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Materials: Strap iron 6” by 5/8” by 3/32” (or 1/8”) 100’ of. #24 magnet wire. Two 16-penny spikes. Tape 1” wide. Daring needle or piece of coat hanger. Various metal strips. Copper-strand lamp wire 2” long. Baseboard 7” by 6” by 3/4”. 4 screws. Some nails. 1’ hookup wire. 6-volt battery.

The motor we‘re going to build has four parts: the field magnet, armature, commutator, and a pair of brushes.      MAKING THE FIELD MAGNET. We’re going to need a vise for this job. Measure 2” in from each end of the iron strap. Then bend these 2” sections toward each other until the ends are about 3” apart.      Leaving 6” of wire for final connections, start winding the magnet wire along the 2” base of the iron strap. Put on 400 turns. When finished, wrap some tape around the windings to keep them in place and protect them.      ARMATURE AND SHAFT. The two l6-penny nails provide the backbone for the armature. Cut each of them to a 2-1/2” length, measuring from the top of the head down. Tape them as shown. As ac- curately as possible, find the mid-point of the as- sembly. Then insert the shaft (darning needle or 6” length from coat hanger) between the nails right through the tape, allowing 2” to stick out the other side. Next comes the winding.