magneto generator
date: label: date made
content: ca 1855
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: A wooden base on which is mounted a flat, horizontal field coil with a bar magnet spinning the center. Green cloth insulated wire. A brass and hard rubber frame support the magnet on a vertical axle, a commutator with 4 leaf spring brushes is below the cross-bar, and a two-step brass pulley is above. A wooden two-step hand-operated crank wheel actuates the pulley (connecting belt or twine is missing.) The two-steps on wheel and pulley allow adjustment of the rotational speed of the motor. There are sixteen brass connecting posts on one end of the base, 6 pairs of which are connected with thin brass reeds in a diagonal manner. Four posts are isolated. Two wire binding posts are on the opposite end of the base near the handle assembly. Exposed wiring under the bottom. A brass nut under the base secures the magnet's axle. "148" chalked on the base. Accession file records this as part of the "Wheatstone Collection." One of the 4 wooden feet is broken.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: from University of London King's College, Department of Physics
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1990.0539.16
label: catalog number
content: 1990.0539.16
label: accession number
content: 1990.0539
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Generator
label: Object Name
content: magneto generator
label: Other Terms
content: Generator; Motors and Generators
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal, brass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 8 1/4 in x 10 3/8 in x 17 1/2 in; 20.955 cm x 26.3525 cm x 44.45 cm