Gee-Haw-Whammy-Diddle

[engineman]

Last night at a meeting I was introduced to the Gee-Haw-Whammy-Diddle.
It is a simple device that has been around for a long time but I
haden't heard of it before. It is a wooden stick 5/16" dia. and 5"
long. The one I was given has 8 notches on it 5/16" apart and 1 /16"
deep.It has a a simple propellor- like spinner on one end 1-1/2" long.
When you rub a wooden stick or similar object along the notches the
spinner rotates. the faster you rub, the faster it rotates.the
direction of rotation is determined by where you place your fingers.
Can anyone tell me how it works?
I searched extensively on google and found a lot of references to it
but no one seemed to know how it works.
http://bobscrafts.com/bobstuff/geehaw.htm

Also I'm wondering if it would work if made of aluminum?

Engineman

[alie...@gmail.com]

On Nov 21, 5:05 pm, engineman <enginem...@aol.com> wrote:
> Last night at a meeting I was introduced to the Gee-Haw-Whammy-Diddle.
> It is a simple device that has been around for a long time but I
> haden't heard of it before. It is a wooden stick 5/16" dia. and 5"
> long. The one I was given has 8 notches on it 5/16" apart and 1 /16"
> deep.It has a a simple propellor- like spinner on one end 1-1/2" long.
> When you rub a wooden stick or similar object along the notches the
> spinner rotates. the faster you rub, the faster it rotates.the
> direction of rotation is determined by where you place your fingers.
> Can anyone tell me how it works?

Here's Jearl Walker's take on it:

http://www.flyingcircusofphysics.com/News/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=49

"If I rub the second stick over the top of the notches, the
propeller merely vibrates up and down. To make it rotate continuously
in one direction, I must make the extent of vibrations on the left and
right sides of the stick different. To do this I rub the notches on
either their left side or their right side instead of along the top,
and I apply pressure to the notched stick with either my thumb or
first finger.

"To cause the propeller to rotate counterclockwise (in my view), I
turn the notched stick slightly so that I rub along the right side of
the notches while pressing my thumb against the right side of the
stick. That side of the stick is then unable to vibrate as freely as
the left side, and this lack of left-right symmetry causes the pin to
rotate counterclockwise in an elliptical path. The friction between
the pin and the hole in the propeller then causes the propeller to
rotate in that same counterclockwise direction."

"To reverse the rotation, I subtly turn the notched stick slightly
so that I then rub the left side of the notches. At the same time I
press against the left side of the stick with my first finger (rather
than with my thumb on the right side). Now the left side cannot freely
vibrate and the pin moves in a clockwise elliptical path, driving the
propeller in a clockwise rotation."

> I searched extensively on google and found a lot of references to it

> but no one seemed to know how it works.http://bobscrafts.com/bobstuff/geehaw.htm

>
> Also I'm wondering if it would work if made of aluminum?

Don't see why not.

Mark L. Fergerson