On Fri, 28 Oct 2005 10:05:22 +0100, Martin Bonner
wrote:

The amount of energy stored in a flywheel increases linearly with weight
but exponetially (^2) with angular velocity.

Nit: You mean "quadratically", not "exponetially".

It is therefore much better
to get it spinning fast than to make it heavy.

... but this is still true :-)

Of course subsidiary nit: Mass not weight. In fact, it is all down to the
angular moment of inertia. If the flywheel is ply, perhaps nailing a roll
of lead flashing around the periphery will give sufficient staying power.
the further from the axis of rotation the mass is concentrated, the
better. The flywheel may require a push to start treadle operation, but
that should not present a problem on such a bare-bones machine.

John Schmitt

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