COMPLETE: (yet another) Spinner from VCR parts

[krutknut]

I though that building a spinner could be more fun than just buying one.
So, I took apart a VCR and found a part that spins reasonably well. It seems to be somewhat different from other examples of VCR spinners that I have seen.

As you see in the pictures, the shaft does not go all the way through. Instead, the shaft rests on the inside of the bottom part, and and if that is removed, it no longer spins at all. The top of the shaft is very short, about 2mm.

Did anyone build a VCR spinner from a similar part, and got some advice?

The top half has got a few holes, and I could mount screws in two of them, and then put bar across and above the too short shaft. I could mount a new shaft on that bar, and then place both the encoding wheel and the knob on the same bar.

I am also considering to make it a push/pull spinner. Is that worth the effort?

[krutknut]

Now, I have found a nice knob, and attached a shaft from a sawed-off screw. Next, I will attach it to the VCR drum.

http://www.elfa.se/elfa-bin/setpage.pl?http://www.elfa.se/elfa-bin/dyndok.pl?lang=en&dok=1487.htm

I have also found a $2.50 PS/2 mouse with a rather small board, it's 500dpi.


The wheel has about 50 spokes.  I am going to print a new one. How many spokes should the new wheel have?
http://www.clasohlson.se/Product/Product.aspx?id=257433

[IG-88]

Have you read Nathan Strums Cheap Spinner guide? He says to try either 24, 32, 40 or 48. I believe Spystyle has had good luck with the 40.

I have one of these exact drums sitting in a box waiting to get "used". I will be interested in how this pans out.

[krutknut]

48? Well, maybe I will have to settle for few spokes, if the optics of the mouse can't handle the speed of many spokes. But then the spinner wouldn't have sufficient resolution for some of the games I would like to play.

Having looked a bit more in the archives, it seems that:
For Arkanoid, I need 125 spokes.
For Arkanold 2, I need 250 spokes.
For Tempest, 20 spokes would do.

Maybe I should try 125 spokes first, and then go down to fewer spokes if it doesn't work.
I will print the wheels on a transparency sheet, because then I will not have to cut out each of the spokes.

[theCoder]

I will print the wheels on a transparency sheet, because then I will not have to cut out each of the spokes.

Great idea !

[ARTIFACT]

looking forward to see how your spinner turns out!

[IG-88]

Just curious. How wide of a wheel are you going to make? The ones I was talking about are just right around 3 inches across. Or the same size as a mini CD. I like the transparency idea. How do you plan on making it so it stays fairly flat? Transparency is kinda flimsy isn't it?

Also how did you figure out the DPi of your mouse? I have lots of old ones but have no idea what the DPi is on them.

[krutknut]

I bought a new $2.50 mouse, so the DPI was printed on the package. The package also described that there were actually optics  inside.

The width of the disc is a tricky issue. There has to be enough space between the spokes, and the spokes have to be wide enough. I have no idea what "enough" would be, so I'll have to test a few wheels. But the transparency idea itself should work, I got it and the file to print from another spinner example. http://www.axe-man.org/page.asp?lang=E&page=122.

The VCR drum is 50mm 60 mm across, so I thought I'd first try out a 60mm 70 mm disc. I will try and put something sturdy on top of it, and then let the flimsy edges stick out.

I have mounted the shaft now, and it just wobbles a tiny bit if I spin it hard. If that turns out to be an issue, I can adjust the mounting screws more carefully. Two of the screws go into the drum, and the other two just makes the construction more sturdy, resting on the surface of the drum.

[krutknut]

Now I've mounted the 125 spoke encoder wheel. The VCR head is 60mm and the wheel is 76.
It's 5 printed transparencies with the encoder pattern on top of each other, glued together. Just one let light through the black spokes, which doesn't work. Five also has another advantage, the pack is not at all flimsy so there is no need to ruin my favorite Bob Dylan CD to get it sturdy.

So far, I've done nothing expensive or particularly difficult.

[krutknut]

I shouldn't have entered that last sentence... now I accidentaly destroyed the mouse. I hope I didn't damage the computer as well. Off to the store again tomorrow for a new mouse. Then I will put the board in a small plastic bag before I try to attach it to the spinner.

But I did have time for a game of Arkanoid before I killed the mouse board. I set the analog sensitivity to 100% in Mame, and I had no hardware acceleration for the mouse. I had to turn the knob somewhat more than 45 degrees to go from the middle to the edge. Is that how the control is supposed to behave?

[bfauska]

Whatdja do to break it?

[krutknut]

I scratched the board against the metal I had cut to mount it on, and then the optics died. It wasn't easy to do, but a bit of clumsiness helped.

[krutknut]

I've finished the spinner by attaching a new  mouse board.  It took some time to find the correct angle, but now it's spinnig smoothly. To upgrade it, I probably will make a new encoding wheel, since it got a bit unfocused when I worked on the other details. But I can't see any problems with the action and I am in no hurry to fix something that isn't broken.

I also need some kind of box for it. And maybe I should attach buttons as well. But that's for later. Now I'll play a game of Arkanoid.

[ARTIFACT]

amazing! i wouldnt know where to start

[krutknut]

Thanks!
There is inspiration for making a spinner in several places, for instance the Twisty Grip page.
http://www.twistygrip.com/spinners/spinners.htm
That spinner uses the same top as I have, but a three-button mouse and a smaller encoding wheel. However, my mouse board has space for three buttons, although only two are mounted. So perhaps I could attach three Happ buttons to it.

If you really would like to build one of these, then start with the VCR head drum and figure out how to attach the shaft. Then the other steps will be easy.

[psychotech]

That is another really cool DIY (BYO) solution 

Still, they do state that "You will NOT find a simpler design anywhere else!" (http://www.twistygrip.com/spinners/spinners.htm)

Oh, well.. I did.

Check out the original Hard Drive spinner @ http://www.doughansen.net/arcade/spinner.htm

Mine was about 5€ (5 Euros) ..4 for the WD HD. Pictures on my Bombjack thread @ http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=61679.msg662703#msg662703 Something not mentioned on my (or DH's) sites; any DB25/DB?? connector's fastening screw will fit the WD HDs 

And the replacement parts, should one ever need them, are either cheap or free nowadays Just bought another identical WD drive for 1,5E, not bad ?

Anyway, you should add your spinner to the BYOAC Wiki.

Good job 

[krutknut]

I read your design carefully before I started, it's very impressive!

I opened a different drive, but there were no screws holding the wheel plate in place. It was impossible to remove. Instead, I noticed that the arm had a nice bearing inside, which was easy to remove. Maybe it will come in handy some time, if I don't need a heavy weight on a spinner for some reason.

[psychotech]

Thanks! Still, it's just a mod of a already great design

Anyway, your VCR spinner looks great With that big (& heavy?) drum it probably spins forever and ever..?

I really think you should add it to the BYOAC Wiki @ http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Spinners_and_Dials

Another great BYOAC hack!

Keep up the good work 

psychotech

PS. "Maybe it will come in handy some time" - It WILL ..10+ years old, obsolete remote controller -> http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=67842.msg714587#msg714587 ..Trust me, it'll come handy, sooner or later

[krutknut]

It spins very well, but with more friction than the new VCR head I just took out from an old VCR. The new one spins much longer, and is lighter. I helped a friend to move today, and instead of throwing the broken VCR away, I took it with me.

I just might start a new thread for the new spinner...

Anyway, I've added this one to the wiki now. Perhaps someone can find it useful.