By Papa Bale · April 5, 2026
Something remarkable has happened in the DIY electronics community over the past few years. A new generation of experimenters — armed with cheap 3D printers, accessible electronics components, and YouTube — has started exploring magnetic induction motors in ways that would have required a university lab a decade ago. Papa Bale's Pulse Motors is right at the center of this movement.
Magnetic induction — Faraday's law in action — is the principle that a changing magnetic field induces voltage in a conductor. This is the fundamental mechanism behind generators, transformers, and electric motors of all types, including the pulse motors we build and experiment with here.
When a permanent magnet on a rotor sweeps past a coil, it induces a voltage in that coil. When we reverse the process — sending current through the coil to create a magnetic field that attracts or repels the magnet — we convert electrical energy into mechanical rotation. This is electromagnetic induction at its most tangible and hands-on.
In 2026, hobbyists are exploring magnetic induction with unprecedented tools and community knowledge sharing. Here's what's happening in the space.
Pulse motors remain the most popular entry point for magnetic induction experimentation. Their simple circuits make the induction principles easy to observe and measure. A beginner can build a working pulse motor in a weekend and directly observe magnetic induction creating rotation.
The Bedini SSG design has spawned countless variations — multi-coil wheels, toroidal core designs, solid-state adaptations. Each variant explores different aspects of magnetic induction and back EMF recovery. The community shares schematics, measurements, and insights openly on forums and YouTube.
A subset of the community has moved into switched reluctance motors — motors with no permanent magnets, relying entirely on the attraction between an energized coil and a soft iron rotor. These are pure magnetic induction devices and represent a more engineering-focused branch of the hobby.
The truly adventurous builders are tackling AC induction motors — the workhorse of industrial machinery — from scratch. These require carefully timed multi-phase coils and represent the frontier of DIY electric motor building. They're complex but achievable with modern microcontrollers (Arduino, ESP32) and the deep knowledge base available online.
Papa Bale started with a childhood love of magnets, took a 30-year detour through life, and came back to build one of the most authentic DIY magnetic motor channels on YouTube. The channel at @MPHJR documents real experiments with no pretense: the wins, the failures, the tuning sessions, the "why is it doing that?" moments that every builder recognizes.
What sets Papa Bale apart in the magnetic induction motor DIY space:
The best starting point in 2026 remains the humble pulse motor. Build one, understand how magnetic induction creates rotation, measure your back EMF, optimize your timing. From there, the path to more complex magnetic induction experiments is a natural progression.
Start here: Pulse Motors for Beginners. It's your on-ramp to the entire magnetic induction DIY world.
Papa Bale's channel is the best place to watch DIY magnetic induction experiments in 2026. Subscribe and build along!