on video Making a Solenoid Boxer Motor

 

You likely drive a car with between four and eight cylinders, though perhaps don't give it much thought on a day-to-day basis. Combustion engines, however, are truly incredible machines, pushing pistons with explosive force over and over to turn a crankshaft and eventually your car's wheels. If you need a reminder of what's going on under the hood, Emiel, The Practical Engineer, has created an excellent electric version that uses electromagnets instead of explosions to propel the pistons.

Unlike his first try with a one-piston model, four pistons can't simply attach to one side of the assembly. This means quite a bit of lathe work, and attaching several pieces together with the Loctite 648 compound to form an offset crankshaft. The spools that wire is wound about to form electromagnets are also cut out on a lathe, then spun with the same tool in order to easily wrap the wiring.

Timing is taken care of via offset brass cams, which intermittently touch bent brass conductors in order to activate the electromagnets. FQP30N06L MOSFETs are used to directly supply power, allowing the switches to control the "engine" without having to handle a large amount of current directly.

 

You likely drive a car with between four and eight cylinders, though perhaps don't give it much thought on a day-to-day basis. Combustion engines, however, are truly incredible machines, pushing pistons with explosive force over and over to turn a crankshaft and eventually your car's wheels. If you need a reminder of what's going on under the hood, Emiel, The Practical Engineer, has created an excellent electric version that uses electromagnets instead of explosions to propel the pistons.

Unlike his first try with a one-piston model, four pistons can't simply attach to one side of the assembly. This means quite a bit of lathe work, and attaching several pieces together with the Loctite 648 compound to form an offset crankshaft. The spools that wire is wound about to form electromagnets are also cut out on a lathe, then spun with the same tool in order to easily wrap the wiring.

Timing is taken care of via offset brass cams, which intermittently touch bent brass conductors in order to activate the electromagnets. FQP30N06L MOSFETs are used to directly supply power, allowing the switches to control the "engine" without having to handle a large amount of current directly.