HomeSpirograph mathChart of Spirograph Wheels and Rings

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Chart of Spirograph Wheels and Rings — 24 Comments

  1. Thanks for that Heather! Pretty sure I had the 1969 version, as I don’t remember any snap-together parts.

    Do you also have a list of the range of hole numbers on each wheel?

    • I’ve just added the number of holes on each wheel for the two sets that I physically have. The Kenner Spirograph wheels were probably the same as the Super Spirograph.

  2. Do you have this available as a Google Doc (or similar)? I have a few sets that I have bought second hand (after my parents sold my original Super Spirograph set in a garage sale a few years ago):
    two Kenner’s Super Spirograph sets (No. 2400)
    a Denys Fisher’s Super Spirograph set
    a Toltoys Spirograph set
    a Toltoys Super Spirograph set
    and two Kenner Spirograph sets from around 1986

    Not all of these sets are 100% complete, but I do have the boxes for them at least. I also have a some spare parts from sets without boxes.

    • Sorry, I don’t. I just constructed it directly for the website. Since then I’ve learned that versions of the old Kenner Spirograph that came a bit later, and had the shaped wheels, did not have wheels 36, 50 and 64 – i.e. they had the same wheels as the new Spirograph by Kahootz Toys.

      • Wheel 50 was a bit of a dead duck, but the omission of 36 and 64 was more of a loss, as we were shorn of the eight-pointed star (96/36) and the “trillium” (96/64).
        As an aside, the ugliest patterns were 105/32 and 105/64, as they were very dense and it was difficult to cycle colours along the way. 105/52 at least allowed attractive multicoloured patterns fairly easily.

        (On my download, there is no method of switching colours in between, to to recreate the tricoloured 105/52 pattern I use 108/54 and repeat 18 patterns in each.)

  3. Kahootz also makes a Spirograph Design Tin Set
    http://www.originalspirograph.com/tin.html

    Contents as follows:
    • 7 Spirograph Precision Wheels 30, 40, 45, 52, 60, 80, Bar
    • 1 Spirograph Precision Ring (144/96)
    • 1 Spirograph Precision Rack (150)
    • .21oz (6g) of Reusable Spiro-Putty
    • 2 Fine Line Design Pens (Red & Blue)
    • 12 Page Guide Book (counting front & back covers)
    • 1-24 Page Design Pad (5×7)
    • 1 Collectible Travel Tin with Snap-in Storage Tray

    This set would never do for Spirograph addicts, but it makes a nice, additional set to have around for travel purposes or if you have kids… It does not contain a good working surface, however… so I would recommend a drawng board in addition to this small travel set… oh, and an extra source of paper… the 24 pages wouldn’t last much time at all.

    My tin says copyright 2012, the cardboard wrapper says copyright 2014. I’m uncertain when it first became available, but I purchased mine as part of a double set deal with the Kahootz Spirograph Deluxe Set last year.

    • I hope you continue to update this chart. I’m quickly becoming a Spirogradicct.

      Right now, I only have the design tin, but awaiting the arrival of a new Super Spirograph. And already obsessing about what I will still be missing out on after that arrives.

      I know I am getting way ahead of myself. I have not even mastered circle in ring patterns, let alone the bar and rack!

  4. I have the 1968 Spirograph (complete except for the pens), an envelope with what looks like a mostly complete set of a later version (doesn’t appear to have the mentioned omitted wheels, but it is the only set I have with the bar gear), and another complete set (-pens) I haven’t seen mentioned on your site: the 1983 Spirograph Plus. This version omitted the 75, 64, 50, 42, and 36 wheels, the 144 rack, and the bar gear; but does have something I’d never seen before. A cam arm. The rings in the set have four equidistant posts. The arm has a hole at one end for the pen (wheel or gear, end of arm, pen), the body is formed so that the post on the wheel limits the movement, and the other end has a holder for a marker (though you could probably use another pen). I haven’t had a chance to try it out yet (I found your site while looking for pen recommendations), but apparently as you use a wheel or gear inside a ring, the arm creates a stretched out version on one side (determined by whichever post you use). I found it in a vintage store, and it reminded me of the sets I already owned and how I always meant to get good pens… 🙂

  5. I’ve returned late to Spirograph, but am enjoying getting to grips with the designs I failed with as a youngster in the 1970s! I’ve bought both the modern version and a vintage 1970’s Super Spirograph. One tip to keep the bits and pieces secure in the tray of the vintage type, use tiny blobs of Spiro Putty (or similar alternative) to stick them to the tray. Stops them sliding about and renders them scatter-proof when the cat lands on the tray!

    • Thank you! That is so brilliant I’d like to make it a fresh post – as soon as I can take an appropriate photo. If I had a cat….

      • Ooh, not many of my ideas are considered “brilliant” by people other than myself, lol! Please feel free to make a fresh post of it. I’m sure any of my three cats would be honoured to demonstrate, but I fear they lack the attention span and motivation to travel from the UK!

    • Do you mean diameter in inches or centimetres, or number of teeth? The larger number of the ring size is the number of teeth on the outside of the ring. So Ring 150/105 has 150 teeth on the outside and 105 teeth on the inside. Ring 144/96 has 144 teeth on the outside and 96 on the inside. Those are the two rings commonly included in official Spirograph sets, and they are about 3-3/4″ and 3-1/2″ (10 cm and 9.2 cm) in diameter respectively. Using a regular sheet of 8-1/2 x 11″ or A4 paper, you can generally run any of the standard wheels around the outside of the ring with the #1 hole and stay on the paper. That was probably the consideration when the set was first designed.

      The new Fun Shapes Set which I haven’t tried out yet has some different rings. I don’t know the sizes.

      Wild Gears has much greater variety of ring sizes.

  6. Thanks for the helpful reply. What’s most important to me is the diameter. What I’m looking for is a gear (teeth on the outside) with a diameter of about 5 inches (125mm). The Wild Gears “hoops” set seems to have what I need since it includes a gear with a 131mm diameter. (Close enough!)

    I wouldn’t actually be using this for drawing at all (though I did love the Spirograph growing up). Instead, and this might seem strange, I’d be using just 1/4 of the 131mm hoop as a part for a 1/5 scale replica of a WWII German Flak gun as used on U-Boots. The gun had a partial gear that elevated the barrel.

  7. That’s how I feel. I can still have fun with the others! I remember how magical it felt as a kid when a spirograph pattern came to a perfect completion. Very satisfying!

    BTW, do the regularly spirograph gear teeth mesh with the ones from Wild Gears? A video on the WG website says they have a different shape.

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