Posted by Jeff (216.12.50.210) on January 22, 2003 at 15:57:42:
In Reply to: Bad news posted by Terrence Lee on January 21, 2003 at 23:39:02:
: To all:
: I got a wheel to work today. I believe it is very similar to Besslers's. However , they way in which it functions will never be anything more than a novelty. Please keep persuing the ideas that aren't like Bessler's. Perhaps one of them will be doable.
: The wheel i got to work, was arrived at by reading the eyewitness accounts many times. It matches nearly all observations that I have read.
: Oh, you want to know how it works I suppose.
: It's quite like many first attempts- where weighted levers fall over the top. Of course these don't over balance as would be hoped. Besslser's had really just a slight modification to this which made it "successful".
: "The swinging of the weights":
: As the weight comes past center, it's momentum on striking"a slightly warped board" causes it to "bounce" to a higher plain- farther from the axis. It will actually bounce somewhat uphill. To achieve this I had about a 20 degree swing hitting on an angled board (about 30 degrees). The pivot for the lever had a slotted hole of about one inch long. This apparatus was very crude, as it was just to investigate the possibility. However I easily got about an inch of outward movement-on a three foot wheel! On the raising side of the wheel , the weighs "fall" back toward center, also on an angled board.
: A little simpler construction method is to put a curve on the end of the lever, such that when it strikes a post it glances off in the desired direction. I cut them out of 3/8 plywood- they sort of resemble hockey sticks. To get the most "bounce" you want the lever to be as light as possible and weight to be at the very end of it."Toward outside of wheel"
: The wheel started with a slow turn- just enough to position the weights properly. Because it was crude it would go more than a minute without something going wrong- I never even mounted the bearing solid, they were just sitting holes!
: As I watched how it worked and how it matched all descriptions I came to be sure it worked on the same priniples as Bessler's. Then I realized that all this tinkering for the last week was for nothing. I did have some fun though. I like mental exercise.
: I will not be pursuing this design anymore as it is of NO USE. Because of violent nature of the hammering"which is essential" you would spend more energy building and rebuilding than you could get out of it.
: If you decide to build one anyway just visualize what happens if you stand a hammer on it's handle and then knock it over. It goes a distance past where it struck, in the direction it fell. After you've got it going, reread the eyewitness accounts and see if you don't agree that this is the solution.
: Thanks to all previous posters for many wonderful ideas.
: Terry
Terry,
Don't give up on this design. It may take many tries and changes to perfect. This group may be able to come up with suggestions that could change your one minute rotation into an 8 hour or 54 day run period. Please draw a sketch of your design, take it to a library or a friend, scan it to jpg and send it to Scott to post. Your design sounds like the weight is fixed solid to the lever arm. What if the weight could rotate at the end of the arm? Put a pivot near the bottom of the weight. When striking the warped board, instead of moving the entire arm/weight assembly outward it would instead rotate only the weight outward. Perhaps the weight could be attached to the arm with a chain, so that when it struck the warped board it would "creep out of the kennel just as far as the chain will stretch". Another thought I have in mind is something like a "blow tickler" (those toy horns used at birthday parties that roll out when you blow and retract by themselves) that would be spring loaded. When the weight strikes, it "rolls" outward and hooks on the rim. When the wheel rotates and the weight reaches the nadir point a "catch" would release and the weight would roll back (retract) to the initial point on the arm. Then the arm and weight assembly could "fall back" on the raising side