My favorite thing about this book is how it teaches you some basic principles about making Spirograph designs, then encourages you to improvise. Maybe, as it says, you can create a design that no one else has ever seen.

The writing style is relatively literary, compared to the minimalist writing found today. The booklet walks you through the different things you can do with one ring and one wheel, and takes you to the most difficult designs using two racks.

The older sets had one particular property that got lost sometime in sets made in the 1980s and later. The alignment mark was halfway up one side of the tooth. If you turned a wheel over and drew the same pattern again, it wouldn’t line up exactly. But this could be used to make a denser pattern. This feature is described in the booklet, and some designs are shown that use this technique.

This set also came with some sheets of paper that were divided in squares for drawing your nicest designs. The rings had lines that aligned with the squares, as you can see in the diagrams in the booklet. You could easily use them to make patterns with both rings, aligning them carefully with the squared paper.

Denys Fisher, by the way, was the inventor of Spirograph, and vintage UK sets carried his name. Sets made in the US and Canada did not, nor do the modern sets made by Kahootz Toys.

Thanks Ron, from all of us, for sending these photos and your observations!

Click on an image to see the slideshow of all the pages in the booklet.

The post Vintage Spirograph Booklet from 1968 appeared first on SpiroGraphicArt.

Conclusion: Spirograph is fun, but it’s a toy. Wild Gears is more expensive, and somewhat more difficult to use, but it’s a more serious drawing tool.

Shop Wild Gears at this link.

The post Spirograph vs Wild Gears Comparison appeared first on SpiroGraphicArt.

And we all know, here on SpirographicArt.com, that Spirograph is a Classic Toy. Nice to have the Royal Mail acknowledge it too.

Actually, they have every reason to be proud of it. Spirograph was developed and first marketed by a British engineer, Denys Fisher, and hit the stores in 1965. Kenner acquired the rights for the the American market and started distributing Spirograph in the USA in 1966.

The first patent on spirograph was, according to Wikipedia, registered by a Polish mathematician and inventor, Bruno Abakanowicz, but I have not seen any pictures of his invention. It may have been nothing like Denys Fisher’s plastic gears and wheels which we know and love.

You can purchase the stamp, along with those of the other Classic Toys, on the Royal Mail website here.

PS: Thanks to Jason from New Zealand for the heads-up about this stamp!

The post The Royal Mail Honours Spirograph with New Stamp appeared first on SpiroGraphicArt.

He applies his logical, problem solving mind to common pitfalls people run into, and comes up with creative solutions: where to keep your eyes, adding extra rings, using rare earth magnets rather than pins or putty, marking up your gears, and even cleaning up your mistakes!

A must-watch even for serious spirograph artists!

The post Spirograph Tips Video from Wayne Schmidt appeared first on SpiroGraphicArt.

Two rack setup with pins

Ready for a Spirograph challenge?

I didn’t get into the two-rack designs as a kid. Maybe I tried it once and found it too difficult; I don’t remember. But a request for some videos about them prompted me to sit down and give it a try.

The result is four videos (below), each one dealing with a different design.

Page 7 of the old Kenner Super Spirograph manual

I followed the instructions in my old Super Spirograph manual (image right). I have prepared PDFs of this page that you can download and print. Choose 8.5 x 11 (North America) or A4 (elsewhere).

The first video shows me first attaching the racks with “Spiro putty” (poster putty). Normally I prefer the putty, but I decided to use pins in this case as they make it easier to position the racks correctly. Note that I’m using a corkboard with the pins.

Not all the new sets (by Kahootz Toys) come with two racks. The Deluxe set has only one; the Tin set has one; the Die-cast set has none. However, the new Super Spirograph has two racks, as do the old Kenner Spirograph and Super Spirograph. See a detailed chart of what’s included in some of the sets here.

These designs are more complex and require a lot of concentration. However, I am now quite curious about experimenting with this method and creating some new designs!

If you try this technique yourself, feel free to share your experience in the comments below.

I’ve put my four videos in a playlist so you can watch them all together.

The post Designs with Two Racks: Instructions & Videos appeared first on SpiroGraphicArt.

If you’re new to Spirograph and are trying to figure out how to make it work, or you just like watching patterns unfold, you’ll enjoy this video. It has been speeded up, so don’t expect your own efforts to go so quickly. Take your time!

Here are links to Mahesh Pendam’s website and Facebook Page, so you can show some Spirograph love.

The post Spirograph Video by Mahesh Pendam appeared first on SpiroGraphicArt.

Two of the patterns are included in the instructions with the set.

For the third, I took out my felt pens and drew on the outside of the ring, then added an inside pattern to match. Added some music, and here you go.

Parts of the video are speeded up.

The post More Drawing with Spirograph Die-cast Collector’s Set appeared first on SpiroGraphicArt.

This was a question from Michaela Fredrich in Germany. I answered that I didn’t know an easy way to do it, but wondered about using erasable pencil guidelines. Here is what she came up with.

Measure the outer diameters of the rings and divide by half. Use a compass to draw a circle for each, with the center point on a vertical pencil line. Be sure to mark the paper lightly with pencil so you can erase the lines later.

Measure and mark

Draw a horizontal line through the center point at a 90 degree angle to the vertical line, using a protractor.

The 144/96 wheel with lines marked in red at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o’clock. This is an old Denys Fisher set, with pinholes spaced 90 degrees apart. They could also provide an indicator for alignment. Or you could use the ring’s positioning lines, as there are 12 of them on this ring.

Draw the pattern with the first ring.

The 150/105 ring is harder to position over the pencil lines, as the number of positioning lines (15) cannot be divided by 4. Michaela has drawn red lines on the 150/105 ring at 90 degree intervals. Alternatively, if your set has pinholes, you can line them up with the intersecting guidelines.

Draw a pattern with the second ring. Now you’ll see how well you have done. This looks pretty good.

When you’re finished, erase the pencil lines.

There isn’t a really easy way to draw a design using both rings, but this technique should help you get better results. Your success will depend on how carefully and precisely you work.

Before the days of computer aided design (CAD) and drawing programs, accurate technical drawing was a very important skill to have. This challenge presents an opportunity to develop analog drawing skills.

If you have any refinements to suggest, please add them in the comments below.

Thanks to Michaela for the effort she made into developing the idea and taking photos!

The post Aligning Both Spirograph Rings on the Same Pattern appeared first on SpiroGraphicArt.

My jaw dropped when I first saw that Kahootz was bringing out a die-cast metal version for Spirograph’s 50th anniversary. So I was delighted when they offered to send me a set to review.

[Disclaimer: I was not otherwise paid to write this article or create the video; I only received one Spirograph Die-cast Collector’s Set from Kahootz Toys. Links to Amazon are affiliate links; if you click them and buy something there, I may get a small kickback – my financial reward for building this website.]

I saved the unboxing for the camera, so the video shows my genuine reactions, real-time fumbles, oohs and aahs.

My conclusions:

It’s a really classy set with the feel of quality, and very nicely packaged. The wheels feel, and clink, like the coinage of a country where a pound used to weigh a pound. (Hello, UK?) They shine like gold bullion. The metal tin has a pressure-fit lid, like a cookie tin, and flocked liners hold everything in place even when you shake it.

There’s no problem with warping as in the new plastic sets; the metal pieces are flat and will stay that way as long as you keep them out of Mount Doom.

Speaking of Lord of the Rings, there’s just One Ring. Does it “rule them all”? Maybe not. I enjoy having all the different patterns you can make with more rings. (If you’re really hooked on gazillions of permutations and combinations, check out Wild Gears).

However, I realized as I made the video that most people will be perfectly happy with just one ring and a smaller selection of wheels. It’s still an awesome toy for adults and kids (over 8 or so). Many people might even have more fun with a smaller set like this, if they find that too much choice makes it harder to get started.

It would make an absolutely brilliant gift for someone who had Spirograph as a kid.

Spiro-putty is included as with the plastic sets. However, small pinholes, like in the old Spirograph sets, have also been made in all the wheels. Pins are not included, but you can buy map tacks if you really want to do it the old way. If so, see my article about using corkboard as a better working surface than the corrugated cardboard of the old sets.

You can still use whatever pens you want, the same as with the plastic sets.

[UPDATE Nov. 25, 2016: I should also mention here that the opaqueness of the gears makes it harder to see what you have done, compared to using clear plastic gears. You can hear my surprise in the video below when I experience this for the first time. As Dhaval Shah, a correspondent from Solapur, India, has pointed out, it’s harder to see if something is going wrong. This issue is more significant with the larger wheels. How big an issue this is for you would depend on your goals. The element of surprise might be part of the fun, especially for more casual users.]

My only disappointment with the Die-cast Spirograph Collector’s Set is that, like the new plastic sets, it is not engineered quite as well as the old sets. The way the holes line up with the teeth, and the spacing of the holes from the edge of the wheel, are less precise than the old Spirograph. The consequences can be seen in the red drawings near the bottom of this review. This is a rather minor point for most people, however, and does not detract from the fun and educational value to be had.

Serious spirographers are still better off finding a second-hand Super Spirograph (try eBay) or exploring Wild Gears.

But for the average person aged 8 to 88 and up (and younger kids with help), this Die-cast Spirograph Collector’s Set is a fantastic drawing set and a wonderful gift.

Here’s the video:

The post Video Review: Unboxing the Spirograph Die-cast Collector’s Set 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.