Pocket Mechanica
Pocket Glossary
The working vocabulary of the fidget and pocket-mechanism world — the mechanisms, materials, finishes, and collector shorthand the hobby runs on. Every term routes deeper: into Mechanism Notes, the Material Library, Surface Notes, and the objects where it shows up.
A
Aftermarket / secondary market
Resale of objects after their original release, often above retail for limited or sold-out pieces. The hobby’s de facto exchange for anything no longer dropping.
Anodised also: Ano
An electrochemical surface treatment. On titanium and zirconium the colour comes from light interfering in a thin oxide layer — not dye — so the shade shifts with film thickness, set by voltage.
B
Ball detent
The most common detent type: a spring-loaded ball that drops into a machined recess to mark a click and hold a position. Recess depth and spring force decide how sharp the click reads.
Batch / small-batch
A defined, limited production run. Most objects are made in batches rather than continuously, which is why a sold-out piece may never return in the same form.
Bead-blast
Blasting the surface with fine media to leave an even, soft matte texture. A common base finish that kills glare and gives a uniform tooth before colour.
Bearing
The low-friction pivot a spinner turns on, usually a ball bearing. Its quality and cleanliness set how long and how smoothly the object spins.
Brass
A copper-zinc alloy: heavy, warm-toned, and soft enough to feel dense in hand. Develops a patina with handling and rings differently from steel or titanium.
C
Cam
A shaped profile that converts one motion into another as it turns or slides, so a follower rises and falls on a set schedule. Used to time a click, an opening action, or a detent.
Chamfer
A flat bevel cut where two surfaces meet, softening an edge and catching a line of light along the cut. A detail that signals how carefully a piece was finished.
Click bar
A bar-format object built around one or more push-clicks rather than a slide or spin. The action is a repeatable detent worked under the thumb.
Click count
The number of distinct detents in one full pass of a slider’s travel — a quick shorthand for how busy the action feels.
Clone / replica
An unauthorised copy of an original design, usually cheaper and looser in tolerance. Distinguishing originals from clones is the central authenticity problem in the hobby.
Copper
A soft, dense, reddish metal that patinas quickly from skin contact. Chosen for weight, warmth, and the way it visibly records handling over time.
D
Damascus
Pattern-welded steel — layers of different steels forged together and etched to reveal a flowing grain, unique to each piece. Distinct from titanium-based Timascus and from anodised Mokuti.
Detent
A position a mechanism is biased to settle into — created by a sprung ball or pin dropping into a recess, or by magnets capturing. The reason a slider stops and clicks instead of drifting.
Distressed
A finish deliberately worn or marked to look used from new, rather than left to age on its own.
DLC / PVD
Thin, very hard coatings laid down as vapour (physical vapour deposition). DLC — a diamond-like carbon film — is one common type, giving a durable, usually dark, low-friction surface.
Drop
A release event, often time-limited and small — the usual way new objects reach buyers in the Chinese EDC scene.
E
EDC
Everyday carry — the objects a person keeps on them daily, and the broader hobby that fidgets sit inside.
End-stop
The hard limit at each end of a slider’s travel. A good one lands the carriage cleanly without a harsh shock.
F
Feel profile
A structured account of how an object behaves in the hand: travel, click character, resistance, and balance.
Fidget
A small object made for repeated tactile manipulation — here, a deliberately designed mechanical one, not a stress toy.
Floating slider
A slider whose carriage is suspended on magnetic repulsion instead of riding a hard rail, so for part of its travel nothing physically touches. The feel is a damped glide rather than a metal-on-metal slide.
G
Grail
The object a collector most wants and rarely finds at a fair price — the top of a personal want list.
Group buy (GB)
A pooled pre-order that funds or unlocks a production run before it is made. Common where a maker needs committed numbers to justify the batch.
H
Handfeel
The overall tactile impression of an object in use — weight, balance, texture, and how the action answers back.
Haptic coin
A coin-format object built around a single repeatable click or snap — the whole point is one well-tuned tactile event, repeated.
Heat ano / flame colour
Colour produced by heating titanium or zirconium until an oxide layer forms and refracts light — the same interference effect as electrical anodising, but applied with flame, giving less even, more organic tones.
K
Knurling
A grip pattern cut or rolled into a metal surface as crosshatched or straight ridges — functional texture that also reads as detailing.
M
Magnet timing
How the magnetic forces are tuned to catch, resist, and release across a slider’s travel — the difference between a vague pull and a crisp, staged action.
Magnetic array
A deliberate arrangement of several magnets, their polarity and spacing chosen to shape the force a carriage feels across travel — where it resists, catches, and lets go.
Maker / studio
The designer or workshop behind an object — in this hobby a tracked creative identity with a recognisable language, not an anonymous factory.
Maker Files → · Seen in 01EDC, Hope Studio
Modular / shell
A design with interchangeable outer parts, so one core mechanism can wear several looks or materials.
Mokume gane
A traditional Japanese technique laminating different non-ferrous metals — copper, brass, nickel silver — then working them so the layers show as a woodgrain figure. Mixed metal, not titanium; the cousin of Mokuti.
Mokuti
Patterned titanium billet whose worked layers take different anodised tones, giving a woodgrain-like figure. The titanium answer to Mokume gane — colour from oxide, not different metals.
N
NIB
New in box — unused, in original packaging. A condition term that matters most on the secondary market.
P
Patina
The surface layer — oxide or sulfide — that develops on copper, brass, and bronze with exposure and handling. Prized rather than cleaned off, because it records use.
PEEK
A high-performance thermoplastic — stiffer and more heat-resistant than PEI, often near-white to tan. Light and muted in feel, used where a tough non-metal is wanted.
Polish
Abrading a surface progressively finer until it reflects like a mirror. Shows every mark, so it is often reserved for harder alloys or accent facets.
R
Rail / track
The channel a slider’s carriage runs in. Its straightness, width, and surface finish decide whether travel feels tight and guided or loose and rattly.
Raw / as-machined
Left in the state the cutting tool produced it — unfinished, often showing tool marks. An honest, industrial look that ages quickly.
Ratchet
A mechanism that allows movement one direction while blocking the reverse, using a pawl riding over a toothed wheel or rack. In fidgets it gives directional, repeating clicks rather than a free two-way slide.
Restock
A repeat run of a previously sold-out object. Not guaranteed, and sometimes the only second chance at a closed batch.
S
Satin
A fine, soft sheen sitting between polished and matte — reflects light gently without becoming a mirror. Often a directional brush.
Slider
An object whose defining action is a carriage travelling linearly back and forth. The resistance and clicks along the way come from magnets, detents, or both.
Mechanism note → · Seen in Gene Capsule, Maze Block
Snap
The sudden magnetic close at the end of travel, as two magnets pull the last gap shut — the punctuation at the end of a slide.
Sound profile
A structured account of an object’s acoustic character: pitch, volume, and the shape of the click or ring.
Spin time
How long a spinner keeps rotating from a single push — a rough proxy for bearing quality and balance, not the whole story.
Spinner
An object whose defining action is rotation around a bearing. At the high end the spin is only the start — the body may open, shift, or perform as it turns.
Mechanism note → · Seen in Dark Spinner, Blue Bird
Spring
An elastic element that stores energy when deflected and returns it. In sliders it loads the detent ball or returns the carriage; spring rate is part of how firm a click feels.
Stainless steel
A hard, dense, corrosion-resistant iron alloy. Heavy and durable, with a cooler ring and more inertia than titanium — common where mass is the point.
Stonewash
Tumbling the finished part with abrasive media to produce a worn, low-sheen surface that scatters light and disguises future scratches.
T
Timascus
Titanium “damascus” — layers of titanium alloys diffusion-bonded and worked so heat colouring reveals a flowing, multi-tone pattern. Lighter than steel damascus, with colour from heat rather than etching.
Titanium also: Ti
Light, strong, corrosion-resistant — the default premium fidget metal. Takes heat and anodised colour, machines to crisp edges, and feels warm and light for its size.
Tolerance
The precision of fit between moving parts. Tight tolerance reads as smooth and quiet; loose tolerance rattles and feels cheap.
Travel
The distance a moving part covers from one limit to the other — short and snappy, or long and deliberate.
Tritium
Sealed glass vials of tritium gas, coated inside with phosphor, that glow continuously without charging as the gas decays. Inset into some objects as always-on glow; the glow dims over years.
U
Ultem / PEI
A high-performance amber thermoplastic (polyetherimide; Ultem is the brand name). Light, warm, and quieter than metal, with a softer click — the hobby’s “plastic that isn’t cheap.”
Z
Zirconium also: Zirc
A dense, hard metal that can be heat-treated to a deep black-blue, ceramic-like surface. Heavier and more dramatic than titanium, prized for the colours flame brings out.