Laminar Flow Fountain - Tangential Input

Ok, here is what I am planning for the tangential input. I have a small drill press in my laboratory that I used to drill the hole tangential to the interior wall.

Laminar Flow Fountain - Brass Nozzle Insert

So I finally was able to get into my little workshop and setup the machinary to insert the brass nozzle into the prototype laminar nozzle.

Just to recap for the rest of us. I had a manufacturing company that I know make this fabulous brass nozzle for me. I finally got the parts last week and have been itching to get to use them but life has gotten in the way. I've been working on this project for about 1.5 months and have had some pretty steady progress, but this nozzle really takes the design to the next level.

BEFORE

Here is the before pictures of the nozzle WITHOUT the brass nozzle insert.
Notice the water veins in it that are coming right out of the exit? They disappear as the water travels on, but it adds to the turbulence and if there is enough flow the water will begin to break up.

AFTER

Here are the pictures with the brass nozzle insert. This is a low flow rate, but it is comparable to the flow rate in the previous pictures.

This is my favorite picture notice the ASSESENCE of the water viens!!! Absolutely CRYSTAL CLEAR LAMINAR FLOW!

NEXT UP!

1. Work on building a tangential inlet.
   
1. It is my belief that if I add the tangential input I will be able to increase the range without the water breaking up to about 4 times greater than what it currently is.
   
2. Continue to work on the electronics to cut and light the nozzle
3. When parts arrive, assemble the 1st build.
1. 1st build includes (August 12th)
   
1. 1 Laminar flow nozzle
2. Cutter mechanism
3. Low Pass filter
4. Pump
5. LED Light source
6. Fiber Optics
   
4. Test 1st build
5. Evaluate and Redesign as needed
   

Laminar Flow Fountain by Mario

So, I've made some new friends on this journey to the laminar fountain! I am proud to introduce you to Mario the Magician. He really is a magician in more ways than one! First it really is his career in Switzerland, but more importantly he is a WIZARD with laminar flow fountains!

With his permission, I've uploaded a video of his fountain. He has done a remarkable job, and I just can't believe the quality of his fountain. The water doesn't have a imperfection in it!!! FLAWLESS COMPLETELY FLAWLESS!!!!!!

Ok, so he built a fountain that shoots out a prefectly clear stream of water without a flaw in it...SO WHAT!

Well, not only did he built the fountain, but he also built the electronics from stratch, and programmed it all from stratch all while learning everything he could about the fountains online!!!!!

I am continuously astounded by his ingenuity and BRILLIANCE.

This video shows the flow from the fountain and its different modes. I can't say enough about MARIO! Thanks for sharing Mario!

MARIO THE MAGICIAN

Brass Nozzle - Exit Orifice

I got my 0.5" Brass Nozzle from my manufacturer today. They look great! I'm very impressed with the quality. The internal diameter is 0.5" the external diameter is 1". The thickness is .177"

The internal edge is very sharp and could cut your finger. I'm sure that this will do perform well. I can't wait to test it, but I'm still waiting on some other parts.

PMMA Optical Fiber

I received my PMMA Optical Fiber yesterday. It only took 4 days to get halfway around the world to my secret laboratory!




The fiber optics is PMMA or plastic. It is 3mm thick with no PVC coating on it. I couldn't afford the PVC coating. I was surprised at how rigid the cable is, granted I understand that is it SOLID, but it still took me off guard. If I let go of the reel the 3 or 4 loops would spring off.

I can't wait to play with it!

Question:

Do anyone know how to polish the ends? Can I just use the buffing pad for my dremel?

Coolest service ever!

I realized that the design for the Laminar Flow Nozzle is starting to get a little complex, and by complex I mean things that I can’t manufacture with my little drill press. However, if you need a small hole drilled into something I'm your guy! My previous experiences with manufacturing companies went well. I just called them up, emailed them some documents. They gave me a quote and we went on our way. I never did much shopping around since I only knew a handful of companies.

I was headed down that road again. I emailed 2 companies that I knew could make the part that I needed, but days went by and they never emailed me back. A long time ago a friend of mine told me about this great website MFG.COM. Essentially is an eBay of sort but for manufactures who want jobs. So people and companies submit an idea/documents for something to be manufactured. The manufacturing companies look at the design and submit a bid to make your desired product. I guess it’s more like a silent auction.

So I signed up! It was really easy to sign up and submit a RFQ (Request for Quote). The next morning I looked at my RFQ and there were 20 bids for my parts. They ranged from $4 to $256 for a quantity of 8. WOW! The lowest bids came from over shores. I’m not sure I want to venture out that far just yet so I’m going to go with a company in California.

So they are going to make my parts for me. I will have them in a little over a month.

Laminar Flow Leapfrog Fountain

I went to Disney World when I was 15 years old with my family. While we were there we visited the Epcot center. We were walking around looking at the attractions when we came across this very unique fountain. This fountain would shoot a jet of water about 4 feet long and where it landed another jet would shoot another jet of water making it appear as the water was jumping around. I was fascinated with the fountain and probably played with it for an hour.

Ever since I saw that fountain I always wanted one. Now I'm in the position where I can make my own. I thought that it would be easy. I thought I could tie it into my sprinkler system and use sprinkler valves to make it jump. NOOOOOOOO, DISNEY would never make it that simple. As I started to look into the fountain and how I would build it I came across some very interesting information. The nozzles that they used weren't your typical nozzle that just shoots water. They are special nozzles. These nozzles take the turbulent flow and turns it into a laminar flow. For those that don't speak geekspeak, the nozzle takes the water and organizes it puts it back together so that the water is all traveling at the same speed! This "organization" produces a crystal clear stream throughout the entire arc. If you are good enough you can't even tell that the water is moving because the entire arc looks the same.

So I've done my research and read through a dozen different patents on the laminar flow nozzles. I've been working on a way to make your own laminar nozzle. So the black thing in the picture that is shooting out the water is my laminar nozzle. I've been working on this for about 2 weeks now, and have had some pretty good results. Nothing perfect but good results. This is the second test. The first test I didn't record! WHAT KIND OF MAD SCIENTIST DOESN'T RECORD HIS TEST RESULTS?!?!

TEST 1

Setup:
The lamiar nozzle is attached to a garden hose #1. The nozzle was setup with an incline. The valve is fully open.

The Laminar nozzle setup includes the coffee straws, and a .5 countersink hole in the cap.

Results:
The flow wasn't entirely laminar, in fact I suspect that it was more in the transitional flow. At the orfice the flow was semi-organized and clear but with "veins" that looked like rifling. As the stream progressed the water became more and more broken-up. The arc was about 4' wide.

TEST 2
Setup:
The lamiar nozzle is attached to a garden hose #1. The nozzle was setup with an incline. The valve is fully open.

The Laminar nozzle setup includes the coffee straws, and a .5 countersink hole in the cap, and a 3" thick sponge that was cut into 4" diameter circle to fit inside the nozzle right by the inlet.

Results:
As you can see the results are much more clear and focused. There are still issues with the water at the outlet. It appears that the water has a "rifling" look to it. The water doesn't break up at all throughout the entire stream.