I have been reviewing everything I can find out there on the Bessler Wheel, and thought I'd throw in my two cents worth. I have built lots of models of this, and have listened carefully to the experts, like Peter Lindemann. (Haven't given up on the ideas you and I talked about either, Peter, just working on THIS one also)
I have no doubt that this is NOT the way that Bessler did it, but if he can do it, why can't we? There is, as any engineer can tell you, usually more than one way to solve a problem, if it can indeed be solved. Some designs are just more efficient than others.
Anyway, my idea is posted on You tube and the link is included below. The hinged pieces I didn't have machined or anything like that. I discovered that cheap plastic wheels you can get at Lowes or Home Depot are constructed with exactly (almost perfectly) the angle I wanted. I just cut the bolt off that goes through the wheel, took the wheel out and put a bolt back through two of them together. The stub that usually goes up inside the leg of the chair is in the plastic tube, and a threaded rod comes out the other side of the plastic tube. I used some magnets I had lying around that had holes in the center of them for weights, but washers would have served as well. I am headed to Lowes to see if small copper pipe or pipe couplers for copper pipe would work in place of the plastic tube I had lying around so that the parts I am using are easier for people to find.
I am experimenting with the weights I am using right now. I believe the greater the weight on the short arm, the more successful my rotation will be, because this is the only weight that takes the wheel out of balance. While the weight on the long arm falling does impact and drive the wheel. it may be the short armed weight that makes all the difference as to the success of the design. Only time will tell.
I don't know how many of these I can get around the outside of a wheel. Probably only six instead of the eight that Bessler is believed to have used. BUT, my wheel has two sides, which means I can also have six more on the back side of the wheel. They would of course be out of phase with those on the front.
Anyway, I hope this is enough food for thought that someone out there with a keen mind gets really hungry. I, on the other hand, will keep plodding away and keep you posted on my progress.
YouTube - 11Turion's Channel
I have no doubt that this is NOT the way that Bessler did it, but if he can do it, why can't we? There is, as any engineer can tell you, usually more than one way to solve a problem, if it can indeed be solved. Some designs are just more efficient than others.
Anyway, my idea is posted on You tube and the link is included below. The hinged pieces I didn't have machined or anything like that. I discovered that cheap plastic wheels you can get at Lowes or Home Depot are constructed with exactly (almost perfectly) the angle I wanted. I just cut the bolt off that goes through the wheel, took the wheel out and put a bolt back through two of them together. The stub that usually goes up inside the leg of the chair is in the plastic tube, and a threaded rod comes out the other side of the plastic tube. I used some magnets I had lying around that had holes in the center of them for weights, but washers would have served as well. I am headed to Lowes to see if small copper pipe or pipe couplers for copper pipe would work in place of the plastic tube I had lying around so that the parts I am using are easier for people to find.
I am experimenting with the weights I am using right now. I believe the greater the weight on the short arm, the more successful my rotation will be, because this is the only weight that takes the wheel out of balance. While the weight on the long arm falling does impact and drive the wheel. it may be the short armed weight that makes all the difference as to the success of the design. Only time will tell.
I don't know how many of these I can get around the outside of a wheel. Probably only six instead of the eight that Bessler is believed to have used. BUT, my wheel has two sides, which means I can also have six more on the back side of the wheel. They would of course be out of phase with those on the front.
Anyway, I hope this is enough food for thought that someone out there with a keen mind gets really hungry. I, on the other hand, will keep plodding away and keep you posted on my progress.
YouTube - 11Turion's Channel
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