VCR head gyroscope! ...and other shiny spinning objects

Finding a junk VCR is pretty easy. Don't just throw it away- adapt the VCR's head into a spinning gyroscope! If you don't have an air compressor: 1) turn a bicycle upside down and petal it. 2) while holding the stationary half of the head, gently press the free half against the spinning tire rubber. Think of this just like two spur gears; the huge gear reduction (about 10:1)* should have the gyroscope humming along at a rotational speed comparable to what is shown here.
~~~~~
Vsauce: Any similarities between this video and Michael Stevens' recent video is entirely coincidental. I filmed this without knowing about it. I would like to take the opportunity to endorse that channel though! Vsauce1 is one of my favorite channels, and (imo) it has consistently produced some of the best content on the internet.
Please watch 'Spinning':
• Spinning
~~~~~
Giaco Whatever:
He also just made a similar video! I swear, I had no intention of being a copycat! Well, this one is also about making a spinner.
'99999+ RPM Fidget Spinner Toy':
• 99999+ RPM Fidget Spin...
~~~~~
*Assuming a 26" bicycle tire and a 2.5" VCR head (these measurements are diameters), we can multiply both of these numbers by pi (π) to get their circumferences:
26(π)= 81.7
2.5(π)= 7.9
If we then divide: 81.7/7.9= 10.3
Thus, every time the bike tire goes around, the gyroscope will go around over 10 times!
Notes:
-Circumference is how far it is around a circle.
-Diameter is how wide a circle is.
-π is how far it is around a circle when the diameter of that circle is 1. That's about 3.14.
-Parentheses indicate multiplication, for example: 2(3)= 6.
Oh, and the head spinner becomes cold.
Thanks for reading ;)

[@Nrwn-Qsr]

Man, if I had a dollar for every speaker I ripped apart as a kid for magnets... I'd have like $50. $50 would be nice.

[@ZiMZiLLA]

Think of all the magnets you could buy for $50!

[@Nrwn-Qsr]

I'd probably just get one big one.

[@hubertcumberdale7241]

+Ryan Brady get two that could crush a brick.

[@kitchenmaiden81]

You could use that $50 dollars to buy super cheap -$1 speakers and open them for magnets, therefore you would have an extra dollar for each and you could become a billionaire that way. Albeit very slowly.

[@hihihhihihihihujdhwosjgka439]

kitchenmaiden81 No you just ask for 100,000,050 of them (100 million and 50

[@NickMoore]

Holy crap, I never knew there was such a big rotary transformer in VCR heads! I have to go find an old VCR.

[@agr00m]

Was literally my first thought as well!

[@SteveFrenchWoodNStuff]

Oh the hundreds (maybe thousands) of VCRs I worked on over the years. I threw away (recycled) the last couple dozen video drums I had when I closed my shop in 2013, But I did strip and save the bearings and the locking collars. I kind of wish I'd saved one now. Those parts you're aiming the air at are the actual videos heads, in case you were unaware. I always enjoy your videos. Thanks.

[@sp3k_tw018]

when it first started spinning at 5:03 it sounded like the THX sound

[@haun_ted]

your videos are some of the most satisfying videos to watch on the Internet today.

[@bestamerica]

' i still have a good VCR condition, sometime playing with VHS tape, watch on TV... good VCR

[@mosesembrey323]

That's the best easter egg yet

[@MaximumJonathanosity]

You had me scratching my chin out of curiosity when you demonstrated disassembly of the head.

[@wonteatit]

The sound that makes at a super high speed was super satisfying!

[@Sphyxx]

i would have tought it would get warm from all the friction but i was wrong. Very nice video.

[@JeremyCook]

Never seen ball brgs like that before. Really cool.

[@say1067]

Without looking at any comments and not scrolling down so I’m unadulterated in seeing anything I would say cold when using compressed air. Pretty cool. I need to scavenge an old vhs player and get to shredding something that I have yet to operate on. I never thought I’d be tearing up or down old electronics but not that I’m old and torn up myself it’s really all that I have and it’s pretty cool actually seeing how things are built and function and some things have really awesome parts and then there’s trying to figure out what some parts can be re porpoised 🐬 for or if they are just really neat gizmo toys. Rad Video Man!

[@TheMetalButcher]

Ah! I was just playing with a vcr motor the other day. I had stripped it out a long time ago and had no clue where the motor came from until I saw this video.I'll have to see what sorts of fun I can have.

[@drportland8823]

Gyroscopes are magic, so of course there are an enormous number of videos out there. They are like magnets in that way, but with more moving parts.

[@RealRuler2112]

Microwave has 2 magnets like that, no metal to pry off, and they're more powerful. =) (Just be careful of the cap!) Wouldn't something like braided fishing line work better for the gyroscope since you could layer more wraps onto the shaft? (Honestly don't know - never had one as a kid & seems silly to buy one as an adult.)

[@simonrobert3447]

Cold because of the ventury effect ? Or maby another reason :)

[@gregghernandez2714]

Great video! I don't know what it was that kept us so entertained as kids with gyroscopes, but it was so cool to balance them on your fingers and such. My favorite part of this video was the fact that you mentioned that you still use your VCR. Same here, I have a couple of them and the reason is, is because there are a ton of movies (some pretty cheesy) that were never released in DVD format or any other format for that matter. There a few documentaries on the VHS craze in the 80s, when Mom and Pop stores were everywhere. My favorite is Rewind This. I suggest you check it out. You won't regret it.

[@dangrundel]

Some time last year my grandparent's neighbour asked me to take a look at her VCR, and just trash it if I couldn't fix it. Probably a clever way to save herself a trip to the tip. I couldn't fix it since my knowledge of repairing electronics is just looking for swollen capacitors or burned components, but I did also spend a while playing with the head. I didn't think of using it as a gyro but I replaced one of the bearings with that retaining collar, which was strangely a very precise fit with bearing holes, and used it as a spinning top.

[@pocket83]

That's funny. I think I did exactly that with the last VCR I ripped apart.

[@billsmith383]

The VCR head works just like a tape recorder head with a couple of exceptions. There is a lot of information in an audio/video signal, so the engineers had to get as much information as possible into the smallest unit area of the tape. To accomplish this three things were done: 1) The head is is very small in order to leave a small track of magnetic information behind. That allows the machine to leave many many "stripes" per linear inch of tape. 2) The head rotated at a very high speed to read as many lines as possible each second. 3) To understand the next part two physical properties must be defined: Cohesion (koh-HE-zhun), and adhesion (ad-HE-zhun). Cohesion is how well one thing sticks to something else, and adhesion is how well somethings molecules stick to each other. A layer of air molecules stick to the rotating drum through cohesion, and adhesion causes a layer a little bit thicker to stick to the first layer. This means that a cushion of air is stuck to the surface of the rotating drum. This means that the speed of the drum determines the thickness of the air layer on top of it. This is balanced against the tension of the tape, and it allows the tape to move over the high speed drum floating on a cushion of air! That allows the tape head, and the tape to be very close together, so that a lot of information can be packed into a small area. Also at 4:46 the speaker is pointing at the heads for the circuit boards with a pencil. The part that sticks out past the surface of the drum is the actual head. (I told you they were small!) I hope this helps.

[@math925]

Eggcellent video, as always, Pocket. Also, did the vcr head get hot? That was my belief.

[@Sfhbehd]

When the ball/magnet spins at an angle, even though it's touching the glass at one point, wouldn't there be a lot of friction because the point that is touching wouldn't be on the axis perpendicular to the axis it's spinning? I imagine would be like a wheel spinning on the spot, which explains why it slowly moves(the ball can't get traction to move quicker but it shows the point that the ball touches the glass is moving very quickly) which id imagine would slow down its spinning speed.

[@rihamy2nd]

Peter Minnekeer excellent point.

[@Techn9cian123]

No wonder mike and jay are so eager to tear up vcrs

[@dgmr22]

That would make an amazing yoyo.. But damn I only own one vcr and I'm saving it.

[@4486xxdawson]

Wow i dont know whats worse ? The fact this guy is easily entertained, or the fact i just watched this video , i need a life ..........

[@wiser82]

Is it me or when get got that thing spinning with compressed air at 5:05 it sounded like one of those movie company intros you see at the start of a film. THX I'm thinking of

[@DonaldKronos]

About your trivia question... it has to do with the compressed air. Basically, compression squeezes heat out of it and decompression then leaves it ready to absorb heat from whatever it comes into contact with. :)

[@RedScaledKnight1]

7:11 as it gains sentience and runs off

[@Siwena]

You are supposed to sit these old tops on a scrtched wire, they dont bounce around and you get a nice top holding straight on a string. ( that's why they have a notch under its main pole.)

[@NicholasBrunsink]

I still have that same VHS tape player!

[@greenacresfan768]

got to make one

[@terryglenweaver]

Get a large (12"×12") thin (1") wood bit to concave just a mite and your spinning toys will migrate toward the center of the concaved wooden bed.

[@mariahcareygreece]

My guess is that it becomes cold, because of the compressed air! Btw, I love your videos! Keep up the amazing work!

[@SpeedrunnerG55]

i think it heats up when you use it because how can it coll down when its already at ambient temperature. your adding mechanical energy to it while it being transformed to heat, the wind it creates tries to dissipate the heat but it should not go below ambient temperature, there is no refrigeration process

[@jonathanwieringa8808]

i think it gets rly gold coz there is very little to no friction and air blazing past it

[@nathanielhartley4764]

Like the pulp fiction reference

[@thatxonexguy5438]

Exactly how cold does it get tho?

[@jac-co9je]

how does it work

[@pocket83]

;)

[@bobwert5]

"Read" the description

[@VeteranVandal]

_partyrocker_ You need to scroll down more if you think he is the only one mentioning VSauce....

[@shus5469]

pocket83 I think it becomes cold because something about it spinning makes it a centrifuge and makes the molecules stop moving and that makes it cold? I'm just guessing

[@gamingtoday1418]

Agree

[@petebarry2207]

I think it is cold, because he used compressed air. That makes things cold.

[@kaicooper5917]

I thought it would get cold because when compressed gas decompresses it becomes cooler

[@pocket83]

Yep. Even though the bearings generate heat in the form of friction, the fast-moving cool air sweeps away the heat (and even removes some after that). The result is cold metal.

[@kaicooper5917]

pocket83 ahh interesting

[@kay486]

I like how you say it requires only simple tools and yet you need air compressor to spin it :D

[@pocket83]

Or a bicycle. Description.

[@kay486]

oh I see, nice. You should have mentioned it in the vid as well

[@pocket83]

It was getting a bit long. This one was just thrown together really quick, so I didn't want to get the bike out of the shed tbh ;( Better vids on the horizon.

[@tomcummings3471]

i KNEW that the vcr head spinner would become cold, but only because i knew that the counterintuitive answer would be correct. the bearings themselves must increase temperature, but i suppose the rest is air cooled

[@sayerman]

Glad your back

[@Kamal_AL-Hinai]

*You're... err sorry.

[@victoreboli211]

I had one and I disassembled it and threw those parts away,I'm pretty angry now.....

[@Nrwn-Qsr]

I think I had that same cheap cast metal gyroscope when I was a kid and I think the same thing eventually happened to mine...Too many sudden stops on the concrete basement floor.

[@VeteranVandal]

Ryan Brady That gyro is a cheapo for sure.

[@justinlingle3760]

The exact same thing happened to my gyroscope the other day 😕

[@trentw26]

I skipped to 5:00, because I do crave instant gratification. I then went back and watched from the beginning, because I also just enjoy your vids.

[@pocket83]

That's what I would have done. I admit it.

[@mr.octopus6972]

If you want to get a really good pull on a gyroscope try 3 to 4 feets of braided fishing line. Its really strong and very tiny so you will get many tours around the shaft. The more tours the more force you can apply at pulling so ... MORE SPEED! :)

[@darrentimbuleng3942]

Would it not Generate heat from the friction? Is what i shall assume to the hot or cold question, you sir have asked in this moving picture with the integrated audio, that i have just witnessed from the beginning to end. Yes! It is quite fascinating. UNLESS!! The cause of the rotation on those PCB pieces that you have described as a sort of Fin as to which you used to spin the object using the wonders of compressed air has the properties to thus also cool the spinning object creating a slightly windy breeze just enough to cool down the metallic parts JUST enough to keep it from heating up? Perhaps? Hopefully a detailed answer as to why this may be, or not to be, will be explained to us all. So Yes! We can all become a little more "smarter" as they say..... Do they not? I'm sure we all are looking forward to the justification to this intriguing predicament that you sir, Mr Pocket83 have put upon us all with such magnificent thought and puzzling wording to make the query seem quite more puzzling than it seemingly appears. I hope all can recognize and master the nonsense wording I have put here in this judgment segment of this unbelievably complicated, impossible gibberish English I have typed out on here today. Good Luck to ALL and Cheery-Oh-So-Matey!

[@michaelgasperik4319]

The answer, which has been given by you, I have deemed worthy, of being the best answer that which I have read in a very lengthy while.

[@user-cb1ln8vc8d]

Hmmm. I don't have an air compressor OR a bicycle. I do have a motorcycle which can spin a 25 inch tire @ ~2000rpm. That's north of 18,000rpm for the gyroscope...now I just need a VCR head!

[@ZachLittle2006]

My friend has the toy but we call it a time traveler

[@adityagupta375]

Why to use a magnet in the top

[@CryoGenUK]

Hot or cold? I guessed cold but you said you'd put the answer in the description and it isn't.

[@TailedCarpet]

CryoGenUK it's the very last thing in the description

[@CryoGenUK]

Yup, thnaks for that. I scan read it 3 times and didn't see it. I thought that penultimate line was more to do with the maths, my bad. Apologies. :D

[@ikehopman]

Sucks indead ... now i have to kill mine vcr to find out yeah..it sucks

[@savitrrakatamatah7256]

Might wanna try to balance on a golf tee instead of a pencil? Have no clue if it would work better or not but I think it should.

[@Bikinfreak135]

dude if you open those bearing and clean out the gease. they'll spin a hell of a lot longer. look up hand spinners for reference. I'm hooked on them.

[@igounfazed]

Questions: With the high speeds of the VCR head, blown by the air compressor, how much voltage / current could the vcr head produce if used to produce electricity? In like manner, if the threaded together ball bearings were made of different materials, and blown to those high speeds, how much current / voltage could it produce? Would the created voltage / current be less than, equal to, or more than the energy needed to blow either of the above to those high speeds? fyi: The ball bearing question above is envisioned as the bearings made of magnets / magnetic materials.

[@Jimmeh_B]

1: it wouldn't, 2: they wouldn't, 3: Far less. magnetic material... irrelevant.

[@thatonethattalksalot7656]

For the gyroscope forget the string what you can use is a tire preferebly small bike tires and with that if you run the axle part of the axle along the bike tire while turning the bike tire you can literally kick it at high speeds! Just be sure to lube the ends before doing so as the gyroscope uses friction instead of rolling element bearings! XD

[@terryglenweaver]

You should have put marks on the one you did not spin to show the disconnected transfer of spin.

[@kaisle8412]

About which it rotates about?

[@pocket83]

Yeah, a bit clunky. I'm sorry, but I can't always be Cicero for you. This is KZbin. Give me a break.

[@KajanLakhan]

Hi, why does the gyro become cold? E=mc^2. .... Is it because mass is zero, and hence energy ⚡ is now zero. I guessing here.. Just using big equations. :)

[@felixthecrazy]

I think the speed description you are looking for is Ludicrous Speed. Egg?

[@wiser82]

felixthecrazy spaceballs, yes!

[@lanishab2646]

The air compressor to the vhs thingy sounds like the thx sound effect... Ironic

[@Shashidhar0378]

thanks

[@Jimmeh_B]

you could connect led's where the read/write heads are connected instead of cutting that ribbon cable off of the stationary part of the drum that powers the coils in the ferrite plates inside that are for wireless power transfer to said heads With the addition of a 74HC595 or a 74HC164 serial in parallel out chip (or several of them), and a few other parts (capacitors, resistors, maybe an inductor and such) you would have the "hardest to build" part of a persistence of vision displaying gyroscope! That my friend, would be ultimate! To those "fidget spinner" knobs.... build something! Fidgeting gets you NOWHERE!

[@pavski]

Do you think the VCR component would be repurposed for a durable 72x2 belt grinder wheel?

[@pocket83]

Not really. I once used rollerblade wheels. I made a video about it a while back: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a5WUe3d7pZVkbJY

[@Load_the_ducks]

5:03 that noise terrifies me.

[@MultiPets.]

But it gets cold because of the air compressor right ? Using any other method to make it rotate wouldn't make it cold or am I wrong here ?

[@titodejesus6238]

7.45 minutes of my life that I won't get back!!!

[@pocket83]

So sad. All of that lost productivity. I can only imagine what could have been, had I not robbed you of this opportunity for advancement; maybe the fryer would have been cleaned, or maybe the urinals would now have fresh cakes, or maybe, just maybe, you would've put your phone down for once and actually tried to improve your "life." ... nah. You'd just have clicked on some other stupid video. Go cry elsewhere. You've done this to your life, not me.

[@tarzaan2603]

Hot, friction causes heat right? Rolling friction of the bearings, and friction from the air resistance on the outside

[@pocket83]

Yes, but wrong! Friction does cause heat, but this thing still gets cold. Why? Because the compressed air quickly sweeps away all of that heat, and then some. Compressed air is air that is in a settled-down state; heat is simply molecular motion, so in order to cram lots of it into a small space, it has to give up its heat (energy). In scientific disciplines, this idea is known formally as the _Ideal gas law,_ which is usually expressed mathematically as PV=nRT, where P,V, and T just mean pressure, volume, and temperature.

[@tarzaan2603]

pocket83 yes of course! I should have thought of that! Thats how a refrigerator works too, when the freeon pressurized gas is released it is really cold!!

[@terryglenweaver]

Get vcrs a goodwill try test them so you buy ones that do not work for less.

[@thatgoose2639]

I'd say convection cools the gyroscope. Doesn't seem like there is a whole lot of friction to warm it up.

[@mosesembrey323]

Nice pulp fiction reference

[@rodgerrodger6298]

hmm i would of thought that it would turn warm because of air friction

[@jonathanbirsby]

cool, all that expanding gas needs that energy

[@landonbrewton2126]

It becomes cold

[@illumiNOTme326]

If it has the magnets in there probably gets hot

[@tatopolosp]

nice video. you too produce interesting and entertaining content1

[@pocket83]

Thank you.

[@emoboy380]

It gets hot because of friction energy is not destroyed this transferred in heat

[@VeteranVandal]

"Perfect way to spin the gyro." Yeah... I can see that. If you were an experimental physicist you'd probably have lots of accidents...

[@RusZugunder]

Cold near the compressor nozzle and maybe hot at the bearing? Edit: almost right, yay!

[@justinmaxwell1608]

The heads are a nice starting point for the Tesla style turbine as well

[@dorgodorato]

Teach the kids the game Danger Nut! Compressed air + 1" nut = Fun!

[@TheRealZeaga]

Does it become cold because of the expelled kinetic energy? or would that just make something hot? Physics is confusing.

[@pocket83]

Physics is confusing. But it's also possible to understand. Friction (from kinetic energy) does cause heat, which should make it feel warm, but this thing still gets cold. Why? Because the compressed air quickly sweeps away all of that heat, and then some. Compressed air is air that is in a settled-down state; heat is simply molecular motion, so in order to cram lots of air into a small space, it has to give up its heat (energy). In scientific disciplines, this idea is known formally as the _Ideal gas law,_ which is usually expressed mathematically as PV=nRT, where P,V, and T just mean pressure, volume, and temperature.

[@payampersian2687]

man you broke it lol

[@NonTwinBrothers]

Really, You couldn't come up with ANY better eggs puns?

[@pocket83]

Ummm... not really. I've pretty much run the gamut by now. Besides, I was more focused on capturing my Easter egg dichotomy/dilemma! See, I like the little hunt game, but I also hate it since it's all commenters want to talk about. Nevermind the project, dialogue, or imagery- DONTFORGETTODRINKYOUROVALTINE (more than 100x per week). Jules understands this frustration. Protip: "egg" now triggers the comment filter. Oppressive incursion on free speech? More like quirky rules of a private club ;)

[@gamecast6497]

cold

[@Nrwn-Qsr]

OK, one more thing...Since you brought up Vsauce, have you watched any of his "Mind Field" episodes? They're really well done, if you haven't seen them, I think you'll find them interesting.

[@pocket83]

He's a brilliant presenter. He makes the world a better place. I wonder... if Vsauce were to come into contact with "the king of random," I wonder if the two would annihilate, like matter meeting anti-matter.

[@Nrwn-Qsr]

I probably laughed at that longer than I should have. I used to like quite a few of Grant's videos, but lately...he's kinda more like a mash up of KipKay (since moving to KZbin, though he did have some half decent stuff for a little while here) and Crazy Russian Hacker...all fluff and show, no meat...but when half the population is vegan, that's the kind of content that sells.

[@pocket83]

whoa, I think you misinterpreted me there. Let me be clear: that guy makes the world a _worse_ place.

[@Nrwn-Qsr]

I think we're coming from the same place, though you may be coming from deeper and darker than I am at this point.

[@pocket83]

Ryan, I was responding to mr. Justifyed there. We're on the same page. These comment strings are just confusing- why can't they just post chronologically?!

[@senek4l]

dude, your videos are so cool! nice fckin math skills, though -.-

[@elyeli6250]

I dare you pocket83, I dare you to say it,

[@good2cu793]

You ask if it becomes hot or cold then you put it on your middle finger...... Freudian.

[@lrgadv]

Anyhow? Sure?

[@jimobrien84]

Interesting toys. Forgive me if you wish this to remain private or if you've divulged before, but are you an engineer?

[@thatgoose2639]

Glass surface roughness is low

[@kchstudiophx9843]

Cold,, and why?

[@Checkedbox]

why does it become cold?

[@Kamal_AL-Hinai]

Because of things... you know...

[@flaminghive]

Joof My guess would be more from the compressed air than the physics. Air friction from spinning would normally suggest increased heat, but he's using compressed air, which has a greatly lowered temperature due to the air being more dense. Packing more gas molecules into a smaller area means they can't move as freely, reducing their movement and therefore heat energy. This is different than those pre-packaged CO2 canisters, those are filled with CO2 cooled to liquid state, they pressurize as they warm back up.

[@Sorenzo]

I'd rather put it that the air rapidly loses its temperature when it decompresses.

[@mysterioushooded]

its the opposite actually. compressing the air makes it warmer. think of a fire piston. it gets colder when it is blown out the nozzle because it expands to atmosphere pressure and it takes heat energy from its surroundings to do so.

[@ethansloss6854]

The air when it's compressed heats up but the hot air is inside the compressor tank and it cools down eventually. But when it decompresses it cools down even cooler than it was before because it lost it's heat while it was in the tank.

[@AntonioLemos66]

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@kchstudiophx9843]

Ok, but why?

[@ZiMZiLLA]

If you're married, you've likely got a handy top attached to your ring finger. My wedding band (very loudly) maintains a spin for about 30 seconds or more on an ideal surface.

[@bill48m]

said to big brain????

[@giuseppelavecchia775]

Il tamburo testine non è un giocattolo

[@VeteranVandal]

Hmm... I know how CDs work. How cassettes work. Even how flashmemory works. But not VCRs. Time to correct this Will come soon.

[@pocket83]

I was reading briefly about how the tape goes around the head in a helical fashion, rather than in a linear feed (that's why it's at that goofy angle). I though that was really clever. I guess one benefit is that a crease won't entirely destroy a cross section of information. Weird.

[@Andrew_Sparrow]

Spin the heads and the tape can move slowly, otherwise the tape would have to move at the speed the drum is spinning. My dad used to repair these back in the day (electronics engineer), I remember him telling me how the head alignment was one of the most precision things people had in their homes in order for every machine to be able to record and playback every other tape, and yes I made plenty of spinning tops from the heads as a kid :)

[@VeteranVandal]

pocket83 Hah. I always thought that that angle did not make any sense whatsoever. I might have a working one in my home, still.