RoyJ wrote:
Then add a chamber on the left side and some fins in the channel to
straighten out the flow.

I thought of that (the fins) but at one point I had to shoot the engineer
(me) and go with what I had.

Ken.

Don Bruder wrote:
In article ,
"Ken Davey" wrote:


Don Bruder wrote:

In article ,
Winston wrote:


Ken Davey wrote:

Some time ago somebody (forgotten who) mentioned, in passing,
that hard drive discs might serve as rotors in a Tesla Turbine.
I had been working for some time on that idea and now I am
finally ready to show the world (or at least RCM) the results.
http://www.rupert.net/~solar/
Click on Tesla Turbine - go figure
The page is still incomplete but the basics are there.

Way excellent, Ken.

Please post again when you have performance and efficiency curves.

Indeed! This definitely ranks as one of the niftier hacks I've
seen. Can't wait to hear about power output and the rest of the
details.

As a side note, this has inspired me to start looking at that
scrap 3' chunk of 14"x8" "engineered wood" main beam from the
house as a potential housing for a many-many-more disks on an even
longer
shaft version done in a wood case. If I've properly understood
what I've read
about TTs, it would seem to me that increasing disc count can do
one thing, and one thing only: Increase output torque. (Yes,
Virginia, I'm certain there's an upper limit of how much fluid you
need to feed it to
get it spun up)

Ponders a compressed-air chainsaw where the chain going through
the wood drowns out the engine noise

I know, I know, I'm a heretic, working in wood... But hey! The
material
is there, and at this moment, it's considered something to be
hauled to
the dump! Chopping it up and making one of these gizmos out of it
would
only be enhancing its value!

Ken:
Love the milled spiders - The spooky part is I keep glancing at the
stack of them that's visible in the other window and seeing spiders
for 45 RPM records

Suggestion for improvement if there's a "next version" in your
shop: I've done some reading on these little beasties, and they, like
so
many
other nifty gadgets that Ol' Nick came up with, intrigue me. One
of the things I've learned from that reading is something that you
mention on
your page - one of the key things is putting the drive fluid to the
rotor-bank at as close to a perfect tangent as possible, and *WITH
AS LITTLE TURBULENCE AS POSSIBLE*. (Emphasis mine)

Now, your manifold bar/nozzle bar setup is an excellent idea, but I
think I see a flaw in it that's quite likely to be putting extra
turbulence in the fluid path, but could be tuned up pretty easily,
with potentially significant improvement over the
excellent-sounding (so far - I'm waiting for the torque figures
) performance with what I think
would be only a slight alteration of what you've already got.

It isn't clear for sure from your commentary what, if any, kind of
plans
you might have for maybe producing/selling this neat little widget
(which doesn't even consider whether there's an exploitable market
for it if you want to try), so do you want me to talk about the idea
I've got "in public", or would you prefer to go to email or some other
medium?

Let's keep it all in public - that's what this group is all about
eh? I present the idea and my version in the hopes that someone will
(and I just know they will) come up with something better.
Your comment about 'as little turbulence as possible' is right on
the money. Regards.
Ken.




Hokay, then... Here we go!
Looking at http://www.rupert.net/~solar/Case.jpg I see a 180 degree
turn in the fluid path. Even if you point the brass fitting the other
way, you're still going to be turning two 90s between the supply
hookup and the nozzle opening. Replacing it with a straight fitting is
still
going to leave the 90 of going through the manifold bar and coming
out into the gap formed by the nozzle bar. The distance traveled after
that last 90 can't possibly be anywhere near enough for that much
turbulence to "settle out" before hitting the rotors.

Proposed fix/improvement:
Add another plate, suitably drilled and tapped to accept a
(preferably straight) fitting - Place it on the left side of the
case as it's shown in the image noted, then lift the manifold bar and the
left piece of
the nozzle bar, and finish milling the "slot" on the top of the
nozzle bar all the way to the leftmost edge of the current case before
reassembling it. The new plate for the left side should be drilled
and tapped in the right position to give the drive fluid a straight
flow from source to rotor-bank, which should give a serious decrease
in turbulence compared to the two right-angle turns you've currently got.

Or am I completely off my rocker?