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by hansword 1424 days ago
> would spin the rivet to about 11,000,343 RPM

I just checked with the datasheet of a current commercial spin welder.[0] The rpm's given on the datasheet are 500 to 2500. I think the author might have slightly exaggerated the capabilities of their 1970s toy for effect.

[0] https://www.sonics.com/site/assets/files/2949/spin-welder.pd...

1 comments

Maybe those are European decimal commas? I mean... it's a ludicrous number with artificial specificity so I just interpreted it as a kazillion.

I doubt the motor was capable of 1000rpm and it certainly wouldn't be necessary.

Based on the size and shape of the tool I'm guessing it's a brushed DC motor, which in that size can easily achieve several kRPM --- unloaded, that is. When it's actually being used to do the work of melting the plastic, probably below 1kRPM.
If they were decimal commas there would only be one of them, same as with decimal dots.

In other words, I agree with your kazillion interpretation…