A Not-So-Brief Explanation: A plug spinner is a tool that rotates a lock's plug fast enough that the pins are unable to reset. This allows the direction of rotation to be reversed without having to re-pick the lock. In short you can lock and unlock only having to pick the lock once. Commercial spinners while affordable in the context of locksmithing equipment, can still be pricey. Frankly I wasn't going to shell out thirty to eighty dollars that I could be spending on new picks, locks, and other more empowering tools; just to solve the inconvenience of having to re-pick a lock.

And so taking what I had learned from my past two failed attempts to make a plug spinner, I set out on this project with the following design parameters: Simple, as few parts as possible. Accessible, it had to be easy to make. Affordable, all at a price point acceptable even to someone just getting into locksport. With four parts, one moving assembly and at only the cost of the filament; that goal has been fulfilled.

I have made a video that goes through a demonstration and making the spinner. Clear text: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xzX5UgzyaA

Printing and Scaling:

When printing, scale the spinner to the thickness of wiper insert you have. The hole in the head and button are 0.85mm by 3.25mm. Having 0.75mm wiper insert instead of 0.8mm I would scale it to 0.8/0.85 percent. The undersized head and button are for when the width of the spring is significantly smaller, more than a millimeter. The hole in the undersized components begins to taper halfway through, ending at 0.75mm by 3.15mm. The tighter fit allows springs to be used that would otherwise have too much play side to side to work, the disadvantage being it is harder to assemble. The spring will shear any excessive material when hammered in. For that reason so long as the spring will fit through the handle an oversized spring can be used in a given thickness.

When scaling don't forget to scale the handle as well. During assembly the added length also needs to be scaled when calculating final spring length. Returning to the 0.75mm thick spring example, to get the same length tip as I did in the video I would multiply 96 by 0.8/0.86, ~90mm, then add my desired tip length in this case 19mm. resulting in a final spring length of 109mm.

Included are STEP files for everything in case scaling does not provide enough flexibility.

Happy spinning!!