how to make a simple spinning motor

Step 1: Gathering materials

you will need:

2 thick rubber bands.
A magnet.
2 jumbo paper clips.
small dowel rod 3/4" diameter.
sandpaper, medium grit.
connecting wire.
wire strippers.
24 gauge magnet wire, about 50".
D-cell battery.
packing foam about 2X2" and 3/4" deep.
stiff piece of straw about 2" long.

Comments

[Skarz88]

I'm replying to an old post I know but is there a way of using DC mains power rather than a battery? I want the thing to spin as a sort of desk curiosity, like newtons cradle and those type of things. Would a laptop USB cable power it safely and not short out my computer?

[tyty100]

i made one of these a while ago and i used the wire from a small electric motor out of a toy car with a bad battery. it worked great but i was using a wall dc adaptor for power (12v) which burned the coating off of the other side of the wire and failed the motor... it sure was a fast little thing when it worked though!!

[Phil B]

These are sometimes called a Beekman's Motor or a Ten Minute Motor. I made one once by soldering two "J" hooks of heavier bare copper wire to the ends of a "C" battery. The battery had a case of ferrous metal, so I simply stuck a ceramic doughnut magnet to the bottom side of the battery. Then I hung the coiled wire armature in the "J" hooks and started it spinning. It was simple and compact with a minimum of parts. My coil was about 3/8 inch in diameter. I think it had 15 to 20 turns of wire. I used hot glue to hold the coil together. The difficult part was getting the axle ends to line up on the same center. I made the motor as a demonstration item for smaller children.

I wish some of your photos had been in sharper focus. Thanks for posting.

[chessman908]

Yeah sorry about that I had to use an old camera for some of the pictures. :(