Hope Springs Eternal...

Welcome to the Corona Virus Chronicles... Tim is now self-isolating, and presenting his videos directly from his apartment, via a web link.

Tim demonstrates some of his spring toys.

First, a magic trick. Hang a metal ring on a small spring, give it a twist, and now it seems to be permanently attached. If you don't know the trick, you won't be able to remove the ring. However, you give the ring a twist, and you can then lift off the ring, easy as anything. This trick probably dates back to Victorian times. However in the last 30 or 40 years, someone has come up with an additional trick you can play. Hang the ring on the spring, give it a twist like before, but then move the ring along to near the end of the spring, and lift the ring up and over the end of the spring. Move it back to the centre of the spring, and people who thought they knew how this trick works will be baffled. The ring is now hanging over 2 loops of the spring. The twist will not solve it - you have to move the ring to the end of the spring, and lift it up and over the end of the spring, and then give it a twist to release it.

A simple toy for children, which looks like a camera. Press the button, and a monkey pops out at the end of a spring.

Jochen Valett is a German artisan (now retired) who made a range of amazing objects. Tim demonstrates a circular spring that has a number of glass marbles trapped inside, and move along the spring as you rotate it.

We then see a more advanced version, where the spring has three loops, and inside the spring is a number of ball bearings. Very elegant.

Finally, a giant Slinky which Tim bought from Germany. As well as doing all the things that Slinkys do, it is also possible to get magnetic spinning tops to balance on the Slinky and as they spin, they gradually work their way down the Slinky.