Plug Spinner #2

[Raymond]

Check out this plug spinner. It isn’t finished too well because I was in a hurry to get it working. My other one broke and I was feeling desperate. The spring is just crimped on the street sweeper brush on one end and secured by one screw on the other end between the body plates. The blue heat shrink is to keep the shaft from backing out through the spring crimp. The body is some thin stainless strips I found. I bent it around a tube and secured it with the screws. The knob was slotted with a hacksaw and file. After turning to load the spin, the back of the trigger moves into the slots on the knob. If the shaft ever breaks, I will just put another one into the knob and slide it into the tube and spring.

[ToolyMcgee]

Wow, that's f'ing awesome!

Makes my mouse trap DIY look like crap. I spent a whole afternoon trying to think of a way to make it preloaded and trigger activated. The knob is the answer.

How did you make the tube grip the back of the bristle? I see a screw in the side of the knob that could be pressing the bristle to the other side of the interior of the knob, but the angle doesn't look right... where did you get the spring?

Great job. It looks as good as any pro plug spinner I have ever laid eyes on, even if it isn't finished to your liking.

-T'Mcgee

[Legacy712]

A plug spinner is for when you pick a lock in the wrong direction. For example, if you pick it clockwise, only to discover that it needed to be picked counter clockwise.

You turn the spinner in the same direction you picked the lock, until the spring is tight, then lock the spinner from turning. Then you insert the end of the spinner into the keyway and release the spring. It will spin the plug so fast in the cylinder that the pins won't have a chance to drop back into the plug when it passes the locked position. The spinner will turn the plug past the locked position (usually 12 o'clock) in the direction it should have been picked. Then you proceed from there to open the lock.

It saves you from having to repick the lock in that direction, especially since a lock may sometimes be easier to pick in one direction than another.

[Legacy712]

I think it looks great, and very functional. Nice job, and relatively flat for storage.

Raymond, did you weld 2 pieces of stock to a sleeve around the bristle? If so, I would have to just bend the stock around a solid rod the same diameter as the sleeve and rely on the screws to keep it tight on the sleeve, since I don't have welding equipment.

Do you have any specs on the spring?

[wolfie]

please post a tut to make that =D

[Raymond]

Thanks for the replies. I hoope someone can benefit from the rough design and improve it. The street sweeper bristle is held into the knob by a piece of aluminul rod that I sawed a slot in. Then the set screws on the knob hold the rod in place and compress it to also hold onto the bristle. If it works this time here is the photo of the back.
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[Raymond]

I have no specifications on the spring. It is just one I found laying around my garage. My first homebrew spinner was very similar. On it I used a plastic knob from an electronics shop with the grooves cut into it. I soldered the bristle to the spring. The frame was aluminum and finally broke. This lasted about five years. I up graded it to an aluminum knob.

I am trying again to show the back of the plug spinner. Here is that elusive photo.
[img][img]http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb277/cookiebear7/PSback.jpg[/img][/img]

[Legacy712]

Raymond, you mentioned if anyone could think of an improvement...

One thing I've always been curious about --- stopping a plug spinner. It will spin until the locking mechanism stops it, and I don't know if that kind of force is good for the lock or mechanism, depending on how tight you wind it up. If the plug spinner had a stop on it which only allowed it to turn 3/4 way around, then stopped it, it would achieve the desired effect without slamming into the locking mechanism.

If you made 4 cuts instead of three in the knob for the trigger, you could have a U-shaped piece of metal which could fit over the knob into 2 opposite slots. One end of the "U" would be as narrow as the slot is deep, to be flush with the knob's surface, while the other end would be significantly (4 or 5 times) wider. Once you wind and lock it, you'd slide the "U" over the knob. When you release it, it would spin until the wide end of the "U" came around and hit the trigger, stopping it.

That's all I've got. I think your design is about as good as it gets.

[Raymond]

No, I did not weld anything in this model. The frame is folded around a tube and held in place by the screws. The back of the spring has a U shaped curve in it that hooks around the front screw inside the frame. I have never encountered a problem with damage to either the spinner or the lock being opened due to continued spinning. When I have spun some deadbolts, they spin around so far that the bolt snaps back without help from a screwdriver. By deliberate design, I prefer having the bristle loose on the tip and attached only at the rear. I feel this allows a certain amount of built in flex that prevents damage anywhere. The bristle can twist both in front of and behind the spring.