Recent content by 123RWO

Yes, the standard design for the Hall effect distributor mounts the trigger magnets on the underside of the rotor where they pass by close to the Hall sensor as the rotor rotates. As each magnet triggers the sensor, the CD box generates a high voltage pulse that is wired back to the distributor...

See: http://www.cncengines.com/ic.html for the electronics package used in the Hodgson 9 cylinder radial. It will work in a 12 cylinder as well. The Hodgson distributor is about 1.81" in dia., so a 12 cylinder version would be somewhat larger. Remember that voltage does not scale so a...

Vertex(Taiwan) makes rotary tables with dividing plates and tailstock. RWO

Points with a 12 lobe cam and a conventional coil won't allow very much dwell time which will limit max RPM. A far more sensible system would be to use a CD ignition which doesn't require significant dwell. I would forget the points and use a Hall effect distributor with the trigger magnets...

I have a 6" table and I bought a cheap import 4-jaw, flat-back lathe chuck that had an OD slightly larger than the tables OD. I bored a recess in the back of the chuck about .180" deep that was a snug slip fit on the OD of the rotary table. I drilled the chuck body for a couple of 1/4" SHCS...

A conventional siren is a centrifugal blower with a slotted diffuser. It had to pump air to make a sound. The slots chop the air flow as the close fitting rotor vane tips pass by. The chop freq.( proportional to the number of slots, number of rotor vanes, and the rotor RPM) determines the...

Commercial oil hardening steel comes fully annealed, so silver soldering will have no effect. Just let it cool in air, and proceed with your work. RWO

The weight of the crankpin is assumed to statically balance the crank. Then the other weights are added to reduce the effects of the reciprocating parts. RWO

FWIW, this page is instructive as to vibration in 2 cylinder engines of various layouts: http://www.sense.net/~blaine/twin/twin.html RWO

Early radials did require periodic oiling/greasing of the exposed rocker arms. By the mid 1920's, engine designers in the US had incorporated rocker boxes and pushrod tubes with pressure lubrication of the valve gear, eliminating a maint. headache and increasing reliability. Regarding...

Sorry Entropy455, I didn't read your post carefully enough and somehow ignored the first part of your post. I apologize. RWO

I use bronze Oilite bushings in my engine's rocker arms. RWO

Entropy455's method produces a staticly balanced crank, but ignores the unbalance forces caused by the reciprocating components. If you want to minimize engine vibration, you must add additional weight to reduce the effects of the reciprocating masses: rod, piston and wrist pin. It's...

There is nothing wrong with a 180 deg. crank on a parallel twin. The Honda CB350 had one and nobody can argue that it was not good running machine. No doubt there were other motorcycles, that used that set-up, but I don't have personal knowledge of which ones did. RWO

According to an old book on single cylinder engines, the counterweight is the sum of the following weights: weight of crankpin , 3/4 weight of rod, 1/2 weight of wristpin, 1/2 weight of piston. The center of mass of the counterweight must be the same distance from the center of rotation as the...