Print PDF
Favorite
Email
If you wanna build something high tech, truly scary, cheap, and relatively easy for Halloween, this Steampunk Tesla CD Turbine is it! It uses recycled CD's, Neodymium magnets and a Magnetic Coupling to power tools and implements.
You can order the BEST neodymium super-magnets here:
http://www.kjmagnetics.com/default.asp?PARTNER=mrfixitrick
From experience, I can tell you that it's scary enough to be running a high-speed turbine made from recycled CD's, supermagnets and glue. But running it with a magnetically-coupled Skilsaw blade, now that's TRULY scary! I would not advise anyone to try this. I only did it to prove a point or two, and they haven't quite made this alien technology safe yet.
This Tesla CD Turbine incorporates many subtle and amazing feaures, such as shaftless, bearingless, magnet-separated CD discs driving magnetically-coupled attachments to high speed.(huh?) More on that later.
The CD Turbine works on either compressed air or water pressure. It's cheap and easy to put together, lots of fun and makes cool sounds to boot.
Pumpkin Cuttin' Ceremony with the CD Turbine.
However, the PumpkinCutter Skilsaw Blade Attachment has a big element of danger ...for both people and pumpkins! Don't use it!!...I only use the Saw to draw attention to the wonderful attributes and power of this little CD Turbine device, and things got a little out of hand. I promise to never, hardly ever, do it again. (There was an unrehearsed Pumpkin Cuttin' Ceremony on Halloween, of course...hehe)
I have discovered that this is not a project to take lightly. (With humour, but not lightly.) Under water pressure the Tesla CD Turbine spins a couple of thousand rpm, but under air pressure it is a high-speed dangerous device that must be treated with utmost respect.
Lets remember, folks, this thing is just a CD case, CD's, and magnets. And glue. Lots of glue. (...and keep telling yourself that when you see the magnetically-coupled PumpkinCutter Skilsaw Attachment smoothly wailing away at way-too-high rpm!!)
This device is built for working demonstration purposes; to prove ideas, not for longevity and everyday use. Hence the danger factor. (i.e. yes, things could self-destruct at any time...hehe)
I can really only recommend building one of these with the PumpkinCutter Attachment if you are a truly dedicated experimenter, and promise to wear your suit-of-armour and carry a shield, and cower behide a far-off wall.
We can, however, make a "point" to have some real fun with something a little less on the leading "edge", so to speak. So I suggest to perhaps substitute a Nerf disc for the sawblade! or use a Frisbee! maybe make a CD Turbine-powered Frisbee Impeller?
Hi-Speed Testing of the Tesla CD Turbine
You can order the BEST neodymium super-magnets here:
http://www.kjmagnetics.com/default.asp?PARTNER=mrfixitrick
From experience, I can tell you that it's scary enough to be running a high-speed turbine made from recycled CD's, supermagnets and glue. But running it with a magnetically-coupled Skilsaw blade, now that's TRULY scary! I would not advise anyone to try this. I only did it to prove a point or two, and they haven't quite made this alien technology safe yet.
This Tesla CD Turbine incorporates many subtle and amazing feaures, such as shaftless, bearingless, magnet-separated CD discs driving magnetically-coupled attachments to high speed.(huh?) More on that later.
The CD Turbine works on either compressed air or water pressure. It's cheap and easy to put together, lots of fun and makes cool sounds to boot.
Pumpkin Cuttin' Ceremony with the CD Turbine.
However, the PumpkinCutter Skilsaw Blade Attachment has a big element of danger ...for both people and pumpkins! Don't use it!!...I only use the Saw to draw attention to the wonderful attributes and power of this little CD Turbine device, and things got a little out of hand. I promise to never, hardly ever, do it again. (There was an unrehearsed Pumpkin Cuttin' Ceremony on Halloween, of course...hehe)
I have discovered that this is not a project to take lightly. (With humour, but not lightly.) Under water pressure the Tesla CD Turbine spins a couple of thousand rpm, but under air pressure it is a high-speed dangerous device that must be treated with utmost respect.
Lets remember, folks, this thing is just a CD case, CD's, and magnets. And glue. Lots of glue. (...and keep telling yourself that when you see the magnetically-coupled PumpkinCutter Skilsaw Attachment smoothly wailing away at way-too-high rpm!!)
This device is built for working demonstration purposes; to prove ideas, not for longevity and everyday use. Hence the danger factor. (i.e. yes, things could self-destruct at any time...hehe)
I can really only recommend building one of these with the PumpkinCutter Attachment if you are a truly dedicated experimenter, and promise to wear your suit-of-armour and carry a shield, and cower behide a far-off wall.
We can, however, make a "point" to have some real fun with something a little less on the leading "edge", so to speak. So I suggest to perhaps substitute a Nerf disc for the sawblade! or use a Frisbee! maybe make a CD Turbine-powered Frisbee Impeller?
Hi-Speed Testing of the Tesla CD Turbine
Remove these ads by
Signing UpStep 1Start with the Basic Tesla CD Turbine
See my previous Instructable on building the basic Tesla Cd Turbine, (see picture below)
Extra parts in this project will be the Magnetic Disc Pack, the Magnetic Coupler, the Blade (use cardboard or foam unless you are crazy like me.) and miscellaneous brass parts to give the SteamPunk look and feel.
You can orderthe BEST neodymium super-magnets here.
Extra parts in this project will be the Magnetic Disc Pack, the Magnetic Coupler, the Blade (use cardboard or foam unless you are crazy like me.) and miscellaneous brass parts to give the SteamPunk look and feel.
You can orderthe BEST neodymium super-magnets here.
| « Previous Step | Download PDFView All Steps | Next Step » |
A metal-cutting disc like welders use, would work much better.
Actually, using the correct tool instead of this hot-glued together contraption would be a whole lot safer!! (but not nearly as awesome!)
Tesla really believed that his turbine would "make scrap of all the heat engines of the world" ! (...and maybe it will someday ;)
Does the water enter the system along the outer rim of the turbine (the CD) and drain inward towards the spindle or does it go in at the spindle and flow out along the CDs?
In the Tesla Turbine, the fluid enters the outer rim at high pressure and velocity, and exits out the centre (spindle) exhaust hole, imparting its energy while passing through the discs. The discs behave like a motor.
In the Tesla Pump, fluid enters the centre inlet (or spindle) and exhausts at higher pressure at the outer rim. In this case, the discs are driven by a motor.
Wouldn't it still work; but there should now be allot less g-force on the magnets like when they are on the rim as before?
Might allow higher rpms before failure?
Also, some of the devices I run require a higher torque than inner-mounted disc magnets can provide. The torque delivered by the magnets before slippage is determined by the radius and number of magnets.
(see "Tesla CD Turbine Test Combining Air And Water" )
The CD container can take up to 120 psi, but any restriction on the output exhaust will cause her to blow, capt'n! As I found out in one of the following movie..."Tesla CD Turbine Bursts on Kitchen Table"
I tried a paint-ball canister briefly; it worked, but needed a proper regulator to control it.
A proper Tesla Turbine can burn any fuel, or run on any source of pressure. The disc turbine design is the only type of turbine that can do this.
Instead of using the impeller made one using high temp S.Steel disks and see how fast it will spin?
You could use an output shaft with a gearbox to gear it down.
Or use the output gasses from a converted turbocharger to run the tesla turbine?
I have a goal to build such a turbine in the near future.
Ceramic nanocarbon discs are best, but very expensive.
My turbine will be able to run off the gasses produced from a plasma furnace combustor. It will be virtually pollution-free, and in best case scenario will require no exhaust pipe.
I expect to build a Tesla turbine that has no bearings, no shaft and no seals to contend with. Now there's a challenge!