Mine was also quite heavy, and I went back after all the parts were made and lightened the flywheel and outer cage a bit, so that a really good pull start would get it up to speed enough to balance. My problem became that it was still so much mass to get moving that a good, quick pull would tear up whatever I used for a pull cord. Natural fiber cord wasn't even close to strong enough, and some thin kevlar twine I had would only stand up to a single pull. In the end, I stuck with compressed air to get mine spun up. I like your idea of the motor coupling though!
The Joy of Precision The weight of the cage shouldn't have anything to do with how hard it is to spin it up, should it?? I work at a car dealership. Every time I walk past the service department's pile of scrap parts and I see all the wheel hubs and brake rotors I think about how cool it would be to make a gyroscope out of those (brake rotor as the cage), and spin it up with the shop's air supply. The only things stopping me are that I haven't found any brake rotors small enough to turn on my 10" lathe, and the fact that if spinning it up went badly it would go VERY badly...
Jon, correct the weight of the cage does not affect how hard it is to spin up, but it very much has an affect on the gyroscope's ability to maintain balance in horizontal positions. The more mass there is, whether spinning or not, the faster the flywheel will need to spin to keep it lifted in anything other than vertical orientation. The lighter the whole thing is, the easier it is (and the fewer RPMs required) to do cool tricks like balancing on a point, in a horizontal orientation. I know exactly what you mean about the massive gyroscope idea, my father-in-law wants to do exactly the same. I'm trying to convince him to get a small lathe so he can start tinkering with some ideas on a smaller scale.
I dont know why but I have always been fascinated by gyroscopes, or any gadget that spins, according to my parents I'd turn my wagon on its lid and play with the wheels by spinning them, to this day I like to play with fidget spinners, gyroscopes, ect.
I started out watching this video with closed captioning enabled and stayed just to see the goat build a gyroscope. Apparently someone got that beloved goat because it never showed up. Wheres the goat??
Ha ha! Yes I did the same - and wondered about the "goat". Apparently the close caption app is not well versed in British English. You know, it is their language. Edit: Oh, now I see the word in the introduction. He means "..have a go at").
Ha ha ha Clickspring can get away with super glue working with lighter weight workpieces on a mini lathe. Your working on a different level. Well done, love your Gyroscope.
Hi Virginia. The truth of the matter is that I haven’t got half the talent that Chris has, so I’m very much standing on the shoulders of giants! In fact, my lathe is also a mini lathe but probably the next size up from the one Chris has, but very much still in the hobby\home shop bracket. Anyway, thanks for the nice comment. It’s really appreciated!
That is beautiful! I wish I had the tools to make my own. There is one online service I know of, but that is quite expensive. Then again, your tools don't look exactly cheap! I would probably go with a disk rotor with no cutouts. I'm not sure how I would go about expressing the balance of the rotor to an online machine service. I would be aiming more for a precision scientific instrument than a toy. I've got the toys.
Im making it out of Table circle holders made out of aluminum. Im also gonna use a bearing spinner from a metal figet spinner i bought. Its gonna be easy
What's kind of metal do you need for the main shaft that goes in between the bearings holding everything together how is that molded, does it matter if it's brass aluminum or my choice etc?
Hi Dane - I've used silver steel (or drill rod as it's called in the states) for the main shaft. I think brass or aluminium would be too soft. The silver steel is turned on the lathe to get it to the correct size for the bearings.
Hello Wowl. Pause the video at 2:46. You can see that at either end there is a change in diameter in the shaft from 6 mm to 5 mm. The bearings are 5 mm inside diameter, so the shaft 6 mm diameter holds everything in place against the bearings. It’s the same principle for the bearing holders. The bearings are 10 mm outside diameter, but the through hole in the bearing holders is only 8 mm in diameter.
I really like this gyroscope. I even collected its plans. But I can not find the processing plant willing to make. You have only one gyroscope, and I only envy.
Remembering "Dave the barbarian", this is the homemade Gyroscope's "recipe": What we'll need: - 2 meters of rope - 1 or 2 squirrels - 1 delicately calibrated gyroscope Instructions: Tie everything together. ¡Ready!
Dear David I'm a emgineering in Hanoi University of sience and technologi - Ha noi - Viet Nam. I realy want to have a gyroscope for my student. may i buy or have a technical drawings. thanks you
hi, i like the video and thus want to make it by myself. may i get the email to contact you? i would like to get the detail list of parts or the recipe. thank a lot!!
Thanks for the comments. The build is actually a variant of a project by Chris from ClickSpring. You can get his plans from here: www.clickspringprojects.com/blog/gyroscope-build-part-2-out-now-on-make David
Parag Shinde What about it is not homemade? He made a pattern in his home workshop, cast it in brass in his backyard, and machined the casting in his home workshop. It is unquestionably homemade. His tools and skills and craftsmanship are higher than you typically find in Etsy projects, but that doesn't mean it isn't homemade.
This is exactly true Jon, I am with you. No where does this gentleman say DIY Gyro, or build one yourself on a free Saturday like some projects here on You Tube will do. He takes you through the process, but does not say...just take a brass object and melt it down yourself. I like to build stuff with wood, and there are some projects that I will never attempt just because I do not have the space or budget to buy some of the tools necessary, but I usually find the process interesting...just like this video.
