Jet Engine Motor Mount

Overview

I built this 3D-printed jet engine using a kit from Bambu. It was a nice display piece, but it was a bit boring because it didn't spin.

So I used a 9V electric motor I had laying around along with a generic switch and a few gears, and made it spin.

First, I had to figure out what gear ratio to use to actually make this electric motor work. The jet engine had a lot of friction and enough inertia that the motor could not get it spinning without a reduction gear. In the end, I used a roughly 6:1 reduction to get the engine running at a decent speed without a lack of torque.

After this, I designed a way to mount the electric motor to the engine. This took a few attempts to get all the centerpoints of the gears to lineup and be at the right distance.

I designed the mount to be apart of an existing piece of the jet engine so that the installation would look seamless.

I also designed a cage to house the 9V battery and switch.

Finally, I soldered the 9V battery connector, the switch, and the electric motor together, and screwed all the parts on for the finished product.