YouTube/What's InsideThese guys decided to hack up an Etch A Sketch to see how it works and it’s not what we were expecting at all…
Back in the nineties, this toy was what dreams were made of – the height of toy technology and yet it was basically just a more complicated means of doodling.
And when it inevitably looked like absolutely nothing you could destroy the evidence with a simple shake.
What’s actually inside though has always remained a mystery – as a child, I readily believed it was the work of wizards (I was five OK.)
So to get to the bottom of what’s going on inside the magical inner workings of the Etch A Sketch, YouTube channel What’s Inside, decided to explore.
Dan and his son start off by bizarrely talking about Breaking Bad and how the innocent Etch A Sketch was used in the series to make drugs… Cue further experiments…
To kick-off their explorations, the pair rope in Madeleine who explains how you use one.
She says:
You’ve got to get a feel for the knobs.
Sounds reasonable.
Moving on, the guys place the Etch A Sketch in a vice, before hacking the corner off and shaking out a whole load of aluminium powder.
Next, the toy is sliced open to reveal its inner-workings.
Its plastic and glass screen is then shattered and the guys peer inside to end the mystery…
So basically, as you twist the knobs, the metal pointer moves the aluminium powder around, leaving a trail to create your sketch.
Then when you’re done and you want to get rid of it all, you shake the toy and polystyrene balls smooth and re-coat the screen, ready for use again.
Bet you feel enlightened now don’t you?
