Self Stirring Mug Using Lego

I saw this self stirring mug on YouTube and then this friend introduced me to a piece of lab equipment called a magnetic stirrer. So I decided to create a little prototype of both using Lego pieces.

You will need the following pieces (Give or take)

Materials
Tape (Electrical works well)
2 Bar Magnets (or a lot of disc magnets)
(I used the surplus from www.kjmagnetics.com)

Lego Pieces: (if you decide to make it using Lego)
1 9V Motor
1 9V Battery Box
1 Lego Cable
Plates:
1 6 x 8
2 6 x 10
4 1 x 2 (the ones which have the slots to hold a motor)
12 1 x 8
Beams:
4 1 x 2
2 1 x 6
4 1 x 8
6 1 x 10
Gears:
1 Crown Gear 24teeth
2 24 tooth gears
2 8 tooth gears
Some bushings and pins to connect it all

The Lego motor spins at roughly 360 rpm which is quite slow so in order to speed this up we utilize a gear train. Below is a picture of the assembly. The end of the gear train is on the upper left and it will be the part that is attached to the spinning magnet bar.

You want to build a frame to support a cup so in this design I built it using Lego pieces. What is important though is that your frame is sturdy enough to hold a cup with liquid and has some clearance for the spinning magnet mechanism. I used a Lego connector that looks like a T shape to attach the magnet onto the gear train. I also used some tape to secure it. When the setup is complete you should be able to place the bar magnet on top and it will lock into place. I chose neodymium magnets because they were strong.

There aren't many steps to this because this was a short project and the video explains a lot of the details. If there were any parts that were unclear I would be glad to explain them or append to the instructable.

There were better ways to mix and blend but this one used magnets and Lego and was entertaining to watch. I didn't use this for drinking purposes due to some cleanliness issues but it sure did mix that iced tea well.

I used a plated magnet and to my knowledge it is plated in zinc. Not wanting to drink zinc I planned to cover the magnet in some form of non toxic plastic. In the past using some spray on liquid rubber to waterproof my use drive and I was hoping to find some similar to coat the magnets.

Also if anyone was planning to make this for drinking purposes I would recommend building a specialty cup that has the magnet fixed to the bottom so that it isn't a choke hazard.

Thank you and I hope you enjoyed this Instructable!