Video of my home made plugspinner

[dirtymoney]

I made one a while back and made a video to show it elsewhere. So I figure I'd show it here as well.

http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=30rsf3k&s=6

Pic of it ...


pic of it disassembled...


That is the original one I made. Made from a copper tube/pipe from the radiator that was in an air conditioning unit, the spring from a mousetrap and the metal insert from a windshield wiper blade.

After quite a few uses I found that the copper tube was too thin and weak and the edges that the T-handle would catch on... would deform. Making it hard to "set" it.



I later fixed this by replacing it with a stronger metal tube made from the lowest section of an old golf club. And instead of two notches in the tube (for the T-handle to catch on) I made one. I needed to do this because the diameter of the tube was small. On larger versions (seen on youtube) two notches worked. This makes turning the T-handle a bit of a pain since I have to turn it so far. And... the tube itself is too smooth/slick which makes it harder to get a decent grip on while turning the T-handle. I need to put some kind of grip/traction tape on it.

Here are some pics of the final version ....


Note: it is important to note that the T-handle needs to have one arm higher than the other so that it doesnt catch on the notch as it makes a full turn once the plugspinner is tripped/activated

[dirtymoney]

I forgot to add that i wanted it this small (in diameter) so that it will fit in my zippered pick case. Also... that it is a one hand-activated. It trips/activates by pushing it until the T-handle slips out of the notch.

[fgarci03]

That is truly great.

I want one of those to fit my case too. I have to keep it separate from it since it's to big...
Great job!

[dirtymoney]

I wanted to add that these are the youtube videos I modeled mine after....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAqexrB-fnU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj-KNnI3mjU

I just made mine smaller in diameter and use only one notch.

[LockDocWa]

I find it interesting that you set the picked plug so close to vertical
before inserting your spinner, in order to flip it.
I normally set the picked plug at around the 9:00 or 3:00 position.
I always felt it gave the plug just a smidgen more time to get moving
fast enough to fly past 12:00. Have you always set the plug that way?

[dirtymoney]

I find it interesting that you set the picked plug so close to vertical
before inserting your spinner, in order to flip it.
I normally set the picked plug at around the 9:00 or 3:00 position.
I always felt it gave the plug just a smidgen more time to get moving
fast enough to fly past 12:00. Have you always set the plug that way?

The reason why I had to do that is because the diameter of the pipe is small and it had two notches. Because of that the "spin" it travels was not very far. So I had to put the plug right near the edge of it relocking. I later fixed this by only having one notch on the tube so that the "spin" it travels is farther. This, however makes it a tad harder to turn all the way (by hand) to set it. I no longer have to move the plug close too the relocking spot.

[yono]

thats a nice looking design..good tools as well.

[JrLocksmith]

What about a pneumatic plug spinner? Using a CO2 cartridge (like an airsoft pistol) with the air forced through a small nozzle at the stern of the tube against a propeller (for lack of a better term) in the middle of the tube? The air cartridge would face backwards, pointing towards the user, and have a hose making a U to the back of the tube. You'd need a small butterfly valve, a tube similar to the one that dirtymoney used, and a very angled propeller connected to either a flathead screwdriver shaft, or two thin, well-tempered or normalized pieces of steel. This may have no value whatsoever, but it sounded pretty cool in my head. The issues would be ergonomics of the device as a whole, and sealing all the places the air could escape. The benefits of a successful execution would avoid having to wind up the plug spinner, but a drawback would be the fact that one would have to disassemble the spinner to spin in the other direction (switching out the propeller).

[dirtymoney]

Further refinements of the plugspinner.



I put in a new windshield wiper insert (the old one was battered and scratched to heck because I was bending and rebending it while making it).

I also solved the smooth handle problem by putting a rubber grip from a pen on it. I keep a red rubber band on it also just as a convenient place to keep it in my pick case. I sometimes use it to provide tension on a tension wrench while lockpicking. Keeping it stored on the shaft of the plugspinner also aids in gripping the shaft as I set the plugspinner. It takes a bit of strenuous effort to set it.

The conical tip I cut off a papermate "Profile 1.4B" pen. It fits quite snugly and hopefully wont fall out.

Here is a pic of the plugspinner inside my pick case ....



It fits snugly and still allows me to zip up my case. Not shown is a Klom automotive tension wrench which fits in there also (over the plugspinner).... which makes it a VERY tight fit, but can still allow the case to zip up.