of the spinner, yes, if we use bearings at the ends we have to use them at all ends, it is not worth using it only at one end. It is also good to use washers where we will rest the finger when the Fidget spinner rotates. Below we include a video of how to build a homemade spinner, in the video we can see how a spinner is built step by step.
But the construction with Hardware Libre offers better results. In essence, construction through 3D printing offers the same but with more professional finishes, being able to go through a purchased spinner when it is not.
For the construction of a spinner through 3D printing we will essentially need two things: a 3D printer with PLA or ABS and bearings. If we have these two things, we only have to go to an object repository and download the spinner model that we want (if we are very handy with Autocad we can also create it with this tool).
Once we have the model, We print it with the 3D printer and after finishing we add the bearings. These types of bearings are also used by 3D printers, so to couple these elements we can use a heat source such as a welder. Giving a little heat to the plastic part will make it easier for us to insert the bearings.
Models Fidget Spinner are present in the most famous 3D object repositories on the Internet. In them we can find the file of the Fidget Spinner that we like, download it and print it. But the repositories deserve special mention Thingiverse y Yeggy.
These repositories already contain hundreds of e even thousands of spinner models that we can download and print in our house. Instructables it also has spinner models, but to a lesser extent. If we are really new to the world of 3D printing, possibly Instructables is your repository because in addition to containing the print file, it contains a guide with the steps to follow to build the spinner.
Conclusion
There are many models and forms of "spinner", but most of them can be reproduced by us at home or with a 3D printer. I usually opt for the cheapest methods since not everyone has money to spare, but in this case, I think the best option for the construction of a fidget spinner is the use of a 3D printer and a file from some repository like Thingiverse.
The result is an original, inexpensive spinner with professional finishes. It is true that not everyone has a 3D printer on hand, but you can order the part through 3D printing services or opt for building with recycled materials, a less professional alternative. You decide, but building a Fidget Spinner is more fun than buying them Do not you think?