How to Build a Spin Art Machine

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The learning process of building a small desktop spin art machine.

I started off with a sheet of foam core that I cut into 4- 2" x 6" strips for the walls, then a 6" x 6" base for the bottom. I marked out the center of the box with an "X" by lining up a ruler across two diagonal corners, then rotated and marked it again. then I measured the height of my DC Hobby Motor and created four small walls to hold it into place in the center of the box. I made sure to cut a small notch for the wires of the motor so that they could peak out from one corner of the small frame. I then cut a small base for the motor to sit on so that it was not wobbly from the protruding wires. *Please note, do not hot glue the motor/base into the box yet.

Now that the frame is ready to go it's time to join the components and test them.

Let's break down the tools and elements required.

From Left to Right we are using a 9 volt battery, a 9 v. snap connector, alligator clips for testing, wire cutter and a switch. (The first switch is a a small yellow push button switch that I chose not to use; I didn't like the way it worked. I chose to display it here because I didn't want to cause any confusion when it was seen in the pictures. The second is a simple flip switch that I chose to stick with. Lastly we have a DC Hobby Motor, I included a breakdown of the motor as well.

Now you want to create your circuit with the components above. I started with the motor and added the battery power so that I could make sure both the battery and the motor worked. When I knew they did I moved onto the next component.

I added the switch to the circuit. Remember; black to black and red to red. The wires for the switch connect directly to the wires for the motor. You will need an additional set of wires to connect the switch and motor together, and then to the battery. Once it all worked together I made sure to fit together all elements properly and super glued the motor down. Do not glue the switch, you don't want to have any connectability issues with the wires or the switch not being conductive.

When everything was in place and stable I added an old CD to the the top of the mounting square, on top of the motor, using hot glue to keep them in place. I tested it again and voila! It worked!!

It was so much fun to put this together and see the final results. It wasn't exactly easy for someone who has never done this before, but I never gave up and have been most thrilled with the end result.