How I built the world’s first fully electric tilting spin machine for abstract art
The DIY Design
This video shows off my fully electronic tilting spin machine that I built with my own hands. It’s capable of spinning paintings from 12” x 12” up to 6ft. or larger!
What makes it unique is that it’s fully portable and it’s all electronic. I can adjust the speeds according to what I want the paint to do. My machine also has the ability to tilt at any angle up to 80 degrees while spinning or stationary.
The Materials of Inspiration
When I discovered the paintings of Callen Schwab, Ed Swarez, and Damien Hirst, I was mesmerized by the depth and color variations they get by using their spin machines as part of their abstract painting process. I instinctively knew I just had to include this machine in my process of applying paint to canvas. After all, Jackson Pollock showed us that a brush was not the only tool. He progressed from the brush to sticks, rags, putty knives, paint cans, turkey basters, etc.
First things first - I needed a spin machine.
A quick Google search showed that you cannot simply buy one. So I thought about existing machines that could spin at a high rate of speed.
Photo by Simon Hurry on Unsplash
Of course - a washing machine!
I found a cheap, used one, and started dismantling it. Not being knowledgeable about electric motors, I discovered that you can’t control the speed of an AC motor found in a washing machine. But thanks to Youtube, I learned that you can control the speed of a DC motor, like those powering treadmills.
I set about taking apart a free treadmill that I found on the street to get at the prized DC motor. Then I tried in vain to figure out how to get the DC motor to power the washing machine drum, to no avail. After several weeks of experimenting I had an epiphany! Strip away the whole washing machine except for the metal base, then mount the treadmill motor vertically onto the base to power a round table that can hold any size canvas!
Trial & Error
After using my carpentry and engineering skills to fashion my spinner, I turned on the power using the treadmill speed control. It would only run for a minute, then cut off. I could not control the speed either. So, of course I turned to Youtube to learn how to control my machine.
Thanks to Galco Industries, they helped me choose a speed control that would fit the bill. I am not an electrical guy by any means, but somehow I wired it up, turned it on. It ran, but was making a loud humming racket. I couldn’t understand the reason, but I noticed that there was something on the treadmill controls that I didn't remove, and it looked kind of important.
I found out later it is called a “choke”, and it really is important! So I wired that in with the motor, and low and behold, it started spinning smoothly and quietly. After 6 months of sweat, tears, and yes - a little blood, I finally had a spin machine to create abstract art.
Painter’s tape covering the base to keep it clean.
For the mechanics of tilting, I turned to pistons. At the base, you can see a piston - that’s an actuator.
Electronic actuators are pistons that raise anything you want, like a window or a TV coming out of a trunk. That’s all done with pistons. It’s called an electric linear actuator. I bought it online for around $100.
To collect the paint droplets and keep everything tidy (as much as this kind of messy art can be), I used scrap plywood to design portable walls that hinge together. These are adjustable around my spin machine and the paint gets thrown off onto the walls and not on to me!
The Results
I have to work quickly to manipulate the paint and decide if I am satisfied with the final results. If I don’t love it, I may add more paint and give it another spin, or I may manipulate the wet paint with pallet knives or hair combs, plaster tools, brushes, etc.
“Let It Be” was one of the first abstract paintings I produced on this brand new machine, and it is currently for sale.
“Solar Flare” was also a first, and is currently for sale as well.
Click the images below to see the product page.
