61–66 of 66 posts
I experimented with making a clock using ferrofluid previously. I was inspired by this clock [0] but put off by the price tag. Generally the main issues I found were that it degraded over time and I had real trouble with ferrofluid smearing on the container. Will have to try again now! [0]: https://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/ferrofluid-clock/
I experimented with making a clock using ferrofluid previously. I was inspired by this clock [0] but put off by the price tag. Generally the main issues I found were that it degraded over time and I had real trouble with ferrofluid smearing on the container. Will have to try again now! [0]: https://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/ferrofluid-clock/
The article mentions "Because ferrofluid adheres well to glass, special treatments were required on the glass" but doesn't go into details
https://uk.vwr.com/store/product/2994602/repelcote-vs-water-...
which coats the glass with a layer of silicone polymer.
Not entirely unlike some automotive silicone "waxes" which repel hydrous materials.
Or treatment of the glassware with the much more hazardous dimethyldichlorosilane (DMCS), which actually reacts strongly with the the glass surface at the molecular "sticky points" (which otherwise cause water to wet clean untreated glass and form a H2O film rather than bead up).
The DMCS is pretty rough and you need to handle it under a hood since it can give off more "smoke" consisting of pure HCL vapor sometimes when you open the bottle, compared to opening concentrated hydrochloric acid.
And it eats through the bottle's plastic closure every few years, so it's one of the ones that you need to keep an eye on and replace the cap as needed.
But you get some pretty slick glassware.
Oh, I thought the ferrofluid was going to be the speaker. Like plasma speakers [1]. The helium plasma speaker was only good for high frequencies, and needed something else for the bass. Using a heavy liquid for bass might work. [1] http://hillplasmatronics.com/
Back in '74 I used to carpool with a grad student who had built an experimental pair which were already amazing.
For anyone as fascinated with this substance as I am, here [0] is a YouTube video of someone making it 'from scratch'. It's a very detailed explanation, and includes some comparisons of the outcome VS commercial ferro fluids. [0] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6L8yUY-doNc
Very cool project. There is a video of it in action[0] at the bottom. This is something that screams Kickstarter to me. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a3JiGTE9sc
If it becomes a Kickstarter, I really hope the makers know what they are getting into. There is a lot between a prototype and mass production, and a lot of projects fail between the two. Keeping it small scale, hand made on demand and high priced may be a safer option.
There is an incredible amount of work between the prototype and mass production. There is however not that much work between a prototype and a campaign video.
Which is all one needs…