Maker: Frits Kaan
Around 6 months ago Henk Kaan made an improved solenoid motor based on my original design. Then his brother Frits made his version nearly entirely of wood (apart from the flywheel which is brass, with a wooden cover).
About the used materials:The ‘dark wooden pieces’ have been made from ‘Padouk’.
The ‘light wooden pieces’ have been made from ‘Koto’ and ‘Maple’
- Cylinder – Padouk, Flanges Koto
- Piston – Maple
- Cylinder support – Padouk.
- Drilled 8x 2mm holes in it to fit 8 nails to improve magnetism.
- Coil – covered with half a shell of galvanized steel. D=30 d=27
- then this cover – covered with half a shell of Koto. D=34 d=30
And indeed: the crankshaft runs in two hidden ball bearings and it runs as fast as his alu brother.
A drawing of the crankshaft section:
- A – decorative ring – Maple – 48 x 36 x 5 with chamber 42 x 3
- B – sleeve for flywheel – Padouk – 42 x 21 with chamber 36 x 19
- C – flywheel – brass – 36 x 19 – shaft H6 – with chamber 26 x 6
- D – crankshaft – brass – L1=12×6 / L2=3×8 / L3=15×6 / L4=9×4. Ltot=39 mm. Hole M3 x 5
- E – decorative ring – Maple – 48 x 42 x 5
- F – ball bearing housing – Padouk – 24 x 19 x 4. Glued to upright chassis.
- G – ball bearing 19 x 6 x 6. (SKF 626) 2 pcs. (1 pcs caused wobbling of the shaft)
- H – upright chassis – Padouk – thickness 10 mm – rest according to drawing
- J – sleeve – Padouk – 10 x 6 x 3
- K – cam – Maple – according to drawing
- L – crank – Maple – thick 6 mm – hole 8 x 3 – crankpin at 15 mm
- M – crankpin – Maple – 5 x 13
- N – chassis base – Padouk – thickness 10 mm – rest according to drawing
The inspiration to make the solenoid motor came from my brother. He showed me ‘his solenoid motor’ and encourage me to make one too.
Why wood? Well, a few years ago I made a wooden clock. (Based on drawings of Brian Law’s Wooden Clocks, https://www.woodenclocks.co.uk). I made the wheels of this clock from Padouk with teeths from Koto. And once I also made two violins. Many parts of a violin are from Maple.
I had no aluminium but plenty of remainders Padouk, Koto and Maple. Besides that, the dark and light wooden pieces give the motor a nice appearance. So I decided to make a ‘wooden version’.
I added the decorative rings to give the flywheel a fancy look.
Single Piston Solenoid Motor Plan
Here we have a pdf download of the plan for the Single Piston Solenoid Motor. An electric motor with a difference. The power output is low, but the action and the sound are fantastic. You can use this as a starting point for a more optimised design or for a multi-piston design.