So simple to build but hours of fun to “shape” your own version of this little electric homopolar motor. You only need a AA battery, a few Neodymium magnets, and some copper wire.
I ordered the magnets on Ebay and got 10 of them for a couple of sterling. Mine are 5mmX15mm circular ones. This is sort of right size for the AA batteries.
The copper wire was reclaimed from a bit of house wiring and stripped the plastic outer sleeve. I roll the wire on the table to make it straight so that it is easier to make a balanced shape. It also “looks” better on the final product.
I tried various diametre from very small to 1.5mm2. I recommend about 1mm2, because the smaller diameter heats up quite a lot and spins too fast anyway.
I make a small “dent” on the + side of the battery with a philips screw driver.
Stack a couple of magnets on the negative side of the battery. (That’s the bottom of the battery).
Then simply make a shape that will balance on the top and reach the magnet at the bottom. There is plenty of ideas for shapes on the net.
As I was playing with the copper wires I could not resist making some sort of mini-sculpture with an intricate set of right angles which fool the eyes. Hacking during the weekend is a lot of fun.
