Thanks but i cant take credit , i saw this method in another video a while ago. I should refilm this since it came out blurry though :). Cheers!

Why did it blow you away? it drilled off center.

@@TheRattleSnake3145 yes it went off center for me. However, it tracked straight. The off center was error on my part. The main key is that the hole was straight and didn't wander out of the part I had previous ones that had went exactly on center, just bad luck on this one lol. Like I said I should refilm that part

Vice must positioned at last or you cant find the center mostly.

@@TheRattleSnake3145 because using a drill press as a lathe is kick ass, thats why.

Agreed... wow does it work as well as it looks.

Why? It still drilled off center.

@@TheRattleSnake3145 Yeah, he drilled off center, but the idea is the material you are drilling into is being pressed in by the vice, so you get an ellipse, or the bit can bind,, or whatever. The vice makes what's in it to want to collapse the hole you are drilling. Also, if the material you are using is somewhat soft, the vice will squish it too.

Pull will become zero/very low...idea is to channel magnetic field via nail

Maths.

22 gauge galvanized steel. Yes that is a cut off nail that I soldered to the bottom. 6.2volts was the voltage of the lantern battery i was using to test with. I am not sure what your last sentence means.

@@researchandbuild1751 right on. I meant is there another shield that could be used instead of the masking tape (assuming thats what you have wrappd around the wire)

Hi, here are my answers to your questions: 1. I believe there are tubular solenoids as well but they would be more difficult to construct in my opinion 2. You don't need a full frame, just any type of frame that goes all the way and connects to itself, think of it as a "circuit", the magnetic field wants to be continous. Even just a frame like I show in the video is enough 3. The gauge of the frame will determine how much magnetic energy it can absorb without "saturation". The thicker the metal the more magnetic lines it can "hold" in other words. So for example, Iron, if you push enough current through a coil wound around iron, it will eventually reach its full strength magnetically and won't be able to get stronger even with more current. That limit is set by how large/thick the iron is. 4. I don't think external magnets would help at all, because the metal frame "short circuits" the magnetic field. It kind of acts like not only a focuser of the internal magnetic field but it also shields from external fields at the same time. 5. The air gap doesn't make any difference in this case because the metal frame is continous. If you had a gap in the frame itself, then yes a smaller gap would be better. 6. The gap between the frame and plugner also doesn't matter (except for how much space you end up taking) because the magnetic field lines will go right into the metal and follow it like a circuit. Notice you definitley *do* want as small of a gap as you can between the ends of the coil and the frame around it. 7. Inverting the battery wont push the plunger unless the plunger itself is a magnet. "Push" style solenoids are built a different way - they have a traditional plunger but attached to the plunger, they would have a plastic or non magnetic rod that goes all the way through the other side of the solenoid. that way when the plunger is pulled in, the rod on the other side pushes out. One last thing - if you want to build solenoids for a solenoid engine you'll definitely want to use thicker wire than I used in this video :) . You want a higher current so you can get a stronger magnetic field, and to do that you need thicker wire. It's always a balance between wire thickness/resistance vs current to get the strength of field you want. It's always possible to get a strong field even with thin wire but it requires a ton more turns than just using thicker wire with a higher current - in many cases it's just easier to get a higher current to achieve the strength you need

wdmoates yes. It does have manual focus and i didnt have the experience yet to realize i needed to use it. Will be doing that more often now. I should have reshot the video, apologies for the out of focus shot

Yes

If you built a larger version of this, yes. Two main things you'd want to change to make it strong enough to pull the nail out of the hole on the gate. YOu may want to try and experiment to find out how much force that will take. To design the solenoid: First, make the entire solenoid larger, including a larger coil and a larger metal rod. If you need a thin nail on the end of the rod to put into the gate hold then find a way to attach that (perhaps soldering like I did in this video). Secondly, you need a larger coil with either more turns, or something with larger wire so it can handle a much higher current. In your situation I'd use larger wire and try to use a higher current from a high power battery or such - mainly because I find winding coils of thousands of turns gets very boring! So it's easier to make a coil that has larger wire (so it can carry more current without getting hot) and passing more current through it. Something like a 12V or a 6V lantern battery can put out quite a bit of current. The one thing I don't show in the video is how to put on a spring to return the plunger to original position. In your specific case I'd look at seeing about buying a solenoid from Amazon or such, unless you don't have the money to do so - it may be easier to get the project done (unless you feel like building it yourself). My video is primarily aimed to help teach why many solenoid videos on KZfaq are missing some key elements like putting a metal case around the solenoid to focus the magnetic flux.

Thanks for taking the time to write the note. Your ideas and thoughts are taken on board, yes I have to experiment. Rats are not stupid at all........the slightest hint of noise and they are out very very quickly. Once again thanks for your help.

No, a steel or iron metal tube will not work. The magnetic field lines will go into the metal tube and get concentrated there, and won't affect your plunger at all. Is mainly ferrous metals like steel and iron that will not work. If you want to use metal you must use something like aluminum or copper

Thanks, ive been super busy with work for a long while.

Eventually the wire would get very hot and probably melt the coating that is in the wire. This would start to cause short circuit in the windings, making even less turns, etc or even causing more current to flow which could melt the wire entirely

I was using Alligator leads (wires with Alligator clips on the ends)

Research and Build did you connect them to the springs on the battery? I’ve did that and it’s a hit or miss if it actually works even if I get a solid ohm reading from the coil beforehand

Yep just right to the springs. Double check your Alligator leads then, it's not uncommon for them to go bad and have intermittent connection from the wire to the Alligator clip. I've had it happen quite a few times over my career

Research and Build great thank you

I don't think it makes a difference the magnetic flux lines will still "complete their circuit" in any of them so it should be the same, I suspect very little difference based on shape

@@researchandbuild1751 Thanks! Followup question, why do so many solenoids lack two sides on their casing? Clearly I don't understand the magnetism involved because it seems to me like the magnetism would spill out or something

yes, that's correct. The metal casing captures all of the magnetic lines and contains them, which will focus and strengthen the magnetic force

less number of turns will give more strength as current will increase due to lesser resistance- but heating will be more

Peter Parker did you make sure to use some sandpaper to remove the enamel coating on the wire? Thin "magnet wire" has a coating on it that needs to stripped away.

yes I did. this is a 26 gauge magnet wire.

How did you get that 6.3V? or was that the voltage of your battery?

Peter Parker yes that was the battery voltage, i used a lantern battery

so the main thing here is the coil or the magnet wire...the thicker it gets the stronger the magnetic field yet the faster it drains a battery...what about a 9V is it viable to use it as long as there is a switch to prevent the solenoid from draining the battery? also why didnt you use a 9V battery?

The sheet was galvanized steel, I believe it's 22 gauge. Can be purchased at stores like Lowes or Home Depot. Make sure not to use aluminum because you need something ferrous to contain the magnetic field.

yep you could use a small straw for example. if you find something that will work as a cylinder to wind the coil around it should work fine

@@researchandbuild1751 But if you had used a straw, you would have missed out on all our admiration for the self centring ninja technique ....lol

I was wondering this myself. Why not use a cocktail stirrer or straw, and save a few steps? Not to mention that you'd have a much closer coupling of the electromagnetic field to the armature. But still, a cool video. I love DIY'ers.

I was using a 22 gauge sheet from home depot. Just regular steel sheet

@LoIoL It's actually not that hard - you can use silicone to cover all of the copper. You also need to make sure that your wood piece doesn't let any water through. Since the moving part isn't electrical itself, it'll still work if it's exposed to water.

Dale Rush im not aure i understand what you mean

@@researchandbuild1751 did you mean, "sure" and not "aure" ?

At 7:25 I'm actually using solder to solder the two pieces of metal together. The brown stuff is solder flux, which makes the solder attach quicker, easier. I'm just using a silver solder. You can get silver solder and solder flux at stores such as Lowes and Home Depot in the plumbing area

Hey! I'm trying to do the same! How did yours go? Did you find any answers to the lifecycle and power consumption of such manufactured solenoids?

Do either of you know anything about speakers? I’m trying to figure out what determines the resistance of speakers: is it the amount of turns, thickness of wire.. ? It might be a dumb question but i still just can’t find the answer anywhere, plus I’m a kid so that doesn’t help either:(

@@BigJ_FPV yes length of wire + thickness of wire + material of wire + temperature of wire all contribute to the effective resistant.

You could do 30lb pull if you put an actual magnet in the other side

poompom01 that is a 6 volt lantern battery

Thank you.

I am Also at 2024

the video that you are commenting on is literally the instructions. If you watch the video, you will see what materials you need.

bruh, real men who actually work for a living have dirty fingernails, stop being a nit-pickey lil bitch boi and try doing some real work, maybe youll understand when your older

@@domm5715 Real men keep themselves groomed, even when working hard. Also, this is a video presentation and should have high standards. Little boy, learn proper grammar and how to spell. Your comment is like a cartoon version of a child's attempt at language.