Hi Chad, I seem to be getting quite a bit of opposition in trying to complete this wheel, I have dropped one of the levers, it needs to be completely glued again, the others just need a certain part glueing, if it hadnt of been for that, I would now start the test, but I will have to wait for tomoz now...

I will have to get some padding for the levers because the power that they hit the resting points on the rim of the wheel is quite somthing and I think that is what is making them weaker...

Edit: Yep, I just tried spinning the wheel with all but 1 lever in (without weights) and another part came off, so they need glueing again then some padding to prevent them from braking again. If the wheel does work, then it will surly destroy itself and I will have no wheel....lol

Alex

Keep it up Alex you're doing a great job.

Here is a bit of info about the wheel...

This diagram below is what the position of the "main" weights are like at any one time... the weights that do the helping hardly move from their positions so I omitted them for now... I wont tell you the action they are doing, but thats just what the position looks like... I will tell you this, one of the two weights on the left (the ones next to eachother) one of them is weightless, atleast, by its action, it seems  to be to me...

Alex

nice pic

are you rotating it clockwise?

that was my impression of it


you definitely have my attention

surely the key to OU is gravity, but we need to rethink what we use it for

personally ive never attempted a gravity wheel specifically, i think it needs to be used in combination with other things to achieve true OU

yet i always enjoy trying to think of a way to make any gravity wheel work



welll il try to help when u get ur testing done

good luck


until next time

Yes, it is meant to turn clockwise, like I keep saying in my earlier posts, I dont know if it will work or not, I recon its a 50-50 chance, the levers for the wheel are now done and installed, half the weights are installed, on monday I should be buying the pins to install the final 8 weights, then I will get some padding so they dont brake through the force, then I shall test it. The day I test it is unknown, but it should not be to long now... I have had a few problems to overcome with this wheel, but its on its way now. Most of you would laugh at its simplicity and could probably make it within a few days, but my experience in this is not that high, so it takes me time...

A few more interesting things now for me to say... I have tried just letting the wheel go (not spinning it) with half of the amount of weights in, and it turns about half a revolution, so I suspect that when they are all added, the wheel will turn half a revolution without a push, when its pushed, the weights will lift themselves up and hopfully keep the wheel going, but we will just have to wait and see... Dont expect to much, because like I say, its a 50-50 chance...

P.S Thanks mr_bojangles for your support, much appreciated

Alex

Mr.Bojangles......What a great name ( and song )!

Alex, your building skills will improve with every prototype.

Mr. AB Hammer had some nice things to say about you in a conversation I had with him.

He likes your enthusiasm and creative mind.

So do I.

Good luck.   

Thanks very much , I admire you anf AB Hammer (plus other various members) for your knowledge that you have posted/shared with me and I also thank AB Hammer for trusting me with some of his designs... your support is fantastic and I have never seen such members from any other sites that know what they are talking about as much as some of the members here.

Thanks

Alex

What can I use as padding for when the weights hit the bar at the top of the wheel? Because they bounce off the bar. Would foam be a could choice? or is it too bouncey?

Depends on what you want the weight to do. Do you want it to bounce (use a material with a lot of elasticity, like steel)? ... or do you want the bar to absorb the ball's energy and then let gravity take over (use foam or something with low elasticity). Seems to me you would want to retain as much of the weight's energy as possible, so you should probably use a highly elastic material and a firmly mounted bar.

A picture or 2 showing how the weights impact the bar would help.

Depends on what you want the weight to do. Do you want it to bounce (use a material with a lot of elasticity, like steel)? ... or do you want the bar to absorb the ball's energy and then let gravity take over (use foam or something with low elasticity). Seems to me you would want to retain as much of the weight's energy as possible, so you should probably use a highly elastic material and a firmly mounted bar.

A picture or 2 showing how the weights impact the bar would help.

I need somthing that will absorb the impact of the weights when they hit the bar so they dont bounce back down to the axle, so maybe foam?

Tomoz is the day all of the weights will be installed which then means it could be tested, but I dont want the weighted levers smashing themsevles to pieces lol... So I will try and get some foam.

Alex

Ok all, this is the moment we have been waiting for, the machine/wheel has been tested (without the foam for absorbing the weights)  and the results are: It does not self run... when I spin the wheel, I can feel a lot of force as the weights push down, but it still comes to a stop, I would think, because its not a self starter then thats why it stops, having said that, the wheel has no start or end to "how" the mechanism works, to start the wheel off, you have to throw a weight upwards at the same time as pushing the wheel in order for them to exercise their movement...

Now that I have satisfied my question, we can now work on this wheel because I'm sure you will really like how it works, but before I show you, I would like to say, I dont mind people using my idea into one of their wheels so long as you alert me on PM or Email... thanks

P.S I'm now going to look for the connection for my cam so I can post how the wheel works, pictures will be supplied too...

Alex