Asked at the drawing table: Spirograph questions

There is a set for nearly every age. Spirograph Jr. is made for ages 3 and up, with jumbo gears held in a fixed frame. Cyclex Clips and the Bluey Cyclex Studio suit ages 5 and up. The classic gear sets, with loose wheels, rings and putty, are recommended for ages 8 and up, and plenty of them are bought by adults for themselves.

Spirograph was introduced in 1965. British engineer Denys Fisher developed the drawing wheels and showed them at the Nuremberg toy fair that year. Our current sets are inspired by that original 1965 design, re-engineered for today.

Yes. The Die-Cast Collector's Set, with nine golden metal wheels in a display tin, was made with grown-up collectors in mind. The Retro Deluxe reproduces the throwback box, the Super Spirograph adds Spiro-Tracks for complex layouts, and Mandala Maker gives you a 13-inch frame for artwork worth hanging.

Very much so. We make the classic sets, Jr. sets, Cyclex tools and newer ideas such as the Giant Spirograph and the Electronic Spirograph Machine. All current sets are listed here with a button to our shop.

The wheels in our current sets are engineered to work with the pens in the box and with most standard pens, markers and pencils. Fine-tipped pens give the crispest lines. Put a spare sheet underneath if your pen might bleed through.

A ring is fixed to the paper with reusable putty. A toothed wheel sits inside it with a pen through one of its holes. As you push the wheel around the ring, the pen traces a looping curve, and after a set number of laps the line returns to its start and the pattern is complete.

The curves are called hypotrochoids when the wheel rolls inside the ring and epitrochoids when it rolls outside. The number of points in a design comes from the tooth counts: divide the ring's teeth by the largest factor it shares with the wheel's teeth.

No. Current sets include reusable Spirograph putty that holds the ring in place and leaves no holes in the paper. The Die-Cast set keeps the classic pinholes for anyone who wants to use map pins as in 1965.

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