After seeing Rus's little pulse motor (his second entry) and seeing how simple it was I decided I wanted to build one like his. I've been working on the motor a couple days now and I had nothing but troubles with winding the 1" star coils. Thanks to Russ I was able to get one completed. Russ has asked that I post the build of this motor on the forum and so here it is.

So far I have the reed switches, the diodes, some magnets, and 1 star coil. The reed switches and diodes I ordered from mouser and the magnets I got from harbor freight. The tubes for mounting the coils I imagine will come from home depot but the rest of the stuff I don't have sourced yet.

I'm thinking about adding a solar panel to this motor and I just happen to have a 6v .5W panel from radio shack. I'm thinking of having it on there with a small supercap and see how long I can get it to run sitting on my desk at work.

I mentioned having troubles with the star coils... I had a lot of issues with the making of the coils and it got quite frustrating at times. I picked up a wrather large spool of 40awg magnet wire from a local scrap electronics store with the plans of unwinding some of it off onto sewing bobbins so that I could run two wires at the same time and to just make it easier to work with. I used my sewing machine to wind the bobbins but that took a lot of holding my toung right to get that to work. The trick ended up being to keep slack in the wire between the main spool and the tensioner on the sewing machine. Once I figured that out it seems to be working pretty good.

I had a bit of trouble with the mechanicle pencil and the paper clips holding the bobins onto the pencil. At first I tried to mimic what Russ had but I couldn't get that to work very good so I ended up using the paper clips and a small tube to hold the bobbins. I used scotch tape on the tube to control the tension on the wires. Here is a picture of the tube holding the bobbins
and here is a picture of the whole modified pencil.

The next issue I had was getting the wound coil off of the jig and this is where Rus was a great help. When I went to remove the pins from the board it would end up breaking one of the wires because I wasn't pulling it out strait. Russ suggested that I twist the pins while pulling them out to help break them free from the glue. This worked like a champ and allowed me to pull out the pins slowly and carefully.
Here is a picture of the jig with my second coil on it waiting on the glue to dry.

For the star pattern I used a free open source SVG program called Inkscape so that I could easily scale the design to whatever size I needed. I printed a bunch of them out and I'm planning on having jig where I can make 4 at a time. I want to be able to wind 4 of them, glue them and then let them dry so that when I pull out the pins I only have to do it once for 4 coils. Here is a picture to help explain what I mean.
4 jigs together

I'll post more information and pictures as the project progresses.

Thanks
John

Quote from Agastar on July 30th, 2012, 07:36 PM

After seeing Rus's little pulse motor (his second entry) and seeing how simple it was I decided I wanted to build one like his. I've been working on the motor a couple days now and I had nothing but troubles with winding the 1" star coils. Thanks to Russ I was able to get one completed. Russ has asked that I post the build of this motor on the forum and so here it is.

So far I have the reed switches, the diodes, some magnets, and 1 star coil. The reed switches and diodes I ordered from mouser and the magnets I got from harbor freight. The tubes for mounting the coils I imagine will come from home depot but the rest of the stuff I don't have sourced yet.

I'm thinking about adding a solar panel to this motor and I just happen to have a 6v .5W panel from radio shack. I'm thinking of having it on there with a small supercap and see how long I can get it to run sitting on my desk at work.

I mentioned having troubles with the star coils... I had a lot of issues with the making of the coils and it got quite frustrating at times. I picked up a wrather large spool of 40awg magnet wire from a local scrap electronics store with the plans of unwinding some of it off onto sewing bobbins so that I could run two wires at the same time and to just make it easier to work with. I used my sewing machine to wind the bobbins but that took a lot of holding my toung right to get that to work. The trick ended up being to keep slack in the wire between the main spool and the tensioner on the sewing machine. Once I figured that out it seems to be working pretty good.

I had a bit of trouble with the mechanicle pencil and the paper clips holding the bobins onto the pencil. At first I tried to mimic what Russ had but I couldn't get that to work very good so I ended up using the paper clips and a small tube to hold the bobbins. I used scotch tape on the tube to control the tension on the wires. Here is a picture of the tube holding the bobbins
and here is a picture of the whole modified pencil.

The next issue I had was getting the wound coil off of the jig and this is where Rus was a great help. When I went to remove the pins from the board it would end up breaking one of the wires because I wasn't pulling it out strait. Russ suggested that I twist the pins while pulling them out to help break them free from the glue. This worked like a champ and allowed me to pull out the pins slowly and carefully.
Here is a picture of the jig with my second coil on it waiting on the glue to dry.

For the star pattern I used a free open source SVG program called Inkscape so that I could easily scale the design to whatever size I needed. I printed a bunch of them out and I'm planning on having jig where I can make 4 at a time. I want to be able to wind 4 of them, glue them and then let them dry so that when I pull out the pins I only have to do it once for 4 coils. Here is a picture to help explain what I mean.
4 jigs together

I'll post more information and pictures as the project progresses.

Thanks
John

Good work there John.:cool:

Ok, I finally have the 4 coils built and tested. Now I just need to source some plexiglas and an old VCR.

Quote from Agastar on August 1st, 2012, 07:31 PM

Ok, I finally have the 4 coils built and tested. Now I just need to source some plexiglas and an old VCR.

any hardware store should have any.

also places like this:
www.professionalplastics.com

but wood or something like MDF would work just fine!  

keep it up john and thank for posting! always interesting for others to fallow along! :)

~Russ

Quote from ~Russ/Rwg42985 on August 2nd, 2012, 03:58 AM

Quote from Agastar on August 1st, 2012, 07:31 PM

Ok, I finally have the 4 coils built and tested. Now I just need to source some plexiglas and an old VCR.

any hardware store should have any.

also places like this:
www.professionalplastics.com

but wood or something like MDF would work just fine!  

keep it up john and thank for posting! always interesting for others to fallow along! :)

~Russ

Thanks, I like the look of the plastic but wood would be cheeper. Well, I still have to finish sourcing some parts so I guess the structure can wait.Here is some data on what I have so far.

The coils are 1" starship coils, bifiler wound with 40 awg magnet wire and they measure about 40 mOhm.
The diodes I'm using are the BAT42 Schottky diodes from Mouser.
The reed switches are also from Mouser and can be found here.

I've contacted a local electronics repair shop to see if they have a broken VCR that I could get cheep. I should know something today on that. If not I have an old hard drive that I've taken apart and I might try to use the platter and motor from that.

That's all for now, I'll post more later.
John

I forgot that I had some alumilite clear and some bracelet molds and it dawned on my this morning that I could cast a rotor for my magnets out of those. Here is a picture of the molds.

When they were done they looked like this and this.

I am using the bearing from the read head of one of the hard drives I took a part as the center bearing for the rotor and I used my wood lathe to try and true it up. I'm not real happy with it but I think it will work ok for low voltage tests. Here is a picture of it. I still need to drill the holes for the magnets and insert them.

Quote from Agastar on August 2nd, 2012, 10:17 PM

I forgot that I had some alumilite clear and some bracelet molds and it dawned on my this morning that I could cast a rotor for my magnets out of those. Here is a picture of the molds.

When they were done they looked like this and this.

I am using the bearing from the read head of one of the hard drives I took a part as the center bearing for the rotor and I used my wood lathe to try and true it up. I'm not real happy with it but I think it will work ok for low voltage tests. Here is a picture of it. I still need to drill the holes for the magnets and insert them.

That looks very good John, here is my casting method for aluminum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_18UHdlfM4&list=UU5MWkMsbXeqTSQGihR0is1Q&index=4&feature=plcp
and a lathe I build using castings I made. Just thought it would be of interest to you.
http://www.lindsaybks.com/index.html

Quote from Jeff Nading on August 3rd, 2012, 06:35 AM

Quote from Agastar on August 2nd, 2012, 10:17 PM

I forgot that I had some alumilite clear and some bracelet molds and it dawned on my this morning that I could cast a rotor for my magnets out of those. Here is a picture of the molds.

When they were done they looked like this and this.

I am using the bearing from the read head of one of the hard drives I took a part as the center bearing for the rotor and I used my wood lathe to try and true it up. I'm not real happy with it but I think it will work ok for low voltage tests. Here is a picture of it. I still need to drill the holes for the magnets and insert them.

That looks very good John, here is my casting method for aluminum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_18UHdlfM4&list=UU5MWkMsbXeqTSQGihR0is1Q&index=4&feature=plcp
and a lathe I build using castings I made. Just thought it would be of interest to you.
http://www.lindsaybks.com/index.html

Thanks for sharing the video I realy enjoyed watching it. Your shop might be small but it sure beats my one bedroom apartment. ;)

Quote from Agastar on August 3rd, 2012, 06:58 PM

Quote from Jeff Nading on August 3rd, 2012, 06:35 AM

Quote from Agastar on August 2nd, 2012, 10:17 PM

I forgot that I had some alumilite clear and some bracelet molds and it dawned on my this morning that I could cast a rotor for my magnets out of those. Here is a picture of the molds.

When they were done they looked like this and this.

I am using the bearing from the read head of one of the hard drives I took a part as the center bearing for the rotor and I used my wood lathe to try and true it up. I'm not real happy with it but I think it will work ok for low voltage tests. Here is a picture of it. I still need to drill the holes for the magnets and insert them.

That looks very good John, here is my casting method for aluminum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_18UHdlfM4&list=UU5MWkMsbXeqTSQGihR0is1Q&index=4&feature=plcp
and a lathe I build using castings I made. Just thought it would be of interest to you.
http://www.lindsaybks.com/index.html

Thanks for sharing the video I realy enjoyed watching it. Your shop might be small but it sure beats my one bedroom apartment. ;)

Thanks John glad you enjoyed it.:D

Quote from Agastar on August 2nd, 2012, 10:17 PM

I forgot that I had some alumilite clear and some bracelet molds and it dawned on my this morning that I could cast a rotor for my magnets out of those. Here is a picture of the molds.

When they were done they looked like this and this.

I am using the bearing from the read head of one of the hard drives I took a part as the center bearing for the rotor and I used my wood lathe to try and true it up. I'm not real happy with it but I think it will work ok for low voltage tests. Here is a picture of it. I still need to drill the holes for the magnets and insert them.

looking good john! as i allays say! use your resources! :)

Got some photos of the coils?

keep it up! looking good! ~Russ

Quote from ~Russ/Rwg42985 on August 4th, 2012, 03:07 AM

Quote from Agastar on August 2nd, 2012, 10:17 PM

I forgot that I had some alumilite clear and some bracelet molds and it dawned on my this morning that I could cast a rotor for my magnets out of those. Here is a picture of the molds.

When they were done they looked like this and this.

I am using the bearing from the read head of one of the hard drives I took a part as the center bearing for the rotor and I used my wood lathe to try and true it up. I'm not real happy with it but I think it will work ok for low voltage tests. Here is a picture of it. I still need to drill the holes for the magnets and insert them.

looking good john! as i allays say! use your resources! :)

Got some photos of the coils?

keep it up! looking good! ~Russ

Sure do!

Here are some pictures of the coils waiting to be mounted.
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3

Some time tonight I would like to drill the holes for the magnets to go into and if I can get that done I'll get some pictures of that up as well.

There might be a pause in the project in the next week because we're expecting our second child (due on the 10th) and we're moving into a bigger apartment and have to be out by the 10th as well. So, if you don't hear from me for a couple days you'll know why. ;)

Thanks
John

Quote from Agastar on August 4th, 2012, 01:24 PM

Quote from ~Russ/Rwg42985 on August 4th, 2012, 03:07 AM

Quote from Agastar on August 2nd, 2012, 10:17 PM

I forgot that I had some alumilite clear and some bracelet molds and it dawned on my this morning that I could cast a rotor for my magnets out of those. Here is a picture of the molds.

When they were done they looked like this and this.

I am using the bearing from the read head of one of the hard drives I took a part as the center bearing for the rotor and I used my wood lathe to try and true it up. I'm not real happy with it but I think it will work ok for low voltage tests. Here is a picture of it. I still need to drill the holes for the magnets and insert them.

looking good john! as i allays say! use your resources! :)

Got some photos of the coils?

keep it up! looking good! ~Russ

Sure do!

Here are some pictures of the coils waiting to be mounted.
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3

Some time tonight I would like to drill the holes for the magnets to go into and if I can get that done I'll get some pictures of that up as well.

There might be a pause in the project in the next week because we're expecting our second child (due on the 10th) and we're moving into a bigger apartment and have to be out by the 10th as well. So, if you don't hear from me for a couple days you'll know why. ;)

Thanks
John

Wow John, those are some nice looking coil you've made, and an early congrats on your wife having a baby:D:P.

Quote from Jeff Nading on August 4th, 2012, 06:14 PM

Quote from Agastar on August 4th, 2012, 01:24 PM

Quote from ~Russ/Rwg42985 on August 4th, 2012, 03:07 AM

Quote from Agastar on August 2nd, 2012, 10:17 PM

I forgot that I had some alumilite clear and some bracelet molds and it dawned on my this morning that I could cast a rotor for my magnets out of those. Here is a picture of the molds.

When they were done they looked like this and this.

I am using the bearing from the read head of one of the hard drives I took a part as the center bearing for the rotor and I used my wood lathe to try and true it up. I'm not real happy with it but I think it will work ok for low voltage tests. Here is a picture of it. I still need to drill the holes for the magnets and insert them.

looking good john! as i allays say! use your resources! :)

Got some photos of the coils?

keep it up! looking good! ~Russ

Sure do!

Here are some pictures of the coils waiting to be mounted.
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3

Some time tonight I would like to drill the holes for the magnets to go into and if I can get that done I'll get some pictures of that up as well.

There might be a pause in the project in the next week because we're expecting our second child (due on the 10th) and we're moving into a bigger apartment and have to be out by the 10th as well. So, if you don't hear from me for a couple days you'll know why. ;)

Thanks
John

Wow John, those are some nice looking coil you've made, and an early congrats on your wife having a baby:D:P.

Thanks!

In taking the pictures to post here I noticed that a few strands still need to be tacked down with some glue but over all I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out.

Ok, I got it drilled and the magnets put in. Here is a picture of it. Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to mount it and the coils too.

Thanks
John

Here's something I've been thinking about for a while and I'd like to pass it  by you guys and see what you think.

I've had an idea about a motor generator but I don't know how viable it would be. The idea is to have several disks arranged on a shaft with magnets pressed into the disks near the outer edges and coils for each magnet on both sides of the disks. Kinda like if you had several muller motors stacked together. And then a motor that would spin the shaft, get it up to speed and then the motor gets pulsed once every so many revolutions. Kinda like spinning a basketball on your finger, you have to get it going at first but then it only takes a few flicks to keep it going.

The question here is could you pulse the motor with a strong enough but short enough pulse to sustain several revolutions before needing to pulse again could those revolutions produce enough electricity to offset the cost of the sustain pulses?

I'm sure this has been tried but I thought I'd throw that out there and see what you guys thought.

Thanks
John