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May 12, 2023

Make your own magnetic stirrer from scratch

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Is stirring a drink by hand too much of a hassle for you? Do you have some cardboard and other basic materials lying around?

Then why not "kill two birds with one stone", by making your own cardboard-based DIY drinks stirrer?

As you can imagine, you'll need some tools and materials before you get started.

With all your gear in hand, it is time to get on with this great little build.

The first step is to take your sheet of cardboard and mark out the design for the stirrer. To do this, take your metal ruler and mark out a pair of points at 55/64ths of inch (2.2 cm) internals.

Do the same at the opposite side of the cardboard, and join the points with straight lines. Keep adding other points and lines to make various sized rectangles as shown in the video.

With that done, take your metal ruler again and crafting knife and cut along each of the lines as needed to make a series of rectangular pieces of cardboard.

With the pieces now ready, you can begin to build the stirring machine. Take each piece and add a layer of hot glue. Before the glue cures, glue each piece into place to make the main boxing for the machine.

For the front panel of the box, ensure you cut out a hole large enough to fit the main switch for the machine as required.

Next, take your DC brushless CPU fan and add a couple of blobs of hot glue to the main hub of the fan. With that done, take your magnets, and glue them into place on the fan.

Add more hot glue to the inside of the boxing for the stirrer, and glue the CPU fan (and magnets) into place as needed. Make sure the fan is glued off-center to one side of the inside surface of the box.

With the fan in place, it is now time to complete the machine. Take your battery connector and mount it to the 9V battery as needed.

Add some more hot glue to one side of the battery, and glue it into place on the inside of the box next to the fan. With that done, take the positive wires from the battery and CPU fan, and solder them into place on each of the terminals of the switch.

Solder/connect the negative wires together of the fan and battery to complete the circuit. Push all the wires of the fan and battery inside the boxing, and secure them into place as needed.

Next, insert the switch into its matching hole in the front panel of the box as needed. With that done, glue a couple of lengths of popsicle sticks above the fan to add some supports for the top of the stirring machine.

Next, take the top panel for the stirring machine, and cut a hole directly above where the magnets are on the CPU fan. Glue the panel into place to the top of the stirring machine as needed.

With that done, give the machine a quick test by turning on the switch. This should activate the CPU fan and spin the magnets just below the hole.

With the previous steps done, your DIY stirring machine is now complete and ready to be put through its paces. To do this, make your hot or cold drink, but don't stir it.

With that done, add another couple of magnets into the drink, and then rest the drink on top of your stirring machine. Flip the switch to activate the fan, sit back, and watch your favorite beverage stir itself in front of your very eyes!

If you enjoyed this relatively simple DIY project, you might want to make another? How about, for example, a simple humane rat trap?