I actually tried the washing machine thing!!!
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How small is too small?" "Well, if you can masturbate with a Barbie hand, your in trouble."

Baymaster, Im one of the people who have built my own spinner.
Baiki (sorry if its spelled wrong) is another.
Mine is made from a tumble dryer motor bolted to the side of my garage. Then boxed in with strong timber. I used a sheet of wood made from 2x1's all stuck together. I used steel angle to strengthen the top of the box. Then on the outside on the left hand side I fixed a water pump from a car. Dont know the model, I just picked one up at a scrap yard and was told I could have it gratis.
I made sure that the top of the pully on the motor was at the same hight as the larger pully on the water pump. Then bolted the pump in place with 4 bolts.
Now the hard part. Find a dish that is the perfect size for a ball. I used a stainless steel dogs dish. It took some finding and its fun walking around shops carrying a bowling ball and sticking it in loads of dishes. I must admit I had more than a few strange looks.
I drilled 3 holes in the pully and sandwiched the dish base between 2 circles of steel plate (only thin stuff) for added strength. Then bolted this lot onto the pully with 3 small bolts.
Its all pretty simple, but you do have to find a belt that fits perfectly from pully to pully and make sure that the size of the pully used on the motor spindle isnt too large that it makes the dish spin too fast. Also you do have to spend most of the time getting the whole thing bang on square or else!!! The garage tries to take off!!
Ive probably missed a bit, but if no one else chimes in with an easier setup then I'll have a good go at getting it all together for you.
All in all the whole thing cost me about $15 and took 2 days to complete. I did have the old tumble dryer with all of the electrics that I needed intact, so thats why the cost was so low.
As I say Baiki's sounds a bit easier to me, but I bet his garage never tried to fly when he was building his, And I'll bet you his is not nearly as bomb proof as mine.
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Happy go lucky bowler from the UK.
   Did someone say tough luck
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Great idea!

I'd love to see a photo tutorial, as I'm sure most others would too.

I'f I could get a hold of some part numbers, I'd try to build it just so I could document the process.  Could be a fun project.  I'm not a big do-it-yourself'er but I'm sure lots of bowlers are.

Tony