What is the longest your wheel has ever ran

[Jon J Hutton]

This sounds a bit ridiculous but I am just curious, what is the closest we have gotten to pm so far. So brag on yourself but be honest. What is the longest your wheel has ran and how many revolutions is the best that you have done so far.

JJH

[Fletcher]

My basic wheel test frame [no internals] is very well balanced to within about 2 grams at an outside radius of 2 1/2 feet & weighs about 60 lbs. When I give it a hefty spin it keeps revolving for about 9 minutes before it finally stops.

All wheel attempts I have built achieve greater than one complete revolution with a push start - the more mechs I have the quicker it stops. With no push start they keeled & didn't get thru one rev or even one segment - truth is harsh ;)

[rlortie]

Jon,

IMO you should rephrase your question! To simply ask how many revolutions is not fair!

A perfectly balanced wheel of smooth aerodynamic design supported by oversize low friction bearings will turn for a long time after receiving a little push to start it.

A wheel that is designed to be out of balance will also vary by balance ratio or gradient of weight differential. As an example I refer you to Darrel's infamous design.

The most turns I have ever received from a wheel that showed pulsating acceleration between pulses of retarding was 11 turns. The longest time span I have had a wheel turn is 145 seconds. This is real world not simmulation.

Ralph

[evgwheel]

Hi Fletcher
Flecher wrote

My basic wheel test frame [no internals] is very well balanced to within about 2 grams at an outside radius of 2 1/2 feet & weighs about 60 lbs.

Is that the wheel you would use to attached other levers, springs, weights, paths etc. on? More like a template? In other words, you made it to suit attachments?

[Fletcher]

Absolutely evg, here's a picture .. I think what Jon might want to know is if a wheel is cocked to its highest torque position possible & released, how many revolutions or part thereof has it achieved. Now admittedly this will depend entirely on the design, the number of segments & whether the CoM of the wheel as a whole is getting lower with each successive revolution - weight driven grandfather clocks don't count ;)

[evgwheel]

With gear like that, you have just become my hero! and I don,t normally idealise anyone.

[Fletcher]

That's what my wife says ;)

A piece of mdf mounted on a axle will do for most testing unless you want to have the flexibility to swing weights thru where the axle would normally be [like I do occasionally].

Save your adoration for someone that gets a wheel to work ;)

[rmd3]

Fletcher, Nice setup. How fun!
evgwheel, you sound like a guitar player fan projecting into the world of PPM!

I bought a scroll saw a few years back and my wife was telling people how much I spent - and I was embarassed.... until she told them I was doing some "mad scientist" stuff... then I felt proud!!!! LOL

[Jon J Hutton]

Thanks ralph,

Good edit on my question. Great pictures too. I think that would be a farer question if I asked after releasing your wheel and allowing the mech built, to take over what is the max time and revs it runs....but from everyones discription we can kind of rule out the wheels that are perfectly ballaced such as a bycycle tire or a 400 pound wagon wheel. I would like to start a poll here to and ask how many wheels people have made and the average years people have been trying to solve this dang problem......thats as close as I get to cusing.

JJH

[rlortie]

Fletcher,

Nine minutes for a horizontal axis wheel is what I call balanced!

As for wheel spin time pertaining to gravity wheels I would not be surprised if that was not a record. Problem is how much effort was put into the starting push. The only way I can readily think of is for each member to compare is to sit a pre-measured weight at 12:00 and let it fall starting the wheel.

I have, I believe exceeded your nine minutes with my vertical axis, magnetically suspended Faraday wheel, but that does not fit in this category.

Ralph

[Fletcher]

Ralph .. you probably can't see from the picture but I do have a right arm the size of Thor's ;)

[Ant]

360 degree gravity wheel.

Over a long time I brought brass bars, cutting them drilling them and increasing their incrementing length, then re-scaling and starting again. I got to three arms to about 80 incrementing squares, which is on the video.

Realised the length of 111 though my magic square constant sharing study and the link with 111, the speed of light & 7².

Rather than rescale and spend resources I don't have, I tried to emulate the proportional displacement with a copy in MDF triangles blah blah blah...

I have time but not the resources to re-build. I have a theory on how, it fits with besslers wheel if you take weights as a red herring and swap the weight as reference to weight built into the linen covered mechanism. My single remaining intact arm weighs over a stone, got it in the shed... too late to go out an put it on scales... another time perhaps...

I don't think it is mechanically possible to displace solid mass weight round a rotation point on a planets surface.

I do sincerely believe the mass of nothing in and at the end of a frame - can by used harmonically within the constants of magic squares to produce rotation by oscillation.


The short answer from me...
I have a definite theory, I have not built it & I am unlikely to.

[graham]

Hey Fletcher, nice rig . Those bike wheels do have very good bearings don't they? No wonder it runs for such a long time.

Is that your apprentice crouching down by the wheel? He's a scruffy and shifty looking bugger. I'd keep a close eye on him if I were you.

Graham

[Fletcher]

I built that set up about 8 or 9 years ago & it does just fine so no need to rebuild it just for the sake of it - its fine for experiments - I originally took the bearings apart & repacked them with Lithium grease [the bike shop mechanic kind of looked at me funny when I said I wanted my wheels to run as freely as possible ;)] - never had to touch them since.

Gave the apprentice the day off - Rainer was trying out his new digi camera that day ;) - scruffy & shifty looking ? - when I left my corporate job 10 years ago now, the very next day I threw my watch away, burnt my ties & put the work clobber & shoes into the bermuda triangle of my walk in wardrobe - every now & then I have to go somewhere special & I try some of them on but they keep shrinking - as for the head of hair - I admit it's a bit long & needs a number one - I keep dying it grey but this brown stuff keeps coming thru.

Actually you are seeing me in my 'all year round' best casual stepping out ensemble - paint splashes on the top were no extra charge ;)

[graham]

I left my corporate job 10 years ago now, the very next day I threw my watch away, burnt my ties & put the work clobber & shoes into the bermuda triangle of my walk in wardrobe

So then you started a new career in the "Gravity Wheel Trade" Fletcher. How's business??

Graham