Basic 4 Weighted Wheel Concept

[johnny874]

  @all,
Tomorrow I,ll be able to upload some pics.
With a wheel, there is no reversing of direction.
What I like about this build is that it will help to understand how much overbalance is needed to rotate a wheel.
After a while, you may come to understand why I like Bessler,s wheel so much.

     Jim

[johnny874]

   @All,
  This is a part of what I've done. I have the 4 slots finished.
I have given the math a little thought. Since I am using 4 -1lb.
weights, with a 30% over balance, the initial over balance will be
4 ounces @ about 23 inches. Or about 1/2 foot pound of torque.
To rotate a wheel of 4 1/2 lbs., I will need to trim off any excess
material while allowing for structural support.
This will help to show a relationship between torque and acceleration.
In Netwon's terms, f=ma of which the a represents acceleration.
Also, a customer service rep and the Woodsmithshop show have
mentioned kerf boards if I remember right. They can form radii easily.
This would let me use a build similar to this as this as the form for
Bessler's wheel. It seems one build leads to the other   
To finish even a basic wheel like this I may take another 2 weeks to do.
This is because I will need to think about what template or process to
remove more wood thus making the wheel as light as possible. And
remember please, with this build, 90 degrees of rotation per weight is the
goal. After that ... heck, I'll wait until I get there to worry about it.

                                                              Jim

edited to correct torque estimate

[johnny874]

   @All,
This is the basic 4 weighted wheel. One I previously built was over 5 feet in diameter
and had 8 inches of over balance.
With this build, it's about 10 inches at the start position and 13 inches in the over balanced
position. since it is a rotating wheel, the over balance needs to be considered from the center line. At 45 degrees after center, if the weight moves straight out, it is moving from 7 inches from the center line to 10 inches and would be about 52 degrees after top center.
The video is short but makes it's point. Not enough torque (acceleration) is generated. I used nylon bushings with no lubrication. The next time I am at my shop, I will remember to
take some white grease with me. It's in a spray can and should help to lower resistence.
Might even try bearings and trimming off excess material as time goes by.
This simple build is helpful to me. For you critics, do you think I would spend the money if
this is what I wanted ? it's not, but it is to help everyone else to understand some of what
I have learned over the last few years.
Between building this and what I can observe about mass to net force and it's ability to accelerate this wheel helps me to better understand what I need to be concerned with when I build Bessler's wheel which is in the end, what this is about. And the next visit to my shop I will most like start building the form I will need to get started on that build.
Going by simple relationships, the 4 weighted wheel has about 1/2 foot pound of torque.
With Bessler's wheel, using twice as much weight, I will be trying to attain 4 foot pounds of torque. This means I would be using a 1 pound weight to move quickly (4.9m/s) 2 pounds of weight.
This will let me know befor I even build it what the dimensions will need to be.
As for this side project, I am using materials I already have so it's paying for itself 

                                                                                  Jim

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcdYVnUYrw8&feature=youtu.be

edited to add; did some quick math and to achieve 60 rpm, a diameter of 1.56 meters
would work. That's about 60 inches. with a 40 inch wheel, moving a weight at about 3m/s
should do it and the design I've been working on is close to what is needed.
One thing Conrad mentioned to me is that this being a hobby, I should only budget so much money to spend on it. I think that is a very good idea and advice I plan on following.

[Jameson]

Very cool,but I predict you will not have success with this one. A  lot of us have drawings like this in our old notebooks and a lot of old wheels in the basement.  The math that you need to understand is trigonometry which can be elegant and agonizing in its precision of showing you exactly where your limit is.

To put it briefly, for every 1 degree of motion on your wheel, the 4 weights will each have a change in sine. In other words, they would each have a slight net increase or decrease in upward motion relative to the center of the wheel. Sum the changes in sine for all 4 weights and you will know if that 1 degree of motion would tend to be clockwise (negative net sine) or counterclockwise (positive net sine). When you find the point where one degree is positive and the next degree is negative, that is where your wheel will stop.

To leap ahead, what you will discover is that all that matters is the total net sine change over one complete rotation.  And if, as was mentioned earlier in this thread, you are in exactly the same place after one rotation, the the net positive changes in sine must always (precisely, dammit!) equal the net negative changes. Bottom line: You can't go down more than you go up.

I have an Excel spreadsheet that I developed that helps me calculate these because I haven't given up on it either. I would be willing to share if anybody wants to see it.  Keep plugging !!

Jameson

[johnny874]

   Hi jameson,
With this- it,s okay if it doesn,t work.
One thing it helps to understand is to understand weight to force ratios and acceleration.
It has helped me to know what to look for in Bessler,s drawings that had the potential for a lot of torque which is also known as overbalance.

     Jim