Laser cut Mendocino Motor

thingiverse

This is a magnet based polarized motor that "levitates as incandescent or sunlight hits the solar cells and takes bounces off the electrons from the sunlight to charge the copper wiring and make it magnetic. This process counter-acts with the other surrounding magnets and makes the motor persistently spin while in the air. Instructions You will need 3 of the same size rods, a fine tip on the end of the rod that will be touching the face of the side piece (i used a pen tip), 4 solar cells , a soldering iron and solder for it, a block to wrap wire around and solder cells to, the structure for the motor (base and sides) and most importantly the right size circular magnets to fit the rods that you are useing. The files below consist of .CST which is CutStudio, a program that comes free with Roland CAMM1 vinyl cutter found in many Fab Labs. Also the last file is .ODG which is Open Office Draw format, you can get it free online, great multi use tool for starting out with the laser cutter. Step 1. You take the files i have given, or any other altered base and rod holding sides and figure out where to space the magnets perfectly on the rod, wich you will need to be .375 inches in diameter to old the magnets( all pertaining to my model) Step 2. Once you have the physical model of the base and whatever is supporing your rods, you will now need to have a third rod ( the levetating rod) to hold the block of copper wrapping. (wich will be done in step 4). Step 3. When you have a working stationary model with your proper placement of magnets on the rods and making sure the space between the base rods are not to far appart then you need the block wich i lasercut from acrylic and put it together piece by piece all pressure fitted. Step 4. Now you will need to have the exact length of 100 feet. to0 do this you can find any object or cut a carboard box to be 4 inches by 1 foot and cut a groove on each side of the object that just hold the wire so you can wrap the wire horizontaly around the object. count to 100 wraps, be sure not to loose count because this is important. to hold the beggining wire you can just tape it to the object. Step 5. After, you wrap the wire from the object that you made to the block on the rod. you just drop the object holding the 100 wraps on the floor, take the end of the wire and start wrapping it around the block.Wrapping the motor with the magnet wire involves carefully wrapping the wire in the grooves around the block 100 times in sets of ten alternating on each side of the dowel. The wires are then labelled and confirmed with a continuity tester. Step 6. Solar cells are then glued and taped into place on the sides of the block. The cells on opposite sides are soldered to each other, front to back and front to back. Each end of a wrap wire is soldered to a connection of solar cells. Step 7. Place the motor in some sunlight and spin 1/4 backwards to see if it will take off! If you have any questions about the process please dont hesitate to ask! 8)