Com: iverunuty : You need to capture the BackEMF with a few fast Graetz bridge rectifiers and charge up your battery with it...

otherwise you destroy your switches from sparking.

Com: alcive 6410: I thought this up by myself, when I was only in 6th and 7th grade, maybe age 12 or so. And then, I actually built a small prototype, just like this single-solenoid model!

But I needed a lot more time to complete the adjustments needed to make it work as well as this one. This is no bullshit!

I actually got enough beginning motion and force out of it to know that with careful experimentation, a useful motor (and variations of it) could be reliably produced.

I mentioned this to my parents and teachers, and I received discouraging feedback, words to the effect this this had already been thought of and obviously dismissed by the engineering community (1958?).

Also I was criticized by friends and parents with the assumption that a reciprocating machine could not possibly be reasonably efficient compared to any conventional rotary motor, and that I was therefore wasting time on it.

(I was told that such time could be better spent for more effort in my schoolwork, and for household chores.)

Too bad. I know now that this motor has its place, and its optimization for various situations should be explored.

And It could be set up to operate without friction-prone rotary brushes (vulnerable to wear), which might be an advantage in certain applications.

Mind you, I am speaking conservatively here.