What Would The Holidays Be Without Spin Welding???
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ธ.ค. 2022
- Oh... the smell of liquefied styrene... Smells like the 70's! Let's go nostalgic with a little bit of spin welding on Xmas. But due to low battery, just a little bit.
My original DIY Spin Welder Video - • Ask Fran: Build Your O...
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How on the world did I miss that as a kid?! I'd still love it now! I'm 71.
I loved my spinwelder. I had the dragster. I would just spot weld the parts instead of fully welding them. That way i could play with them and crash them realistically with parts flyin' all over. And since the parts themselves didn't break, I'd just go back in and spot weld it all back together and do it again.
Needless to say, I run out of welding rods before too long.
And then I learned how to disassemble and clean out a Bic pen ink tube/reservoir. Cut it in 3rds or halfs and the hole fits the pin on the welding gun perfectly.
I had the dragster, too. Kept breaking.
@@flyboyu777 I never saw this before, either. Interesting.
I worked at a place that had an inertial welder. It was top secret, and we had to cover it when tours happened. The Soviets had actually stolen metallurgical tech from that plant by walking through with sticky shoes, to pick up chips & analyze the alloys we used.
That's fucked up. Any more cool Soviet stories?
Did you employ "gumshoe" detectives to figure out how the Russians conducted their industrial espionage?🤔😁
@@goodun2974 Good old fashioned shoe leather.
And that's why nowadays top-secret machine shop guests are required to wear paper booties over their shoes.
I heard of such a story (documentary) involving post world War 2 British airplane jet engine plant. Merlin or Rolls-Royce.
About those lantern batteries. I bought a couple that were lead acid rechargeable. Two because I could charge them in series with a power supply that is for using automotive electronics on the bench.
Wow, that box in the video was the one I wanted when I was 8. But they only had the helicopter left at the toy store. It was a lot of fun and I did manage to finish it without my Dad's help. I remember it had an orange bracket to help keep the beams at right angles which helped a lot. The only disappointment was I expected the helicopter to actually fly!
The spin welder was my first introduction to the dangers of hot, melting plastic. Great education toy.
When you were welding, I could remember the smell of the plastic ! (And the burned fingers)
Mattel made the coolest toys! Vac-U-Form, Power Shop, Thing-Maker!
Reminds me of another dangerous 70's "toy" The Woodburning Art Kit. A soldering iron, a preprinted design on a piece of balsa wood for your child to trace with said soldering iron. What could go wrong?
I had one of those. The cork grip wasn't thick enough to make it cool to hold. I still have my t-ball bat that I burned some stuff into.
Jeff Foxworthy has a piece about those and how the cord was so short "you were guaranteed to be right next to the drapes."
I have a scar on my elbow from taking the burnishing cap off a woodburning pen, forgetting it would still be hot, and melting my flesh against it. Good times.
they could learn that a soldering was hot at one end. damage caused would be minimal. going right, not wrong.
I LOVED my Spin Welder!
I wondered why they dont make it anymore!
Toys that taught you skills. Not like killing zombie skills. Btw. You can still get lantern batteries in Australia. What you can’t find are incandescent bulbs used in torchlights.
For me the thrill of it was only short lived because it was difficult to get a good weld. That meant I really needed a pack of extra rods to finish it and was told we wouldn't be buying extra things. Oh the hardships.
Spirograph never needed anything but scrap paper and a pen.
Coming full circle, this Spinwelding turned to be the reason why I stumbled upon this fabulous channel when looking for friction welding of aluminum 😉
My kid would have loved this. I gave him a huge copy machine when he was 5. He spent several days taking it apart.
I had a couple of those!
Add a Mecano/Erector and a Tinkertoy sets and I would be happy for months (or until I laid eyes on those "new" Radio Shack 300-in-1 Electronic Lab)
I got one of these kits from my Uncle, and I couldn't get it work! It had a powerpack that used D-cell batteries. My dad stripped the wires and we used a LANTERN battery connected to the spin welder, and it WORKED! My kit was a helicopter, and when you were done building it, the motor of the spin welder was used to make the rotors spin! Great fun!
I had a spinwelder! Great toy and perfect gateway drug to many many many more complicated kits.
My Dad was a welder. He proudly bought me that airplane spinwelder kit.
This is just as gratifying as the inertial and friction punches and welders for metal, there’s something so soothing about seeing the stuff melt and reform in smooth symmetrical rims around the tool
How did I not hear about these?!? I was 6 in 1970. That seems to be right in my (and my Dad's) wheelhouse. Thanks Fran!
As a person in my later 50's, why have I never heard of this "spinwelder" thing? That kind of thing would have been right up my alley back in the 70's!
Never heard of them , Fran , but in the wilds of Canada we didn't hear much !😀
What I like about the channel is that I casually thought about opening up a lantern battery to see what was inside, but you went ahead and answered it for me.
Thanks Fran, never a dull moment. You are one of the few people on TH-cam I would love to meet.
Watching this my memory conjured up the smell of the molten plastic! I at one time in my younger years worked as an RV tech. Working on the HDPE tanks adding fittings required spin welding them in.
We had the best toys that could kill us!🙂 Chemistry kits with nuclear material, wood burning kits, with a six inch power cord and 800 degree tips, erector sets with all the nice sharp edges, lawn darts and spin welding.
What a fun childhood and not a warning label in sight!!
*A real kid’s toy.* A true product of a greater era. Manufactured and sold with no foresight into the child’s fingers needing to be alarmingly close to molten spinning plastic, and since it spins it ‘jumps’ up towards the kid’s fingers of you speed up or slow down. Back when toys taught an actual lesson and built character. *Lesson: be careful or you’ll get burned. And any parent from this age knows scrapes knees and kids missing parts of their fingerprints builds character*
I had forgotten about this! A blast from the past!
I can't believe I don't remember Spin Welder! I was the exact demographic when this came out and watched all the TV this would have been marketed on!
Dangerous toys for Christmas, brilliant. It’s what made life so much fun in those days. I was soldering at the age of 11, if you burnt yourself it just meant you weren’t doing it right 😂
I bought a soldering iron on eBay as soon as I had my own debit card. I couldn't get to the mall often enough to check out what else radio shack still stocked at the time (my dad bought me my first SD card for a cheap digital camera there) and my parents wouldn't have bought me one anyway lol
Guess what.. kids STILL solder. I mean, maybe. Has to be a few outlier weirdos out there!
@@sn1000k that was me in the 2010s! There's gotta be nerdy kids still interested in it. Vintage is very in
I had one of these when I was a kid and loved it. Burned my fingers a few times, of course, and I mostly ended up "welding" things together that weren't in the kit. :)
Interesting. The Spin Welder is definitely from my era but I don't remember ever hearing about it as a kid. And it would have been right up my alley. Possibly one of the many American toys that never made it into Canada in those days.
I don't remember seeing them in Belgium either... 🤔
@@stevenverhaegen8729 And not here in Netherlands either... or at least not noticed them.
I'm in New England, and have never heard of this. I was heavily into Erector sets though.
I would have loved to have this as a kid in the 1980's, but Australia is at the arse end of the world (the end of a trade route, not a crossroads like Europe or North America) and lots of things never quite made it to us.
I just posted an almost identical comment. . . even including the "right up my alley" statement! (cue "The Twilight Zone" music here. . .). ;)
That's the coolest thing I've never heard of before! I would have had so much fun with those if I had known.
Btw, the way you talked about lantern batteries made it sound like they don't exist anymore. I'm pretty sure I can go down to the dollar store right now and pick up a few.
They are not 'real' lantern batteries because they do not deliver the amp hours the old ones did.
Although the form factor for the spring-lug lantern battery remains in legacy use, the original contained four "F" cells and weighed in North of 800 grams. Many newer lantern batteries now use four "D" cells and weigh in around 600 grams (or less), and have a lopsided heft-feel to the case as the "D" cells are often all on one end and a fiber or plastic filler is used to make up the rest of the internal volume to prevent the cells from moving in the lantern case. A few name brands still make a version of the four "F" cell batteries, but as they are not in huge demand, they are often a special order item. For example, Energizer model 528 Lantern, 6v, apx. 26Ah, weight apx. 885 grams; vs. Energizer model EN 529 Lantern, 6v, apx. 18.5Ah, weight apx. 665 grams. A number of the Off-brand lantern batteries use very cheap "D" cells and often muster no more than 6 to 9Ah of energy. Visually, the cases all have the same form factor appearance. Internal cell form factors 3-350 vs 3-361 at Energizer. For the purists amongst us, there are some lantern batteries with the "D" cell internal cells that use the most modern chemistry and largely achieve the power of the older "F" factor cells, but those are very hard to find and usually available only as special order for legacy portable electronic equipment.
@@stevenmclatchy nice explanation :)
Who knows, maybe it's worth making an extra high capacity rechargeable lantern battery out of eight 21700 or 18650 Li-Ion cells in a 2S4P configuration, with the BMS and charging socket on top. That's gonna store a LOT of energy, haha!
This is brilliant, I was given one of these as a kid, it was a helicopter as I remember, my brother and myself went at non stop until it was done. This was the most fun I can remember as a kid living in country South Australia.
Never had one myself, but I remember seeing them at other kids houses when I'd go over.
You can still get lantern batteries, btw. At least here in Canada. They're about $15 at Canadian Tire.
Yeah we still have them in Australia and New Zealand too...
For best results you have to follow it up with spingrinder and spinpaint.
I liked the smell of spin welding and HO railroading.
I like the franlab song. It is catchy.
Back to your roots, the second FranLab video I ever watched was on spin welding (first was on the C64), long long ago.
I loved this kit! I managed to build the aircraft and they had a dragster! However I remember burning myself countless times from placing my hand too close to the weld or touching it right after, so I guess this isn't why they don't make them anymore.
I learned so much from this kit. Like entry level Welding, architectural design, aircraft structure and of course model making.
Getting the lantern battery was costly and as a kid I hated getting toys that needed batteries because my parents would scoff at the idea of buying them.
Wish someone would bring this back.
Michael Rivero, on his "What Really Happened" radio show, one mentioned that 60% of American households at one point had chemistry sets, and that in current times, if someone see's a test tube, they are apt call the police over a suspected meth lab. Funny change in things, and just one example...
@@jmiskinis LOL That is interesting. I never had a chemistry set but did have a Microscope as a kid and I loved that Instrument so much. In fact I bought a high end Microscope from an Estate sale a month ago because it reminded me of my youth.
@@johnwayne2103I had a microscope also, it was very interesting, and I believe that it was also a common household item back then, as several friends had them, some with other colored lights such as dark purple. - Several years ago, when I was at a department store who's name begins with a "W", there was a combination Microscope and Telescope. For the price of $5, as it appears that they take up a lot of "precious" shelf space, and are not very a very popular item. I carried it around the store for about a half an hour, as I shopped for some other items. I ended up finding something that was more suitable for my practical needs at the time, and it was a very large item, and since I was on my mountain bike, I had to put the microscope and telescope set back on the shelf. I think that was my last time in such a store, other than a visit just before they closed, to purchase a couple of pairs of black pants for a family member, in short order, in two sizes, after realizing that he had gained weight, and the black dress pants were too tight, and some could not snap, and there was a funeral we had to attend the next day. :) - It was also the fastest that I had ever ridden my first electric bicycle that I built, and it is not in my best interest to post the speed. Or, to state what I observed at the store shortly after I had arrived. :)
@@jmiskinis c'mon meth lab? Just cooking up a few crack rocks from grandma's soft stash at best!
Early this year I got sick of trying to figure out what's wrong with my broken 3D printer, so I looked into plastic welding using solvent, aka plastic cement. I mostly was using the 3D printer to make enclosures and mounting fixtures for my electronics projects, so I could basically build everything out of flat sheets of styrene anyway.
I figured out the plastic sheets are sold here as "plasticard", and can be found for a reasonable price on eBay. Then I found out that the expensive hobby plastic cement is basically methyl ethyl ketone, so I did some more googling and found that MEK is the main ingredient in PVC pipe cement, and it's available in a clear version in the plumbing section at the hardware store. I've since found out that it's also in lacquer thinner (aka cellulose thinner) as well, so I might give that a try later.
Anyway, the main thing you need to be careful of is the fumes, they've very strong and highly carcinogenic, so you really need a proper respirator with organic solvent filters, and only work with it in a well ventilated space or outdoors. And even though the cement seems to set pretty quickly, the parts can still have a slight odour of the cement hours later, so definitely leave them in a well ventilated place to cure overnight.
Wonder if you would wanna convert that 3D printer into a 3D pen? That would be an interesting project (no, I don't have a link or anything sorry, it's just something I thought about).
Having build my own 3D printer I kinda know where any failure could be (tho granted, after 2 years of different failures as well), but I can see them being frustrating to many.
"Goof Off", paint-removing solvent containing MEK, acetone, and tolulol, will soften most plastics; it may work for your purposes. Nasty fumes, however, and I can basically feel my brain's cells go "pop!" whenever I work with it. Not to be confused with GooGone.....
I'm surprised in my 60 years I have never seen one of those before. I would have had fun with that as a kid. I did get lots of use from my Gilbert Erector Set... ;)
Brings back memories.
I don't remember 'Spin Welder", but I might have been a bit too old at the time it was at the toy stores. Interesting idea, Thanks for the video!
You gen-X kids had some crazy toys down there, haha! I can't recall anything similar on our side of the globe back then... not here, behind the Iron Curtain.
Wondering if these were any popular in the UK or western Europe.
I've never seen them in the Netherlands either, no idea if they were ever sold here. It looks like a pretty cool toy.
I do remember those insane batteries though.
don't remember them in the uk
@@Eduardo_Espinoza oh noez! It's not just Lego that does that, haha!
Great build idea. A 6v power supply for spinweld tools.
Check the video in the description....
I had this as a kid and loved it. I don't remember if I finished the project or not.
The heavy duty (carbon zinc) lantern batteries where an excellent source of carbon rods if you come across any dead ones
I have heard and probably seen some ads or descriptions about those lantern batteries. However, I never had any in my hands. Yet, I might say I had something even better! In the old non automated phones there were something called phone batteries. They were huge, about 6 inches tall, if not more. I think the shape is called "prismatic". Inside there was a carbon element, 5 to 6 inches long, 1/4 inch thick and two inches wide.. I got two of those carbon electrodes out of depleted batteries and played with them in various ways.
The most impressive was using an electric space heater as current limiter and started a bright arc between two carbons. It was way brighter than any incandescent lamps I had seen. However, my eyes did not like that for too long. Nor did my nose like the smoke and the ozone emitted. Also, my insulating tape was fabric based and I did not have enough layers, so after all the heat, the tapes started slipping and a couple of times I got shocks. Well, I am sure they contributed to my safety consciousness for the rest of my career with electricity.
I made a similar electric-arc "furnace" with carbon rods from D cells and a beaker of saltwater as a current limiter.
I got one of these spin welder kits for Christmas 1976.
I had the tank kit, and jumped right in without reading the instructions. I wasted all my "rods" - and welded stuff that was meant to use half with the rivets. Parts that were intended to move freely therefore didn't...and I couldn't finish the model without more rods. I was too embarrassed to ask my folks for more pieces to fix it. We were poor. Thanks for the memories!!
Had that as a kid. Loved it!
Edit: fixed a cracked case on a radio, , and also fixed my vertibird, among other things it was never intended to do
Wow. I never heard of this before. I've built styrene models but I always used solvent glue to do it.
Huh... I had a pretty crafty childhood... plastic models, control-line airplanes, model rockets, erector sets, etc. Bu in all my 64 years I've never encountered spin-welding... Wow!
Aww.. this is nice. The first time I saw one of your videos was the first spin weldeder vid! Years sure go fast!
We used to do this for model/prototype building with styrene rods chucked into a dremel or flex-shaft. Usually MEK was an easier option for bonding styrene parts, but now and then friction welding came in handy.
got this and a wood burning kit the same xmas. burns galore.!
Had it when I was a kid. Loved it
I got one for Christmas. IIRC it was a car kit. The frame required welding and I think the body was secured with the spin version of rives or spot welds..
Awesome! One of my favorite toys as a kid! When I ran out of rods, I made my own from plastic model sprues.
I had to check - yes, I had the biplane and the car back long ago. The rivets were the hardest to get to work (from memory) but the plane was the more fun of the two kits. Thanks for reviving the memories!
You are self-taught!?!? That is amazing talent!
I'm 2 yrs in, going to PSU for Applied Materials Engineering. I can safely say, your channel and others like it genuinely inspired me to pursue STEM education at age 30, honestly it has fully changed my life. Thank YOU for helping me find my passion so that I too can push the envelope of our collective discovery; and hopefully inspire a new generation of brilliant scientific minds.
Fran is a treasure
Love the music in the beginning
That was fun! Thanks for sharing ♥️
One of your very old videos featured that spin welder. Always amazed how simple and effective it works.
I thought I knew all the cool toys back in the day. Never saw these.
I just want to wish you a wonderful Holiday and a great new year! Thank you for entertaining us. I may or may not understand but I always watch! Hoping to get smarter! :)
Wow I didn't know this thing existed, very cool a toy!
I would love to put one of those together. Right up my alley! Looks like so much fun! Great video.
Yes I did! It was short-lived. Only once as a Christmas present in the late 70s - didn't hold my interest at the time but memorable.
I had the dragster and one of the aircraft spinwelder kits. Aahh, the smell of melting polystyrene 😉😆
Spin-gineer on Amazon from 2021
Contemporary version uses 'D' cells - and they sell rods.
I remember the commercials for those and saw them in the store, but never had one.
You can still get new name brand lantern batteries on Amazon, wire spring terminals and everything.
This is a novel concept for plastic welding. I could see this being kinda useful for plastic welding. Using friction.
Never seen a spin welder before! Thanks
I still have the trike kit. Too cool!!!😎
After your previous spin welder video, I chucked a piece of 3D printer filament into the Dremmel. Works great to connect printed parts.
WOW. That’s a new one on me. Never heard of spin welding. Guess I’m too old. By the 1970s I was already married. An old guy.
Dremel and some 3D printer filament should work for this!
Check the original video in the description...
@@FranLab Agreed, granted I’d also love to see some more experimentation on all that! (I think I mentioned that in my other comment but I don’t remember). Granted that may not be your Niche, and you probably have plenty of things to do as is!
Either way keep up the great work.
Plastic model sprues work good, too.
way cool, totally wanted it..ended up with old school Revell and Monogram models instead
Best toys from the best era
I guessed the video was going to be about the friction stir welding used on some modern planes such as airbus and the effect on holiday flights, or something similar. But this I had never heard of. Was the welding just melting by friction or was there some other effect in play?
The self construct plastic models in my childhood just used a special glue that stuck to everything and left spiders webs everywhere, if you weren't careful. Iirc it was found to be carcinogenic like everything else back then, or addictive which is probably why kids liked making them. The glue had a really distinctive smell.
Although glue was fiddly, I would think stir welding all good joints would have been a real trial especially with a gun of that relative size. I'm not surprised many projects were abandoned. It almost seems like a cunning plan by employers to get the next generation of welders trained in their own time and on their own coin😊
Fascinating video, as always.
Neat toy! I think I can do spinwelding with PLA rod in a cordless drill!
The Boeing Company was researching "friction stir welding" of titanium. I don't know if that research panned out but the welding technique is the same.
I think that lawn darts set the standard for dangerous toys.
Thanks :)
I was about to say that I would have loved to have one of these as a kid, but I want one now! I guess the modern equivalent is those 3d printer pens, not nearly enough high speed molten plastic...
I'm surprised because I'm the right age, but I never saw this at a friend's house or anywhere else. First I've heard of it.
Our Generation started out with Lincoln Logs then Erector Sets .We also Had a set made of wooden wheels with holes and connecting colored pegs. Don't remember the name.
Don't forget the SPIRAL Graph!
Tinker Toys!
Yep, Tinker toys
i had that as a kid!
Other than the toxic fumes… its very safe, don't understand how you'd get burned unless you touch the tip.
Great toy,
That was interesting. Never knew about that.
What is the interesting looking tree circuit behind you in some kind of large tube? It is next to the red lava lamp.
Ótimo trabalho
I have a Heath Kit fish finder that uses two of those old batteries. The good ones are a bit problematic nowadays…
I had one in the late 70s nice
My mom would tolerate the smell of polystyrene glue, or sawdust everywhere, or the neverending splashing of fish in the fishtank. But she would never allow something as noisy-buzzy as this thing. Or a cat.
Spin Welder is a rare education toy
Did not have one, but they are pretty cool. The "Dangerous" toys were just harmful enough to teach you to respect them and use them properly.