This is a water pump fabricated from scratch based on the directions of Gerald Recktenwald at Portland State University, found here: https://learn.sparkfun.com/resources/44. The housing was constructed from PVC plastic using a mill, mostly used as a precise drill press. A centered N size through hole fits a bronze bushing and o-ring seat for the motor shaft. On the other side, a 1" forstner bit is used to make the cylindrical chamber for the impeller (yellow) and a 1.25" forstner bit makes a seat for an o-ring. On the top of the grey and the middle of the clear sheet, two Q sized holes are tapped with a 1/4" NPT pipe threads for the barbed hose connectors. Four holes allow a zip tie to hold the motor in place. Finally, the clear and grey pieces were attached with screws to compress an o-ring, sealing the other side of the pump from water.
The bronze bearing was fabricated on a lathe. A through hole was drilled concentric to the outer diameter of a bronze rod. The end of the rod was beveled to allow it to be pressed into the N hole mentioned above. A small seat was made with an end mill to house the tiny o-ring which sealed the motor shaft from water. The rod was then parted to make the bearing.
In the video below, you can see that the pump can supply a limited amount of potential energy; as the outlet tube is raised, the flow rate diminishes until its maximum pumping height is reached where the flow rate is zero.
