These designs use gear #40 inside the #64 hole which is asymmetrically located in a bigger gear #126, and the whole is rotating inside ring #180. It gives a bilaterally symetrical pattern.

After drawing the pattern with a sequence of holes to create a ribbon-like effect (a common technique in many Spirograph/Wild Gears designs), I did the same in a different colour, starting at a point 90° away on the big ring #180.

I actually counted the teeth to find the exact spot, though I don’t show the counting in the video (180 teeth ÷ 4 = 45 teeth) and made a little mark with the pen.

I made a blooper in the second video, but decided to keep going, as I was working outside and was gradually losing my light. The direct sunlight you see in the first video had gone. A cricket started to sing as the afternoon waned and you can hear it in the second video.

These videos are real-time and all you hear is the sound of the pen and gears moving. Good for people who like relaxing videos and those who get off on ASMR (soft noises that create a pleasurable response).

I used cheap gel pens for these, the kind you can buy at a dollar store, although I got mine on Amazon when I was buying something else. There’s a link on this page to the ones I got; there are many other sets with even more pens – hundreds even. I don’t think brand name matters. They’re probably all made in China in the same factory or factories, and just given the label of the wholesaler. They work with Spirograph too, even the vintage sets (mostly) which have smaller holes.

Which colour combination do you like better? In the first, I used black for the first and last line of each ribbon, which outlines the shapes and reveals interesting patterns including a circle in the middle. In the second, I used the same colour throughout the whole ribbon.

The post Two Wheel-Within-a-Wheel Videos appeared first on SpiroGraphicArt.

I’ve kept the footage in normal time, not speeding it up, so you can hear me talk and see exactly what I’m doing. I’ve been spirographing for so long that it’s hard to put myself in the shoes of someone new to Spirograph, so perhaps a video is worth 1000 words – or 1000 subscribers, the number my YouTube channel reached on the day I posted the video.

Then I made three designs. The first two patterns are similar to ones in the instruction booklet, but with different colors.  The third design is one I made up on the spot. The video shows my thinking process in choosing what to do next – and when to stop.

This video is especially for people who are new to Spirograph. If you find it helpful or have questions, I’d appreciate hearing about it in the comments here or on the YouTube page.

Buy the Spirograph Deluxe Design Set here  (affiliate link to Amazon)

The post New Basic How-To Spirograph Video! appeared first on SpiroGraphicArt.

In this case, the gear has 140 teeth and the ring has 210 teeth. Both are part of the Full Page Gear Set. See my unboxing photo sequence at this link).

There are many other combinations of gears that give this triangle pattern. If the gear is exactly two-thirds the size of the ring, you’ll get a pattern like this.

Note that I’m using the smallest size holes, which are lined up in two rows. The second row gives lines that run between those made with the first row. Using both sets gives a dense pattern like this.

The Video

Shop Wild Gears at this link.

The post Another Wild Gears Video: Full Page Triangle appeared first on SpiroGraphicArt.

The deck and view of the Minas Basin

Last week I was lucky to be staying at a beautiful spot on the Noel Shore of Nova Scotia, overlooking the Minas Basin.

I took my Wild Gears along.

One morning I set up my tripod on the table in the photo to make some videos.

The direct sunlight created sharp shadows through the clear acrylic gears.

As the sun progressed through the sky, I had to keep rotating my setup around the round table so that the tripod and camera did not cast shadows on the paper.

The house is down a long driveway from a quiet road, so there was no sound except for the distant waves and the singing of birds.

While recording the following video, I had no interruptions at all, so I have preserved it with birdsong and all.

I was using the triangular gear with 120 teeth that comes with the Strange Shapes Gear Set, inside ring 210 in the frame of the Full Page Gear Set – the largest Wild Gears ring that fits on 8½ inch paper. Pens are Stabilo Point 88, in colors to match the scenery.

You may observe my left hand gently pushing the triangular gear when drawing the outermost holes. When working those holes with a larger gear like this, there isn’t quite enough leverage for the pen to make the gear “turn the corner”. The trick is to preserve the shape at the tip of the pattern while so doing, which requires a light touch.

The post Video: Quiet Time with Wild Gears appeared first on SpiroGraphicArt.

As you can see, there are lots more colors available these days, compared to the old days when the set came with four ballpoint pens in red, green, blue and black. The pens would sometimes tear the paper as you drew a repetitive design with the pressure necessary to make a line. You don’t have to press so hard with felt pens, so the results are much nicer.

Modern felt pens come in various shades of the same color, such as light, medium and dark blue, which can add subtlety to your designs.

I find the gel pens, such as the metallic copper in these designs, more difficult as they dry slower, so they smudge more easily. Going slowly helps.

A dozen spirograph designs from SpirographicArt.com

The post Cool designs with felt pens appeared first on SpiroGraphicArt.