Electromagnetic Motor Legacy Project

In this intractable, you will be laser cutting, printing, screwing, testing, and creating your very own electromagnetic motor.

Supplies

Materials:

• AC Power Motor / DC Power Motor (Either Or)
• 3D Printer
• Laser Printer
• Hot Glue Gun
• Hot Glue Stick
• 3mm MDF wood
• 3mm Acrylic Board
• 3D Printing Filament
• Copper Wire
• Magnets
• Neodymium Magnet
• 12 3mm wide 1.5 inch long Screws
• 12 3mm Nuts
• Non Conductive 6 inch long, 1 inch wide staff (For touching the copper wiring so user does not get shocked)
• Wire Stripper
• 3 Inch Diameter Wooden Cyllinder

Step 1: Creating the Baseplates

To start off this project, the bottom and top plate for the electromagnetic motor must be produced. In order to do this, one must get both the acrylic and MDF boards.

Then one must put the plywood (SIZE) board into the laser printer and load the provided adobe illustrator file. From here, level, size, and format the laser printer to cut 3mm MDF wood. Now laser cut the MDF base plate. This will serve as the bottom of the two plates. Meaning the acrylic plate will sit on top.

Note: Ensure That Laser Printer Ventilation Fans Are Turned On Before Use

Upon creation of the MDF base plate, re-configure the laser printer in order for it to be able to cut acrylic and place the (SIZE) acrylic board inside. Repeat the process of levelling, sizing, and formatting the laser printer and cut out the same Adobe Illustrator file. This piece will serve as the top of the two base plates.

Note: For All Steps, Images Will Be Provided For The Look Of The Final Product Of Each Specific Step

Step 2: Creation of the Bottom and Middle Lightning Studs

After creating the baseplates, one must create stoppers that raise the baseplate from the ground and create separation between the MDF and Acrylic plates.

In order to do this, take the 3D printable STL file provided in this step and print out 8 separate lightning bolt studs. Four will be placed on the bottom of the MDF board and will raise the project into the air by 1 inch and the final four will create a gap in between the acrylic and the MDF board.

Note: There Will Be A Hole In The Middle Of Each Lightning Bolt --> This Is To Screw Them Into The Boards

Step 3: Assembling the Base Plate and Studs

Upon the creation of the MDF base plate, acrylic base plate, and all 8 lightning bolt studs, the base of the project must now be created.

To do this, take 4 of the 8 lightning bolt studs and place them underneath the corners of the acrylic plate. There is a specific screw hole clearly displayed on the base plate for these to be places. Then take four 3mm, 1.5 inch screws and screw through the acrylic board and through the lightning bolt studs. Do this with the 4 lightning bolts through the 4 corners of the acrylic plate.

Now screw this through the four corners of the MDF base plate. From here they should be tightly held together with the lightning bolt stud in between creating a gap. Now, take the remaining four lightning bolt studs and twist them onto the screws that are sticking out of the bottom of the MDF base plate. Once these are fastened tightly, they will act as a stopper and a height raiser for the base of the entire project.

The creation of the base plate is now complete.

Note: Look At Images For Guidance If Need Be

Step 4: Printing the Motor Mounts and Magnetic Table Mount

After the creation of the base of the project, the mounts that hold the copper wiring and the magnet holder must now be 3D printed.

To do this, take the two files provided and 3D print the miniature table and the two motor mounts according to their file names.

Now that these two pieces are produced we can move onto wiring the motor mount.

Step 5: Wiring the Motor Mount

In order to wire the motor mount several objectives must be achieved.

First of all, obtain a 12 inch long piece of wiring and use the wire strippers to strip 3 inches of protective coating off one side of the wire. From here, insert the stripped part of the wire into the side of the motor mount through the square shaped entrance hole and push it as far in as it will go.

In order to fasten the wire in so that it does not fall out, heat and prepare your hot glue gun for use. Once this is done, while holding the wire in, inject hot glue through the injection hole on the top of the mount.

Note: It Is Recommended To Inject Hot Glue For 15 Seconds

After the glue is injected and it is dried, the wire for the motor mount will be secured within the motor.

Repeat this process for the second motor to wire it into full functionality.

Note: Do Not Push This Wire Through The Spherical Hole In The Wide Side Of The Motor, That Is Used For The Copper Wiring

Step 6: Creating the Copper Circle

In order to produce the copper circle, the part of the project that acts as the electromagnetic motor since it does the moving, gather the copper wiring and the 3 inch in diameter wooden cylinder.

From here, preform 10 tight rotations around the cylinder of copper wiring in order to produce a tight circle of copper wiring. Ensure to leave 4 inches of straight wire on both sides of the circle

Note: This Copper Wire Along With The 4 Inches Of Straight Wire Will Be Displayed Within The Image Of This Step

From here, one must gather the sand paper in order to sand certain parts of the copper wire.

Once the wire is molded and the sandpaper is collected, you will have to sand down the left and right straight sides of the copper wire. With the first side that you choose, regardless of it being the left or right, fully sand down the entirety of the straight part of the copper wire. With the opposite side to this, it is very important that you only sand down half of the wire, meaning either the top or bottom half. This can be accomplished by placing the copper wire down in a surface and sanding the entire visible side without rotating it.

Now the copper wire is complete and ready for implementation into the project.

Step 7: Attatching the Motor Mount to the Board

After the base boards have been completely built and the motor mounts have been wired, you are now ready to attatch the motor mounts to the base.

To do this, take the remaining 8 screws and their corresponding nuts and screw the motor mounts into the middle of the board into the clearly cut out and labelled screw holes. There is a hole for each of the four corners of the motor mounts and each mount has a built in screw hole.

So, screw 4 screws into each mount and through the two connected boards and fasten them with a nut on the very bottom. This will fasten the motor mounts to the board and allow you to move on to the next step which is installing the main part of the electromagnetic motor, the copper wiring.

Step 8: Attaching the Copper Wiring to the Motor Mounts

Now, with the fully assembled base plate and motor mounts, you have to install the copper wiring.

In order to do this, you have to take the strait side of the copper wiring, it doesn't matter which one, and insert it through the circular hole on the inside of the motor mount. When doing this, ensure that the copper wiring lays on top of the electrical wiring previously placed into the motor mount, this will allow an electrical current to flow into the copper wire from the electrical wiring. After this is accomplished, repeat the same thing for the opposite side of the copper wiring and ensuring that it too sits above the electrical wiring in the motor mount.

Note: Ensure That The Straight Aspects Of The Copper Wire Are As Strait As Possible

To ensure that the straight parts of the copper wiring are as strait as possible, once placed into the apparatus, you should be able to flick the circular part of the copper wiring and it should spin.

If this does not occur, take the copper wire out and attemt to straighten out the wiring as much as possible, if not this re-make the copper wiring and keep in mind the straight ends have to be as straight as possible.

Step 9: Placing the Magnetic Table and Introducing the Magnet Into the System

Once everything is screwed in and all of your pieces are printed and attached. You must take the miniature table and place it in the middle of the baseplate, in between the two motor mounts, as shown in the images. Once this is done, add the magnets on top just as shown in the image. Any type of neodymium magnet will work.

NOTE: Make sure the magnet is not too large and that it does not interfere with or touch the copper wire that will be spinning

Step 10: Testing the Final Product

Once everything is accomplished, once must plug in each wire to a AC or DC power supply.

NOTE: The charge of each side of the wire does not matter, just ensure one side is positive and the other is negative

Now, turn the power supply on and up to 6 volts.

NOTE: 6V is the maximum amount of volts recommended for this apparatus, any further volts could result in sparking and damage

Now to initiate the motor, one must flick push the copper wire in the direction they wish it to spin in, use a non conductive substance for this to ensure no shocking occurs. And now watch your project spin and work!

Thank you for learning, tinkering, and creating this homemade electromagnetic motor!

Step 11: Science Behind the Project

The science behind electromagnetic motors and electromagnetism is quite complex but it will be simplified for the intent of this project

In the homemade electromagnetic motor that we developed, the science revolves around fundamental principles of electromagnetism. The coiled copper wire, when connected to some sort of power supply, becomes an electromagnet. This is because, when current flows throughout the coil, a magnetic field is generated. With this, a strategically placed magnet underneath the coiled copper wire will allow a dynamic interaction of moving magnetic forces to occur. According to Alexander Fleming's left hand rule, the magnetic field produced by the coil interacts with the magnetic field produced by the magnet and produces a rotational force due to the coils current. This force drives a circular motion within the coiled wire, resulting in a simple, but fascinating electromagnetic motor apparatus. The connection between magnetic fields and electric current in this project showcases the synergy between fundamental electrical and magnetic principles all in this DIY Electromagnetic motor.

Thanks for looking at my project!

Sources

The last image used showcasing a diagram of electromagnetism and the properties of the electromagnetic motor (The only unoriginal source) : https://byjus.com/physics/the-electric-motor/