Home-made Electrical ApparatusMorgan, Alfred Powell
Science
Home-made Electrical Apparatus
Morgan, Alfred Powell
Electric apparatus and appliances -- Amateurs' manuals
*The Flywheel*. It may be possible to secure a flywheel for the engine
from some old toy. It should be about three and one-half inches in
diameter. A flywheel can be made out of sheet iron or steel by following
the suggestion in Figure 151, which shows a wheel cut out of one-eighth
inch sheet steel. It is given the appearance of having spokes by boring
six three-quarter inch holes through the face as shown. The hole in the
centre of the wheel should be one-eighth of an inch in diameter. The
wheel is slipped over the shaft and fastened in position by soldering.
The parts are now all ready to assemble into the complete engine. Mount
the electromagnets in the frame and fasten the frame down to the wooden
base so that one end of the frame comes practically flush with the left
hand edge of the base. Fasten the bearing across the frame at right
angles by a screw passing through the centre hole in the bottom of the
bearing, through the hole A and into the base. The bottom of the bearing
should be bent slightly so as to straddle the frame. The bearings should
be secured and prevented from turning or twisting by two screws passed
through the other two holes in the bottom. Use round-headed wood screws
in mounting the bearing and the frame. The armature bearing should be
mounted on the frame directly between the two electromagnets. Then place
the armature in position by slipping a piece of one-sixteenth inch brass
rod through the bearing holes and the hole in the lower part of the
armature.
[Illustration: FIG. 151.—A Flywheel may be cut from sheet iron.]
Solder the flywheel in position on the shaft and snap the latter into
the bearings. Adjust the bearings so that the shaft will turn freely.
The connecting rod should be slipped over the shaft before it is placed
in the bearings. Fasten the other end of the connecting rod to the
armature by means of a piece of one-sixteenth inch brass rod which
passes through the small holes bored for that purpose. When the flywheel
is spun with the fingers, the armature should move back and forth
between the two electromagnets and almost but not quite touch the two
magnet poles. All the moving parts should be fitted firmly together but
be free enough so that there is no unnecessary friction and so that the
engine will continue to run for a few seconds when the flywheel is spun
with the fingers.
The brushes, supported on their fibre block should be mounted on the
bearing by means of two screws passing through the holes in the bearing
into the block. The position of the brushes should be such that the
shaft passes between the two upper ends but does not touch them unless
the small contact crank mentioned above is in proper position to do so.
The proper adjustment of the brushes, so that they make contact with the
shaft at the proper moment, will largely determine the speed and power
which the finished engine will develop.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account