Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) is perhaps best known for developing his electrical system based on alternating current and the Tesla coil. A lesser-known invention, the Tesla valve is, in essence, a one-way conduit for fluids. The rather remarkable device mimics the behavior of an electronic diode by allowing fluids to flow in one direction with approximately 20 times less resistance than in the other.1
How does the valve work? The geometry of the Tesla valve is such that it allows fluids to flow through a gently meandering central section in one direction. In the other direction, motion is restricted due to obstacles that impede the flow. A template based on Tesla’s original 1920 patent drawing is shown Fig. 1.
Construction of the valve begins by taping an enlarged copy of the template in Fig. 1 to a piece of MDF (medium density fiberboard). A 1/16-in downcut inlay bit and...
