OLD BIKE PARTS USED TO MAKE THE LATEST SPINNER CRAZE
There’s no doubt that Fidget Spinners have been the latest trend that has been popping up everywhere. There's also been a plethora of diy videos popping all over social media these last few months. All this means that there's a whole load of creativity to come up weird and wonderful design options. Some of these are cool, many are quite naff Today, we stumbled across a video of one Fidget Spinner made from a bike chain that we thought was interesting and pretty easy to make. A quick search on Youtube revealed that there were a bunch of tutorials on How To Make A Bike Chain Fidget Spinner that all pretty much do the same thing. We figured some of you might be interested in making your own, so below are a few tutorial examples. All you need is a chain, a bearing and some zip ties to make this work. You will likely need a Chain Breaker, too, but it’s not completely necessary since the video below shows you a work around for that. You can also use a bolt and nut to help keep it from rubbing when you hold it to keep it spinning longer as well. Love ’em or hate ’em, this is a pretty interesting idea that’s BMX related.
The Science Bit
Having looked at all these videos, it got us thinking about the SCIENCE of Fidget Spinners and how Fidget Spinners make great STEM Projects! There are so many science elements to consider; from Centrifugal Forces, to Frictions and Optics, even sound that you can investigate with figdet spinners. There are quite literally loads of variations and even no bearing Fidget Spinners.
So why Ban them?
It should be fairly clear what a fidget spinner is by now. You have already seen them. You may even be sick of them. The problem seems to be that they create 'fidgets' rather than 'cure' those children who genuinely cannot keep still. The issue seems to be in the knowledge that teachers know their pupils are just jumping on the hype and particularly when you're trying deliver a class is bound to be a bit annoying.
Sure, some schools are banning them as distractions. However, if you consider this to be nothing more than a fun DIY project for people to explore and have fun with, they can actually be enjoyable.
A fun way to explore the fidget spinner craze, without too much investment of time or money, is to make the “no tools” fidget spinner. This simple fidget spinner is comprised of a central bearing, some heavy nuts of various sizes, and zip ties. That’s it.
Start with a Clean Bearing (the mainstay of any fidget spinner is a bearing.) You can use pretty much whatever bearings you get your hands on, but you will need to clean them out to get that fancy smooth spin. To add more spin, pry off the protective cover and swishing them around in a degreaser or acetone for a bit, but even just rubbing alcohol or just really hot water will do the trick as well though.
The goal is to remove the grease that these are normally packed with. This grease is essential when the bearings are holding weight, but, for a fidget spinner, they should not have much weight to hold. A quick spray of WD-40 or machine oil will keep them going smoothly after you are done cleaning.
Most of the DIY options you'll see; the only “tool” you will need is a pair of scissors or, perhaps some fingernail clippers. You do not even have to use nuts, you can use whatever you find lying around. You could even make one by zip-tying rocks to a ball bearing!
What designs can you come up with?
