How to Make a Simple Spinning Motor

Intro: 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.

STEP 2: Making the Coil

First wind the magnet wire tightly around the dowel leaving about 2" excess on each end.
remove the dowel, you should have a spring-like coil.(see pics)

STEP 3:

Now sand the top half of each end well. (it should shine)
do not sand the bottom half!
Then take the magnet and the packing foam and lay the magnet on top.
Now take your jumbo paper clips and unfold each one.(see pics)
then stick the paper clips halfway into the packing foam.

STEP 4:

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. :(