I returned from Spain and found that there were 450 postings on Besslerwheel forum in my short absence! But here's a confession; I am so convinced that I know exactly how Bessler's wheel worked that I have kind of lost interest in other people's theories, and I couldn't face the prospect of going through all 450 postings, so I just looked at the subjects that seemed most attractive to me. I may have missed some interesting comments but it is my impression that most of the ideas which surface there have been discussed previously and more than once.
I suppose this sounds egotistical, but its just a subjective feeling and if I think I'm right then I guess I'm going to think that way. I shall continue to read most of the posts and be interested in any that appear to be closing in on my own ideas, and I'm not so conceited as to think that no one else is working on a parallel course to my own.
Now I'm back I need to concentrate on finishing my proof of principle wheel. It's not as simple as Karl seemed to think, not to build any way, although I'm sure the equivalent of a carpenter's boy today, could make it if he was allowed to study the design for a few minutes. If you can see a finished mechanical system laid bare so all its parts are visible, then I'm sure that in most cases it is easy to understand how it works, but devising the best mechanical arrangement with nothing more than the basic concept to guide you is not so easy. Where in the length of a lever is the best point to attach a pivot? How wide should the angle be that a lever moves through to gain the most mechanical advantgage? Is there a point at which the advantage gained is cancelled out by other reactions? But if all this has been worked out correctly and results in a working model, then to an observer studying the movement, it might indeed look simple and easy to copy.
I have no fear that anyone will gain any insight into my design from the above rhetorical questions, although they apply to my design I don't think that anyone will just stumble on the correct configuration from those few words - unless of course they are on that parallell course!
JC
If you know exactly how Bessler's Wheel worked,it should be easy to make one.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteIs it actually documented anywhere that Bessler said that once a buyer saw how the wheel worked, that they would think they had been cheated?
28 June 2011 21:37
Yes Vincent, it should certainly be possible.
ReplyDeleteAnon, I recall that Bessler wrote that he was worried that the buyer might not think the machine was worth what he was asking once he knew how simple it was.
JC
Can you remember to who he addressed that belief to, and under what circumstances?? It is a pretty important statement since it came from the man who knew everything.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
From memory, I think Bessler's words appear in Das Triunphirende, where he is commenting on the possibility that whoever buys the machine might think that such an apparently simple device should not be worth so much money. He explains why it costs so much.
ReplyDeleteJC