How to Make a Mini Compressed Air Motor

In this tutorial i will be building a compressed air turbine. This can be powered by balloons, blowing in it, or any other source of compressed air. In future videos i will look at powering things with this turbine such as a car, boat, or generator.

I tried to make it as easy as possible to builds, using household materials so that anyone can make their own at home.

If you plan on building this i suggest you check out my full video. You can also check out my website or youtube channel for more of my projects.

For materials all i needed was:

- a gatorade bottle cap

-a normal bottle cap

-flat hard plastic (food packaging)

-rigid paper

-straws

-a clothes hanger

Step 1: Drilling Holes

To start off i get a drill bit the same size as the cloth hanger we will be using. I use that drill bit to drill a hole through the center of the large and smaller bottle cap. Eventually the clothes hanger will be put through those holes.

Step 2: Reducing Sources of Friction

If you were to feel the inside of the large bottle cap you would notice it seems rubbery. eventually we will have something rotating inside the large bottle cap. If it is rubbing against a rubbery surface then we will have a lot of resistance so we need to put something there. To do this i cut out a piece of hard plastic and glued it to inside of the bottle cap. I then re-drilled the hole through the center

Step 3: Making the Turbine

Now we need to make the turbine. The turbine is the part that will rotate inside of the larger plastic lid. To make the turbine i attach a washer to the bottom of the small bottle lid to help reduce friction. Next i cut a piece of cloth hanger to use as the shaft. I then put the shaft through both bottle lids. The holes should be drilled so that the shaft fits tightly against the small lid but spins inside of the hole in the large lid. Once the shaft is in place you can put the small lid into the larger lid and rotate the shaft to test its rotation

Step 4: Holes for Air Intake and Exhaust

Next we need a way for air to enter and exit the turbine. To do this i drill two holes that are 90 - 120 degrees apart. The holes should be drilled with a drill bit the same size as the straws you will be using. I then elongated them so that the straws could enter on an angle.

Step 5: Attaching Intake and Exhaust Ports

Next we need to attach the straws in the intake and exhaust holes that we just drilled. To do this i used hot glue and glued the straws in on angles. Be sure to use lots of glue so that it will be airtight.

Step 6: Securing the Turbine Base to the Axle

The small lid is the base of the turbine where the blades will soon be mounted. Now that we have built its casing and we know it will fit, it can now be permanently attached to the axle with hot glue. Be sure to only glue on the inside of the lid.

Step 7: Making the Turbine Blades

To make the blades of the turbine i cut small rectangles out of a rigid paper. Next i glue the small pieces of paper to the small lid on an angle that you can see in the pictures. Once complete you can blow in it to see it work. If it doesn't spin smoothly the turbine blades are probably touching the orange lid. To fix this simply cut the paper blades to a shorter length so that they do not chafe against the larger bottle cap.

Step 8: Finishing Touches

To finish off we need to make the turbine airtight so that air cannot escape. This will ultimately make the turbine more efficient. To do this i cut a circle out of hard plastic and drill a hole in the middle so that the axle can fit through it. Next i slide it down over the axle so that it contains the turbine within the casing (large lid). To seal it off i glue around the edges of the round plastic sheet to ensure it is perfectly airtight

Step 9: Testing

To test it out you can blow into the turbine to see how well it works. I found i could power it using either myself blowing into it or a balloon blowing into it. Using either method it could rotate a fan blade or a small boat propeller. I plan to use this in later to videos to possibly power a vehicle such as a car or boat or even generate electricity so be sure to check out my channel or website to keep updated on additions to this video and other future videos

If you plan to builds it i also recommend you check out my video to see exactly how its done.