Hendershot Replications

[cris]

Just thought I would post an update. I've been through 30+ different variations so far and haven't had any positive results yet. I'm still mostly testing different materials and configurations.

The only things I can report so far is that HyMu 80 (very similar to Permalloy) works better than cold rolled steel or cast iron for the armature. I remember seeing the phrase "soft iron" for the armature in one of the documents but thought that meant non-steel, i.e. no carbon. It actually means magnetically soft iron, e.g. HyMu 80, Permalloy, and there are a few other brand names.

The spread between the ringer coils in relation to the center of the magnet does make a difference. Nearer the ends is giving me more though put.

Many more tests to do.

cold roll, via stamping - mould is expensive

[cris]

Hendershot Generator key secret hidden



Hendershot Generator key secret hidden

[thx1138]

Hendershot Generator key secret hidden

As far as I know, Mark Hendershot never got the build from which those photos are taken to work.

I don't know why they are such poor quality. Probably because they are copies of copies of copies. That's the same build as shown in color on the cover of
1994_-_Extraordinary_Science_-_cut.PDF file.
Extraordinary Science - Cut.pdf - Marea Sistemi Taken From Mareasistemi.com | Manual Make

[cris]

thx1138 sir!

As far as I know, Mark Hendershot never got the build from which those photos are taken to work.

I don't know why they are such poor quality. Probably because they are copies of copies of copies. That's the same build as shown in color on the cover of
1994_-_Extraordinary_Science_-_cut.PDF file.
Extraordinary Science - Cut.pdf - Marea Sistemi Taken From Mareasistemi.com | Manual Make

same as this one

but its not about the copy, all are discuss and studied but with this part of no detailed build and measurement, my poor English
you can find me mendozacris57@yahoo.com

[ProfessorTinkerer]

Question for all the builders

I have noticed that in looking at the various replications being attempted by builders, both on this forum and elsewhere, that there is always one area left undone: the paraffin wax sealing of the cap/coil assemblies. Doesn't anyone think this is an important aspect of recreating this design? Granted, it is a difficult process, having repeated the process myself several times, but I can't imagine Lester doing it "to just hold things together". IMO, there was a specific reason he performed this step and without wild speculation as to whatever else may be involved, it is an integral part of making this apparatus successful.

As many have heard the saying "90% preparation and 10% operation". It certainly applies to this final process in completing the design as it does render all the work performed up to that point - 'permanent'. It takes about a 10 qt. double-boiler type container half-full of wax and then to reverse the process, an oven with a large drip pan i.e an aluminum turkey pan to recycle the wax. After every attempt the caps must be rebuilt as the paper/foil wrap is contaminated with wax. I have a set of assemblies that are complete and well within the 2% margin, but still no results. I have noticed that they are particularly sensitive to atmospheric electrical activity from thunderstorms, though.

Just a question I thought I would toss out there. Anyone?

[Gazzasore]

Good point hopefully it will spark more interest here again

I have noticed that in looking at the various replications being attempted by builders, both on this forum and elsewhere, that there is always one area left undone: the paraffin wax sealing of the cap/coil assemblies. Doesn't anyone think this is an important aspect of recreating this design? Granted, it is a difficult process, having repeated the process myself several times, but I can't imagine Lester doing it "to just hold things together". IMO, there was a specific reason he performed this step and without wild speculation as to whatever else may be involved, it is an integral part of making this apparatus successful.

As many have heard the saying "90% preparation and 10% operation". It certainly applies to this final process in completing the design as it does render all the work performed up to that point - 'permanent'. It takes about a 10 qt. double-boiler type container half-full of wax and then to reverse the process, an oven with a large drip pan i.e an aluminum turkey pan to recycle the wax. After every attempt the caps must be rebuilt as the paper/foil wrap is contaminated with wax. I have a set of assemblies that are complete and well within the 2% margin, but still no results. I have noticed that they are particularly sensitive to atmospheric electrical activity from thunderstorms, though.

Just a question I thought I would toss out there. Anyone?

[cris]

ProfessorTinkerer

WHAT YOU ARE DOING IS CRITICAL TO THE OPERATION OF HENDERSHOT GENERATOR, IT DETERMINES IF DEVICE WILL WORK OR FAILS,
YOU CAN FIND ME mendozacris57@yahoo.com


CRIS

[thx1138]

I have noticed that in looking at the various replications being attempted by builders, both on this forum and elsewhere, that there is always one area left undone: the paraffin wax sealing of the cap/coil assemblies. Doesn't anyone think this is an important aspect of recreating this design?

Just a question I thought I would toss out there. Anyone?

I think it's important and here's why:
Dielectric Constants (k):
Paper (Dry) – 2.0
Paraffin – 1.9 to 2.5

http://www.kabusa.com/Dilectric-Constants.pdf

The drawings I've seen do not show an outer paper covering over the outer capacitor foil so the paraffin makes up part of the dielectric of the capcoil and is between the basket weave coils and in contact with the outer capacitor foil.

Also note the difference in wire insulation between the bottom winding of the cap coil and the top two windings. I'm almost certain that the top two windings use PCV insulation with a dielectric constant of 3.4 but I didn't find dielectric constant info for the lower magnet wire winding's insulation.

Edit: After looking at it again I'm not so sure about the paraffin affecting the capacitance. Presumably the paraffin would only contact the outer foil of the capacitor and that foil is not connected to anything in the circuit.

The paraffin might just be a non-rigid way to hold the capacitor physically in place while keeping the positioning somewhat adjustable. See the photo on page 28 of “From The Archives Of Lester J. Hendershot” by Mark Hendershot. It shows Lester "tuning" the device with what appears to be a C clamp which would be needed to compress the paraffin.

I'm thinking this might be able to be tested by removing the outer plastic coating from an electrolytic capacitor, placing it with the leads up in a small container like a PVC pipe cap and pouring paraffin into the cap. Measure the capacitance before and after pouring the paraffin. The outer aluminum casing of the electrolytic capacitor would be the same as the outer foil of capcoil capacitor.

[ProfessorTinkerer]

Some confusion

Quoted from Ed Skilling's account:

"The capacitors C1 & C2 are most difficult to build and are the critical key item to success or failure in producing results. The foil from two capacitors, Pyramid electrolytic TM 58, must be removed from the can that enclosures the foil by cutting the top or bottom off with a hack saw or other cutting device. The coiled foil is removed from the capacitors and spread out on a flat table. A TM 58 capacitor should measure, including foil and paper, 91 1/8 in. long and 2 ¾ in. wide. Wipe off excess electrolytic solution so that it is dry. One side of the paper holding the foil will be full length, the opposite side will be split with terminal connections appearing at each end of the split portion. The capacitors that were used in the early experiments had a gap between the split foil of ¾ of an inch."

"After insulating the cylinders, wrap the capacitor foil and paper around each of the cylinders. Start at one end with the long un-split foil on the inside and wrap the full length onto the cylinder. Secure the wrapped capacitor with a string or tape so that it will not unravel."

So, based on this description, one of the capacitor plates does indeed contact the paraffin wax. If the un-split foil is on the inside, the split foils are obviously on the outside of the wrap.

[ProfessorTinkerer]

Well, well.. no one ever came across this before?

"Due to high cost and scarcity of radium, the generator technology was abandoned in 1922 . Ten milligrams of radium cost more than a new automobile in the 1920s, and the world's entire 250 gram supply of radium would have supplied only a fraction of a year's auto production.

In 1928, Lester Hendershot of Pittsburgh duplicated Hubbard's generator and flew a model airplane (11), which impressed William B Stout, designer of the Ford Trimotor airplane. Col. Chas. A. Lindbergh of the U.S. Air Corps was also convinced of this fuelless generator (12), but the technology was abandoned again because it was too expensive. Later, when the price of radium dropped, copper wire was produced shiny without the CuO coating. Since no one realized that CuO had been essential to the energy magnification, attempts in 1963 to replicate the generator were doomed to failure.
Levitronics Energy Technology

Today no radionuclide provider will sell a radium source large enough to retest Hubbard's device because the radon emanations from radium-226, which carry all the alpha energy, are considered too hazardous. Levitronics' technology utilizes semiconductors and superconductors as a source of LMEs so no radioactive source is needed. The inductive energy magnifying factor is the same for semiconductors as for a superconductor,

(Inductive Energy Magnification Factor) = 1/(electron mass)².

A high power-to-weight ratio similar to the 1920 boat demonstration is indicated for LME generators made with a semiconductor having a high Energy Magnification Factor. Such a generator could outcompete petroleum for all forms of transportation including propellor aircraft. A self-generator utilizing Lead Sulfide, with electron mass 0.16 times normal and a calculated inductive energy magnification factor of 39X, could theoretically power the world's one billion autos using less lead than is found in lead-acid batteries. Self-generators employing silicon might power all the world's homes and industries, and offer low-cost desalinization.

A self-generator is relatively simple in design, but it requires special laboratory facilities to make polycrystalline coatings of desired semiconductors. that can conduct large currents of LMEs. Levitronics seeks both laboratories and capital to test a relatively simple self-sustaining generator powered by the common photoconductor, cadmium sulfide, which has a calculated inductive energy magnification factor of 37X."

Scientific Discussion - Levitronics, Inc.


So it would seem that the unobtainium in this case, is ... drum roll... radium.
As has been speculated by others, but never put to the test, this might just be the catalyst Lester used, I would suspect suspended in the paraffin wax compound.

Comments?

[ldrancer]

yea did you read that topic about the old pyramids and there technology they where supposed to be using? they talked about radon collecting inside the pyramids.. from the granite or something as part.

[Gazzasore]

pyramids power system is the same as Tesla tower isn't it

[ProfessorTinkerer]

Beyond co-inkydink

Seattle Post Intelligencer (February 26, 1928)

Hubbard Believes Mystery Motor Based On His Own Invention

Ex-Dry Agent says he worked out secret of utilizing radium power in 1919

by

R.B.Bermann

Alfred M. Hubbard, the youthful stormy petrel of the Seattle branch of the federal prohibition office, may possibly be the discoverer of at least the basic principle behind the [Hendershot] "fuelless motor" which was demonstrated for the first time in Detroit last week, and which is attracting the attention of such aeronautical experts as Col. Charles A. Lindbergh and Maj. Thomas G. Lanphier.

This was claimed by Hubbard himself yesterday. While he said that he has been able to learn none of the details in connection with the Detroit demonstration, he declared that he was inclined to suspect very strongly that the motor was simply a development of the apparatus which e himself demonstrated in Seattle as early as 1919.

Driven By Radium

In 1919 Hubbard represented the apparatus as being capable of extracting electrical energy directly from the air, but he admitted yesterday that this had been merely a subterfuge to protect his patent rights, and that, as a matter of fact, it had been a device for extracting electrical energy from radium, by means of a series of transformers which stepped up the rays.

He declined to go into detail in regard to the exact manner in which he managed to extract power from radium -- but said that, so far as he had been able to determine, there was no great difference between the Detroit machine and his.

"I never heard of this Lester J. Hendershot, the Pittsburgh electrical engineer who is demonstrating the motor", Hubbard said, "but it must be remembered that I worked on the invention for two years in Pittsburgh -- in 1921 and 1922. It was a Dr. Greenslade who represented the people who were financing me at the time -- but, of course, if the people who bought out most of my interest in the invention were to bring it out as their own machinery, they would probably do it through a man with whom I had never worked. I was employed by the radium Chemical Company at the time I was working in Pitsburgh".

********************************************
So, that said, I believe after 30 years of exploring this mystery, that I shall finally lay the Hendershot to rest once and for all. As in every other discovery such as this, whether a replica of someone else's work or a genuine 'eureka moment', the powers that be will never allow such a device to manifest. In every case, either the materials become unattainable or strongarm tactics are employed to persuade the researcher to abandon the task. In Hendershot's case, he simply took the payoff money, waited 25 years and then resurfaced with a variation on the same theme. In the end, the result was still the same.

In the case of the Hendershot, full disclosure was never made, certainly by Lester himself and obviously by none of those he confided in such as Aho and Skilling. I have no doubts that those two 'assistants' possessed the knowledge of what actually made the device operate and yet, they too, took the secret to their graves as well. Lester may very well have been murdered for daring to divulge the radium connection to Hubbard's motor. I am surprised that I, after years of scouring for info regarding this phenomenon, had never come across these newspaper articles before now. I could have saved myself a lot of time, energy and money.

Best of luck to anyone who still chooses to pursue this project, but as for myself - I am bowing out.

Regards,
ProfessorTinkerer

[thx1138]

Quoted from Ed Skilling's account:

So, based on this description, one of the capacitor plates does indeed contact the paraffin wax. If the un-split foil is on the inside, the split foils are obviously on the outside of the wrap.

I did see that. It's just one more discrepancy between builds. As far as I know, Skilling never got his build working.

I'm going with the original notes hand written by Lester on PDF page 49 of "From the Archives of Lester J. Hendershot" by Mark Hendershot (FTA) that show the long foil on the outside.

I guess that could have been either an error or a deliberate misdirection by Lester. So it might need to be tested both ways.

I don't, however, see any use at all for it on the inside. From the inside, out, there would be the metal former, "heavy white paper", and then the long foil.

I do see another possibility for using it on the outside. Some time ago I saw a discussion between some people building tube amplifiers for musicians about which capacitor foil should be on the outside in reference to picking up noise from the environment and specifically 60 Hz hum. I don't, at this point, remember where I saw that, but I remember there also being comments about "hum bucking" coils - not in reference to the capacitor but in reference to noise in musical output in general. The "hum bucking" coils leads to the precursor of Floyd Sweet's Vacuum Triode Amplifier, the Space Quantum Modulator, which has several things in common with the Hendershot Magnatronic. That is info for a later post.

So the longer foil being on the outside might act either as a shield between the coil oscillations and the capacitor inside or possibly as a pickup like a magnetic pickup in an electric guitar. At first glance, it seems unlikely to be the latter because it is aluminum. On the other hand, a changing magnetic field will induce a current in aluminum but it would be very weak. But the photo in FTA PDF page 28 of Lester "tuning" the device shows him using a C-clamp to compress the cap against the paraffin which would be moving part of the cap closer to the coils and the part opposite the C-clamp away from the coils. As far as I know that "tuning" photo is the only photo of a Magnatronic actually working.

We have to remember that the foils were taken from a dual 40/80 capacitor so the long foil would have been the common foil and it would have a terminal attachment. Regardless of whether or not that terminal is shown in the drawings or schematics it was still there and the fact that it isn't shown being connected to anything may be an intentional or accidental omission. That connection would have to be tested also but where to make that connection in the circuit leads to another set of unknowns.

As usual, I'm going in circles on the Hendershot Magnatronic but that's normal with this "mystery" device. Everyone loves a good mystery, right?

[thx1138]

Driven By Radium

So, that said, I believe after 30 years of exploring this mystery, that I shall finally lay the Hendershot to rest once and for all. As in every other discovery such as this, whether a replica of someone else's work or a genuine 'eureka moment', the powers that be will never allow such a device to manifest. In every case, either the materials become unattainable or strong arm tactics are employed to persuade the researcher to abandon the task. In Hendershot's case, he simply took the payoff money, waited 25 years and then resurfaced with a variation on the same theme. In the end, the result was still the same.

In the case of the Hendershot, full disclosure was never made, certainly by Lester himself and obviously by none of those he confided in such as Aho and Skilling. I have no doubts that those two 'assistants' possessed the knowledge of what actually made the device operate and yet, they too, took the secret to their graves as well. Lester may very well have been murdered for daring to divulge the radium connection to Hubbard's motor. I am surprised that I, after years of scouring for info regarding this phenomenon, had never come across these newspaper articles before now. I could have saved myself a lot of time, energy and money.

Best of luck to anyone who still chooses to pursue this project, but as for myself - I am bowing out.

Regards,
ProfessorTinkerer

I considered that Hendershot used radium but I don't think so. I never made the connection between Hubbard and Hendershot but then I never pursued more than a passing glance at the Hubbard device.

The reason I don't think Hendershot used radium is the same reason the Hubbard motor was abandoned - the cost of radium.

I've done extensive work on Tesla's "radiant energy" and in his later years he made some astounding statements about radium. It's summarized here:
Understanding Tesla - Radiant Energy

Part of that post is this:
In a New York Times article published on July 11, 1937 titled “Sending of Messages to Planets Predicted by Dr. Tesla On Birthday" is the following statement: “Reports of discoveries by which it will be possible to communicate with the planets and to produce radium in unlimited quantity for $1 a pound were announced by Dr. Nikola Tesla yesterday at a luncheon on his eighty-first birthday at which he was honored with high orders from the Yugoslav and Czechoslovak Governments.”

Why would the cost of producing radium be of concern to Tesla? To grasp the importance of one dollar per pound of radium we need to look at the radium reserves of the time. The following article is from The Sydney Morning Herald published on February 11, 1935 and titled "Price of Radium. Big Drop Expected."
London Feb. 10.
"The 'Sunday Express' says: - 'By the development of sources of radium in the Great Bear Lake (Canada), which are believed to be sufficient to supply the whole Empire, it is expected that the value of radium will drop from £10,000 to £1,000 per gramme. The present world's stock is 600 grammes; London hospitals between them have three-quarters of an ounce (about 31 grammes) valued at £250,000.'"
11 Feb 1935 - PRICE OF RADIUM. BIG DROP EXPECTED

A British Pound in 1935 has the purchasing power of about £58 GBP today. So in 1935 the cost in today's money was £580,000 per gram and was expected to be reduced to £58,000 per gram. Dr. Tesla speaks of obtaining radium for $1.00 per pound and there are roughly 450 grams in a pound so that would be $0.0022 per gram at that time. Examine the following for a grasp of this. What Things Cost in 1935: Car, $580; Gasoline, 19 cents/gal; House, $6,300; Bread, 8 cents/loaf; Milk, 47 cents/gal; Postage Stamp, 3 cents; Stock Market, 144; Average Annual Salary, $1,500.
What Things Cost in 1935

Keep in mind that that was 1935 so it would have been even more rare and expensive in 1919 but 1935 is fairly close to the 1929 date of the article. Still, would Lester have had the money to spend £10,000 per gram (£580,000 in today's money) for radium? Possibly, but I don't think so. And that might have been why he was looking for investors but there is not a peep from his son Mark or his assistants about any mystery ingredient.

There were absolutely no government controls on radioactive materials until after it was shown that they could be weaponized by the detonation of the bombs in Japan. In fact there weren't any formal regulations until the early 1950's.
Radioactive Material Regulations History

We have to remember that the early 1950's was the start of the cold war between the US and the USSR. So whether or not Hendershot actually used radium, the FBI would have been investigating him because of Hubbard's claim.

This situation could have also been the cause of T. Henry Moray's problems because he was using radioactive materials in some of his vacuum tubes. And I think it was the reason that Tesla's papers were mysteriously seized upon his death by an obscure agency of the US government. The Manhattan Project was started in 1939, Tesla died in 1943, and the atomic bombs were used 1945. With Tesla's public talk of "death rays" and his work with radioactive materials, the US government would definitely not want any of his work falling into the hands of enemies. And they wouldn't have wanted there to be general knowledge of the seizure, hence the use of the obscure agency.

Actually, some radioactive materials, although much weaker than radium, are available for purchase over the internet today.
United Nuclear

The big problem today is that the public's perception of radioactive materials is uneducated paranoia. The following link details how the standards organization ignored the fact that there is a threshold level of radiation under which there is next to no danger of harm. The standards in use today were linearly extrapolated without any regard to this known threshold.
Toxicologist says NAS panel 'misled the world' when adopting radiation exposure guidelines

I'm not personally interested in patents or selling a device to anyone. I just want to use it. So I'll be pursuing it further. Should I find a configuration that works I'll publish it on the internet. Whether "the powers that be" can scrub the entire internet or not is yet to be seen. I find it doubtful since they can't even protect their own records.

But even if I get one working and publish it, the question then becomes who is going to maintain it? So anyone that wants to build one for themselves is going to have that same problem. My wife and children sure won't be able to. Nor would they care to. So even if it worked it would only be a novelty item.