Before I got my lathe, I made a pair of solenoid motors from various dribs and drabs that I happened to have around at the time. Here's a video of one:
Starts working at 12 volts, and goes like the clappers at about 22 volts which is the maximum voltage my Dad's DC power supply can give. The other one uses a photointerruptor for timing, and it starts to work at about 6 volts.