Psi Wheel - Construction

Construction

There are several designs for the shape of the psi wheel, but the most common is an inverted funnel-shaped pyramid. This psi wheel shape may be constructed by creasing a small (around 2 inch by 2 inch) square of paper or foil lengthwise, height wise, and diagonally both ways, then bending the square slightly along the creases to reach the desired shape.

Another common type of psi wheel is in the shape of a cross made out of a thin sheet of metal such as aluminum or brass. The arms of the cross are anywhere from 1.25 to 2 inches in length and 1/4" wide, with a small dimple in the middle so that it can be balanced on something sharp.

This wheel then balances on a small, pointed object such as a thumbtack, needle, or pen cover firmly planted on a flat surface. An object such as a thumbtack or pen cover can stand on its base by itself, however an object such as a needle will need to be rooted in another stable object such as an eraser, sponge, box, or bottle cap in order to provide it with enough stability to hold the spinning wheel on its tip; one design even uses a plastic bottle cap filled with an equal amount of J-B Weld, a two-part epoxy, to hold a needle upright in place. Sometimes such psi wheels are placed within small glass or plastic containers to prevent random bursts of air from causing spurious movement of the wheel.