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A HOME-BUILT CENTRIFUGAL SPINNER TURNS BIOPLASTIC INTO RADIATIVE COOLING FIBRE

A home-built spinner turns reflective bioplastic into a fibre mat whose surface stays cold in direct sun on a thermal camera.

by NightHawkInLight

FULL CAD BOM FIRMWARE DOCS

WorkshopScience

difficulty
●●●●○
time
several weekends
license
license not specified
repo
repo FINISHED0 stars

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

Videos
1
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COMPAREE VERDICT

This is for someone who wants to understand the whole process rather than follow a checklist. NightHawkInLight builds a centrifugal spinner from an inline fan, a hair dryer and a variable-speed drill, spins reflective-modified PLA dissolved in ethyl acetate into a fibre mat, and checks it outdoors with a thermal camera. The recipe is read out on screen, but there is no bill of materials, no drawing and no written guide, and his earlier livestreams fill in more of the build. His own test shows the outer fabric staying cold in sun while the layers underneath still warmed up, so treat it as a promising first version, not a finished cooling garment. You will be iterating on the process yourself and handling a flammable solvent. If you want a weekend project with a shopping list, this is not it; if you want to explore radiative cooling fabric at home, it is the clearest starting point available.

GOOD TO KNOW

  • —This is a filmed build walkthrough, not a repository.
  • —There are no STL files, no parts list, no wiring diagrams.
  • —The machine design, material choices and process parameters are shown on camera — in this video and in his recorded livestreams of building the fibre machine on his second channel — but not written down.
  • —The thermal camera comparison is demonstrated but there is no published data sheet.
  • —No formal licence — this is workshop documentation shared as video.
  • —You will be designing your own version from what you see, not downloading plans.

Parts to buy

8 items

From our check of the build. Exact quantities and part numbers are in the creator’s BOM.

  • Variable-speed drillFind
  • Inline ventilation fanFind
  • Hair dryerFind
  • Materials for the spinning head and collectorfrom the repo files
  • Reflective-modified PLAFind
  • Ethyl acetateFind
  • Isopropyl alcohol and a little polyethylene oxideFind
  • Thermal camera or access to oneFind

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Can I build this?

Printnothing required
Buya variable-speed drill, an inline ventilation fan, a hair dryer, materials for the spinning head and collector, reflective-modified PLA, ethyl acetate, isopropyl alcohol and a little polyethylene oxide, and a thermal camera or access to one
Toolsbasic workshop tools to build the spinning head, collector and mounts, a fume-safe workspace, and a thermal camera for testing
Skillsintermediate fabrication, understanding of rotational mechanics, willingness to iterate on process parameters without a manual
Timeseveral weekends — the machine build is one part, dialing in the process is the rest
Cost$$ — motor and controller, bioplastic feedstock, and a thermal camera or rental dominate it
SafetyFlammable solvents: the fibre solution is PLA dissolved in ethyl acetate with isopropyl alcohol, warmed gently, so work with good ventilation, no open flames or sparks near the solvent, and eye protection against flung solution. The spinner runs off ordinary mains appliances (a drill, a hair dryer and a fan), so keep them away from solvent vapour.

This build involves mains voltage — for adults comfortable with electrical work only.

Build at your own risk. Projects involve tools, electronics and sometimes mains voltage — follow the creator’s safety notes.

Videos

Creator’s build video

Full build demonstration, material processing, and outdoor thermal camera verification

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Gallery

youtube.com
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Start here

Navigation into the creator’s own docs — we don’t rewrite the guide, we route you to the source.

  1. 1.Watch the full video (There is no written guide — the video is the documentation)
  2. 2.Decide on your spinner head design(His spinner uses an inline ventilation fan, a hair dryer for warm air and a variable-speed drill driving the spinning head; you design your own version from the footage.)
  3. 3.Source bioplastic feedstock(The feedstock is PLA modified for high reflectivity (see the earlier videos in his sky-cooling playlist), dissolved in ethyl acetate with a little isopropyl alcohol and polyethylene oxide, as he reads out in the video.)
  4. 4.Build a collector for the fibres(The fibres are flung outward and need to be caught as a mat)

KNOWN ISSUES

  • There is no parts list or dimensional drawing — you are designing your own version from the video.
  • The spinning speed and head geometry are not written down; you tune them yourself, starting from the recipe and setup he shows on screen.
  • The base material is ordinary PLA, but it has to be modified for high reflectivity first — follow the earlier videos in the sky-cooling playlist before you start spinning.
  • The thermal camera comparison is essential to verify the result, and hiring or borrowing one adds cost and logistics.
  • Polymer solution is flung outward at speed and the solvent is flammable: contain the test area, ventilate well, keep ignition sources away and wear eye protection.
  • The video shows the result working, but does not quantify the cooling effect or give a target temperature drop to aim for.

Is there a repository or CAD file?

No. This is a filmed workshop build, not a published design. You will be working from what you see on screen.

What bioplastic should I use?

PLA — the same bioplastic used in 3D printing — modified for high reflectivity. PLA emits strongly in the infrared sky-cooling window, which is why it suits radiative cooling; the earlier videos in his sky-cooling playlist explain the reflective modification.

How do I know if it worked?

The thermal camera comparison is the only verification. If you do not have access to one, you cannot tell whether the fibre has the right optical structure.

Can I scale this up to make enough fabric for a whole garment?

The video shows a small mat being made. Scaling it up means running the spinner for longer or building a larger collector, and both add complexity.

Community builds

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Discussion1

FROM THE COMPAREE TEAM

In the hat test the outer fabric stayed cold but the layers underneath still warmed up, and the video tried a foil backing to fix it. If you built this, how would you stop sunlight leaking through to the layers below?

CompareeTEAM1mo agoedited

Practical notes from our verification: there is no written build guide, but the video is more specific than it first looks. Ben (NightHawkInLight) builds the spinner from an inline ventilation fan, a hair dryer for warm air and a variable-speed drill driving the spinning head, and he reads out his fibre recipe on screen: PLA dissolved in ethyl acetate with gentle heat, plus isopropyl alcohol and a tiny amount of polyethylene oxide. The build livestreams on his second channel fill in more detail. His own thermal camera readings show the outer fabric surface staying cold in sun, but the hat test also shows the lower layers and the hat still warming up, so this is a promising first version, not a finished cooling garment. You will be working with a flammable solvent and iterating on the process yourself. If you want a parts list and a wiring diagram, this is not that. Correction (4 October 2026): we re-checked this page line by line against the project's own repository, documentation and videos, and fixed errors in earlier versions.

NightHawkInLight

NightHawkInLight documents workshop experiments and builds on YouTube, often exploring physics phenomena that are commercially available but rarely demonstrated at home scale.

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