Air Powered... Propeller?

Put it underwater to check if it leaks!

You've heard of propellers moving air. Now get ready for: Air moving the propeller.

"this was my breakthrough" falls apart 2:52

"Here I have a ceramic bearing, so let's hit it with a hammer. That will work"

Hi Tom. One of the things I like about your videos is the fact that it's REAL; that is to say, genuine. You explain your thought processes very well and then without a lot of actual production, you assemble and test an item. Excellent. I like that way of doing things. It cuts to the chase and proves/disproves a point. I personally would be happy to see as many videos as you can practically manage, so the production in stages (weekly) seems to be my preference. A couple of other things if I may. 1) Pressure testing your bottle is wayyyyyyy safer if you fill the bottle with water. As I know that you know, water is (virtually) incompressible, but will communicate the pressure applied uniformly over the bottle and if the bottle does decide to let go, the explosive force is not as dramatic. Maybe 12yrs ago, I made a similar bottle to yours to prove to my twin boys that air does weigh something. My compressor can reach 120psi and I tested as described to that pressure. 2) Using the expulsion of air to then drive the propeller is (again, I know that you know) relatively inefficient, but a certain guy called Hero did something a bit similar some years back but with steam. :) Also, you may be aware that in the very early 50's a British aircraft (ahead of it's time - again), called the Fairey Rotodyne used rotor blade tip combustors supplied with compressed air up the rotor shaft and out along each rotor blade. Check out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Rotodyne 3) Probably (definitely), not a good idea to hit ceramic bearings with a hammer or any impact device. Pressing is wayyyyy better :) 4) I am/was, an electro-mechanical engineer who studied aeronautical engineering and I have a (too) small workshop. I know you make a lot of stuff from 3D printed plastic, and I get the feeling you may not be a million miles away, but if you need some metal parts made, pm me. 5) Finding many ways NOT do something can sometimes be fun and enlightening, so carry on I say. Regards Mark in the UK (Buckinghamshire)

My first thought when seeing the thumbnail was: Flying swastika

I think a substantial amount of air escapes between the rotor and the top of the valve. To improve the airflow through the brass tubes, you could try to add a sealing rubber skirt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radial_shaft_seal

I didn’t know earmuffs were called ear defenders over there. Neat!

Interesting concept ! I think your system produce too much torque instead of running speed. You have 4 exhaust tubes that add no rpm compared to 3 or 2 but torque and they are too long. For the same exhaust speed of the air, the rpm is lower. I would advice to shorten the 4 little tubes in order to increase the rpm produced with a certain amount of air. Also to delete 1 or 2 tubes. I don't think the loss of torque caused by this modification would affect the proper functionning. Moreover, we can see air flowing out of the system without passing by the exhaust tubes when you turn it on 12:49

Awesome failure! Best way to learn. :) And please! Regular updates on long term projects are fun. We need more of your videos! :) Anyhow, best wishes!

Split into parts! Love watching the process, Failure and success. I find the journey to these final ideas fascinating

Love the stuff falling apart and hitting the floor. You have to laugh sometimes when things don’t go as planned. Love your work. I think you are doing an amazing job.

splitting up the projects into parts is a great idea!

Re: tolerances. Did you try printing them oversized and then turning them to fit?

You should always do a pressure test by filling your pressure vessel with an incompressible liquid (water) so that there isn't so much stored energy if it ruptures.

Yes! id love to see updates every 2nd week or so. Always a pleasure seeing your notification pop up

I'd prefer a video every x weeks, but Youtube would prefer more regular content. So whatever will help you best is what I want.

yeah, having long term projects split up is better in my opinion :D

I’m glad someone is covering this, I’ve been interested in pneumatic motors forever and there’s nothing out there

I am happy to wait for a couple of weeks for each video. I enjoy watching 1 video that covers the entire project, i find it more comfortable. And btw, I'm super impressed by the efficiency of your products (appart from that particular project ;D ). Keep being resourceful and keep the engineering up ^_^