I made this turntable to display my models and to take
movies of them. It revolves once every twenty seconds. I
made my own electric motor to drive the turntable, but
if you make one of your own, you could use a small
bought motor.
The motor is similar to my
double wound film can
motor, but the armature core for this motor was made
from a cotton bobbin with a brass pipe for the axle, (fig
1), (fig
1a) and (fig 1b).
It is double wound as shown in, (fig
2), (fig
2a) and (fig
2b). The commutator is made from telescopic aerial
connectors, (fig
3) and (fig
3a). The motor uses magnets from an old hard drive
and when tested ran well on three volts, (fig
4).
The gearbox for the turntable was made up from two sets
of worm gears, bits of wood, copper pipes and brackets
from an old curtain rail, which was assembled on to the
base, (fig 5),
(fig
5a), (fig
5b), (fig
5c), (fig
5d), (fig
5e) and (fig
5f). You can get worm gears from
Maplins and some model shops.
Supports and bearings for the motor were made from plats
from an old computer, (fig
6) and (fig
6a). The motor was then fixed in place, (fig
7) and (fig
7a). The brushes for the motor were made from
telephone wire and were screwed in place, (fig
7b).
A box was made to fit the base, (fig
8) and (fig
8a). The battery box, is the remains from an old
doorbell, and was screwed to the base. A switch was
fitted to the back of the box and then the wiring was
done, (fig
9). This home made motor, doesn’t always self start,
so the back of the axle sticks through the back of the
box and can be turned to start the motor, (fig 10).
For the turntable a disk of wood was cut and fridge
magnets glued on, and then a tin lid clamped to the
magnets, (fig
11), (fig
11a), (fig
11b) and (fig
11c).
The parts used to make this coil winder were an electric
screw driver, a small chuck, a counter from an old tape
recorder, a switch from an old electric drill, a cable
from an old shaver and various bit of scrap, (fig 1),
(fig 1a), (fig 1b), (fig 1c) and (fig 1d)
The winder is operated with a foot peddle which was made
from wood and incorporates the rechargeable battery and
the switch. The power is fed from the foot peddle to the
coil winder with the shaver cable, (fig 2), (fig 2a) and
(fig 2b).
To make the coil winder, a frame was made to house the
electric screw driver. A pulley was fitted to the chuck
to drive the counter, and then chuck was fitted into the
screw driver. The frame was then screwed to the base
board along with the counter and the counter was
connected to the screw driver with a rubber band, (fig 3) and (fig 3a).
To hold the bobbin of wire that is being used to wind
the coil, a frame was made from cut down L brackets, a
length of steel bar and scrap wood. It was the screwed
to the base (fig 4) and (fig 4a).
A box was made to house the whole assembly and when not
in use the foot peddle and battery charger can be kept
in the box, (fig 5), (fig 5a), (fig 5b) and (fig 5c).
To use, connect the foot peddle to the winder, (fig 6).
Fit an empty coil in the chuck and thread the coil wire
from the main bobbin, then use the foot peddle to
control it. There is a reversing switch on the screw
driver, so, if you go wrong it is easy to rewind. You can
see a coil started in, (fig 5).
I made this disco for my grandson. The parts used were a
door bell press, an electric motor and half a yoyo, (fig
1). The yoyo has five LCD’s and a centrifugal switch and
when the yoyo spins the centrifugal switch is activated
and the LCD’s light up creating patterns.
The motor was fitted to the base and then the yoyo was
fixed to the motor, (fig 2) and (fig 2a). An MDF case
was made to house the unit, with a one and a half volt
battery box fitted in, and the door bell press fitted on
to it.
The disco was then sprayed black and jazzed up with
designs printed off my computer, (fig 3), (fig 3a), (fig 3b) and (fig 3c).
To operate you press the door bell press and the disco
comes to life! (Fig 4).
