Marvelous Magnetic Machines

Building Model Electric Motors from Scrap
Creative projects turn everyday scrap into dynamic kinetic art by merging mechanical design with electricity and magnetism. Detailed diagrams and 170 visuals guide makers as they repurpose items like cookware, typewriter parts and audio components into five functional, magnetic motors that inspire hands on innovation.
Winner of the 2021 IBPA Gold Medal for Best Hobby and Craft Book, Marvelous Magnetic Machines: Building Model Electric Motors from Scrap is an inventive and visually captivating guide for anyone fascinated by electricity, magnetism, and mechanical design.

Author H.P. Friedrichs—a professional electrical engineer, inventor, and the celebrated author of The Voice of the Crystal and Instruments of Amplification—returns with a new collection of projects that demonstrate how to build five fully functional electric motors from salvaged materials. Using hand tools and a keen sense of engineering creativity, Friedrichs shows how discarded objects such as cookware, typewriter parts, and audio components can be transformed into kinetic sculptures powered by magnetic force.

Each chapter combines clear, engaging explanations of electrical and magnetic principles with meticulous construction details, 3D CAD diagrams, and over 170 photographs and illustrations. Projects include solenoid-driven crank motors, a six-cylinder “Christmas Motor,” and brushless designs that teach modern concepts like Hall-effect sensors and transistor switching.

Unlike conventional project manuals, Marvelous Magnetic Machines emphasizes inventive problem-solving over rigid step-by-step replication. Readers learn how to adapt scavenged materials, fabricate missing parts, balance rotors, and engineer their own creative solutions—skills essential to the true “maker” spirit.

Critics have praised the book as “exceptionally well written” —Midwest Book Review, “educational and inspiring” —CQ Amateur Radio, and “an impressive work of art and science” —Make Magazine.

Beautifully printed in hardcover (160 pages, 24 × 17 cm), this book is both a workshop reference and a celebration of imaginative engineering. Whether you’re a hobbyist, teacher, or lifelong tinkerer, Marvelous Magnetic Machines will rekindle your curiosity about the unseen forces that move the world.

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