Meanwhile, further incidents happened.
Gärtner and his ‘gang’ were producing new pamphlets stating that the machine could not work for longer than two
weeks. It again annoyed Orffyreus because his machine could move flawlessly forever until wear and tear of some parts stopped
the machine. He made up his mind to design a large perpetual motion wheel and demonstrate it to public and learned man again. For this reason Orffyreus requested Landgrave, Karl, to support the test. Under the patronage of the Count Karl, Orffyreus found himself more secured and set himself to construct
his last and largest wheel at the castle of the Weissenstein, a place that Orffyreus found to be most suitable for construction
of his perpetual motion machine as his machine could be kept under lock and key. Orffyreus
was also provided guards to prevent any robbery of his great secret. Orffyreus
was very much cautious; he even did not easily believe his friends and relatives. Orffyreus
even did not believe guards appointed by Count Karl. He even hired a personal
guard to keep watch over other guards. Orffyreus decided to install his machine at Gardener’s shed on the ground of
castle of the Weissenstein.
Weissenstein
Wheel at a Glance
Diameter = 12 feet
Thickness = 18 inches
Speed = 26 RPM unloaded –
20 RPM under water screw load
Rotation = dual-directional,
Required gentle push start in either direction
Axle = 8 inches diameter
(probable diameter = 1/3 ell = 7.4 inches)
Sound = produced 8 bangs per revolution
at descending side of wheel
The wheel was 12 feet
in diameter and 14 inches thick, material being the light pine boards.* Orffyreus again concealed the mechanism by covering it with oilcloth well stretched
all over the rim. The axle was 8 inch thick.
Orffyreus showed his unusual tendencies at Weissenstein also. He quarreled
with every one around him with guards and visitors around him. Because of his
perverse attitude, he estranged his best friends and fell among enemies.
This
time also people from different walks came to watch the perpetual motion machine of Orffyreus.
Kings, princess, landgraves, professors, learned man and common folk all came and marveled at the ingenuity of the
inventor. Many went away convinced of the absolute certainty of the action of
the machine while many went away mumbling that inventor was a fraud. Clock makers
again tried to discredit the invention, Orffyreus again found him involved in bitter arguments with them. Hundreds
of people believed that they watched a true perpetual motion machine but some still doubted Orffyreus' integrity. It was again rumored that since Orffyreus had once been a watchmaker, he cleverly used a wound up spring
to drive his machine. To belittle Orffyreus’ achievement clockmakers again
proclaimed that they had succeeded in duplicating the device using the
same mechanisms used in clocks. Orffyreus
took a sigh of relief when no clock maker actually came forward with such device. Orffyreus
turned very hostile to those who were trying to belittle his claim by making their own false claim to invent such a mechanism. Still, it was difficult for Orffyreus to stop those loud-mouthed people making announcements. There are no records of any other such devices built by them. These were deliberate moves to undermine his credibility as a genuine inventor. However, learned man too came who were impressed by his machine.
Orffyreus had good opportunity to take advantage of their presence and pursue them to help for the ‘cause’
but he failed to induce their cooperation because he had big apprehension of being himself a small fish that would be eaten
by a large fish if he continued to tell them about the working of the mechanism.
In the beginning guards took interest in the invention
and they were also amused by the drama around the invention but after some time it became boring and depressing for them,
largely on account off Orffyreus character. Frank Edward wrote: "...he became
so disagreeable that guards at the room where device was stored accepted duty as a form of punishment.”
* The Wissenstein wheel was the largest in diameter (11.15 to 12 feet,
with width 18 inches ( J. Collins book.- Perpetual Motion : An Ancient Mystery Solved ?
pp. 16, 20, 61, 110, 197, 200 ). It produced more power than any of the other wheels.
