| Author | Message | ||
     David S |
hay simon can you or someone make plans on this sight for a Wimshurst Electrostatic Generator? these things look really kool but the price is so high. | ||
| David S. |
hellow anybody there????????????????? | ||
| Simon Quellen Field (Sfield) |
A Wimshurst machine might be fun, but they are less efficient than Van de Graaf generators, which is why you see more VDGs around. You can make a Wimshurst machine from a couple of old vinyl records and some aluminum foil. A hand crank will turn the disks. One disk is driven by a belt, and the other is driven by a belt with a twist, so it goes in the opposite direction. | ||
| David S |
kool do you think you can draw out plans for me | ||
| Simon Quellen Field (Sfield) |
There are plans for Wimshurst machines all over your local library. | ||
| David S |
yea i thought i cound get some off the internet but all i got was crummy photos which don't help me alot | ||
| annie |
hey simon, i'm trying to make the simple steam boat which uses the empty soda can, but i couldn't find the copper tubing as small as the one you made. i tried using the bigger one but it seemed to affect the speed. i'm trying to make a simple toy, one like the boat, but most of them on your site needs a lot of stuff that i couldn't find here. singapore. so please help or my teacher will kill me! thanks simon! | ||
| David S |
try homedepot or loes | ||
| Simon Quellen Field (Sfield) |
I am not aware of any Home Depot or Lowes stores in Singapore, but I am sure that they have air conditioners and refrigerators in Singapore, and thus have a need for 1/8 inch copper tubing. You might ask at a repair shop for appliances. You can buy 1/8 inch copper tubing online: "http://www.egauges.com/vdo_acce.asp?Subgroup=Copper_Tubing&Cart=". To use larger diameter tubing, scale everything up, including the heat source. Also, to get better efficiency, make the last straight part of the tubes (the open ends) longer. The longer and straighter, the more efficient, up to the point where friction with the tube walls overcomes any advantage of the extra water mass. | ||
| Anonymous |
A lot of model shops sell brass tube which is ok for the simple steam boat. | ||
| Simon Quellen Field (sfield) New member Username: sfield Post Number: 188 Registered: 12-2004 |
I have found that most brass tubing is much too stiff, and kinks when you try to bend it into a small circle. | ||
| Kyle O. Unregistered guest |
Yeah. I had a lot of trouble bending the tube. My dad warned me, but I thought that if you showed pictures of it, then that means I could bend the copper tubing. But the copper tubing kinked. Yes it was copper, not brass. | ||
| Simon Quellen Field (sfield) Senior Member Username: sfield Post Number: 266 Registered: 12-2004 |
The tubing used for refrigerators and sold at hardware stores is annealed to be soft and easy to bend. | ||
| Somebody (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 64.12.116.130 |
A trick to avoid kinks while bending tubing is to fill it with sand first. Hope this helps | ||
| mnado (Mnado) Senior Member Username: Mnado Post Number: 139 Registered: 12-2005 |
I made a more complicated steam boat. I'm lucky i found this small metal timble.I used that as the water container, and placed a bent copper tube about 135 degree angle,then covered it with foil, now its your problem on "how" to connect it to the boat.I did mine by simply pricking small hole a the center of the boat and inserting the tube,letting the timble to hang over the candle. |
