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Instructions For Build Your Own Maglev Train

This document provides instructions for building a model maglev train using common household materials like cardboard, duct tape, magnets, wire, a battery, motor and propeller. The train floats on a track powered by electromagnets. To assemble it, you make the cardboard track base with magnets attached, construct the train car with magnets on the bottom, and attach a motor and propeller to provide propulsion. Proper alignment of the magnets on the train and track is important for smooth operation. Links are included for additional information on maglev train designs.

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Takeuchi Kyousuke Takato
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215 views3 pages

Instructions For Build Your Own Maglev Train

This document provides instructions for building a model maglev train using common household materials like cardboard, duct tape, magnets, wire, a battery, motor and propeller. The train floats on a track powered by electromagnets. To assemble it, you make the cardboard track base with magnets attached, construct the train car with magnets on the bottom, and attach a motor and propeller to provide propulsion. Proper alignment of the magnets on the train and track is important for smooth operation. Links are included for additional information on maglev train designs.

Uploaded by

Takeuchi Kyousuke Takato
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Build Your Own Maglev Train

Figure 1. Almost fully assembled, your model maglev train,


track, and propulsion system

Materials you will need include the following:

Tools
 duct tape
 scissors or a utility knife
 an adhesive putty like Blue-Tack

Tracks
 a cardboard box, such as a shoebox
 a cereal box, or similar material such as paperboard
 26 permanent magnets (each about 1 inch long)

Propulsion
 color-coded wire (about 22 gauge)
 a toy plane propeller (about 4 inches long—I used one from a balsa wood airplane kit)
 a 6-volt battery
 a 6-volt DC motor
 a piece of 1/2 inch wide by 4 inch long poplar wood (used as a mount for propeller; see Figure 1)

A few notes about the materials:


 For the color-coded wire, I purchased a 5-pack of heavy-duty 9-volt battery snap connectors. I
cut the wiring off 2 of the snap connectors, and then I joined the 2 red wires and the 2 black
wires to make 1 long red wire and 1 long black wire. The reason I did this is because the 5-pack
of snap connectors is $0.99 at Radio Shack, whereas a spool of 22 gauge black wire and a spool
of 22 gauge red wire would cost about $14.00 from Radio Shack. I don’t know about you, but I’d
rather go the cheaper route.
 Finding a toy plane propeller was a bit tricky. Where I live we don’t have a hobby shop that sells
those kind of speciality parts, so I ended up buying a balsa wood airplane kit from a department
store. The kit was about $2.50.
 You should be able to buy the 6-volt battery and the 6-volt DC motor from a place like Radio
Shack. Each part was about $3.00.
ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS

Track base
Cut out a base for your track from your cardboard box. It should measure about 4 inches wide by 12
inches long.

Tracks
 Next, place your permanent magnets North-side down on to the sticky side of a strip of duct
tape, lining them up like a track. You’ll make 2 tracks—each should have 12 magnets.
 Flip over the taped magnet tracks and adhere them to the cardboard base.

Guide walls
 Now you need to make the guide walls. I cut out 2 more pieces of cardboard that measured
about 4 inches wide by 12 inches long. This time, I used my utility knife to score a line
lengthwise down the middle of the cardboard, folding each piece in half so that it stood like a
tent. Use your duct tape to secure these guide walls to the base that you cut out earlier.

Train car

Figure 2. I cut out paperboard from a cereal box to make my "train."


I used Blue-Tak to adhere the magnets to the underside of the train.

 To make the train, find your cereal box and cut out a square that measures 3⅞ inches wide by 3
inches long. You want the train to be just wide enough that it will fit in between the guide walls
you just made. There needs to be enough room that it can float freely, just barely touching the
guide walls as it glides down the track.
 After you cut out your train car, use your adhesive putty or duct tape to secure 4 permanent
magnets to the bottom of the train. Make sure that the magnets are facing North-side down so
that the train is repelled by the magnets that make up the track. See Figure 3 for a diagram
cross-section of the model that shows how the magnets should be set up.

Figure 3. Make sure the magnets that act as the "wheels" on


your train have the north poles facing the north poles of the
magnets on your track.
Propulsion system
 You’ll need to make a post to mount your propeller on. I used a piece of poplar wood I had lying
around. You will need a material that is sturdy enough to mount the 6-volt DC motor on top. You
can use your adhesive putty to mount the motor on top of the wood post. The propeller should
have a 1 or 2 millimeter hole through which the motor shaft can slide on to. Go ahead and press
the propeller onto the motor shaft.
 After you have cut the wire, connect the positive and negative ends to the corresponding
connectors on the motor and the 6-volt battery. Once you do, the motor should power up and
the propeller will begin spinning. The motor spins at about 17,000 rpms, so it will spin pretty
fast.

TROUBLESHOOTING
You might need to work at this project a little bit to get it to work. The trickiest part is aligning the
magnets on the train and the magnets on the track; the alignment needs to as accurate as possible. This
means the guide walls need to be aligned well enough to keep the train stabilized. Otherwise, your train
will wobble and probably be attracted to one side of the track or the other, sticking to it rather than
being repelled.

LINKS
 MEDIA: Simple Model Maglev - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHCg_7V5s1g
 MEDIA: Electric Model Maglev - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQHDHS8tDvo
 Model Maglev with Solar Energy
http://www.skinners-school.co.uk/downloads/Skinners_MAGLEV_STEM_1_Project.pdf
 Linear Motor Maglev Train - http://amasci.com/maglev/linmot.html

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