Recent content by Ty Harris

All of your ideas are actually quite good. I especially like your thought about a generator that works at lower RPM- thus saving a reduction. All of your friction reducing ideas have merit. However, now that I am aware of just how much force is required to turn 9 ( or even 8 ) 5:1 reductions, I...

Well I still am enamoured of the potential energy inherant in gravity acting on heavy weights. Just much heavier than I had originally envisioned. Clearly the small stuff ( like a measley half a ton) isn't going to create useful power from gear reduction- it's a question of structural support...

You are correct Mr. Action. Looking at it from the standpoint of power does encompass all of the variables involved. Thank you for showing me how to do the calculations. I can now plug any number of possibilities into your equations and see the results in advance and see what would happen with...

Well, the weight is limited by the structural strength of the components. Maybe I could focus on the distance that weight falls. Longer travel equals more work I suppose.

At this point, I need to gather a little more data and figure out exactly what the minimum force/ weight is required to move the 3rd reduction- which was sucessful, but faster than it needed to be as per the diagram above. Once I have that, I can now extrapolate the weights needed for the...

Mr. Joule- ugh... you are full of good news. I see your point about the friction not even being a constant for each set of reductions because the act of adding weight itself adds more radial load and therefore more force required to overcome it. As far as alternative suggestions, by all means...

Mr. Bandit- Your point about friction is well taken. The bearings are pillow block style. The chain is well-greased number 40 industrial roller chain such as you might find on a conveyer belt. It has internal bearings and a lubriction reservoir on each one that is full of lithium grease. The...

Anybody out there with better news who would like to dispute the math?

Uh... just so I am clear- if it takes 5 lbs of pressure to move the first reduction, I am going to need 1,953,125 pounds to move the 9th reduction? Almost 2 million pounds? Jesus Tapdancing Christ... I think 2 million pounds may exceed the structural limitations of this device by just a bit.

Thank you so much Jack Action. You rock! This is exactly what I needed! I had a hard time in high school Physics class- mainly because of the math- and it was such a long time ago. The answer wasn't reallywhat I was hoping for but at least I know the answer now- all I need are 4 or 5 full grown...

Thank you for the reply Bandit. After the original suggestion about an escapement, I did some reading on the subject and now understand what it does. It isn't really applicable to my problem , which is not one of speed regulation or of metering the force out at a given rate. The motive force of...

Thank you for the reply my freind. Yes, it is a massive ratio, and I really didnt realize the scale of the force required to move it. As I said, 400 pounds was able to move 3 of the reductions, but could definitley not move 5. I was running a test with 600 lbs and 4 reductions when I had to stop...

I need some math help. I am very good with my hands and building mechanical things, but not-so-good with math calculations. ( I got a D in high school physics but can fix damned near anything...) I would appreciate some help figuring this out. I have attached a diagram showing what I am trying...