Recent content by t.l.a.r. eng

My opinion is that vane type units make better air motors than air compressors. I built a small 4 vane unit from plans in Strictly I.C. plans and decided to fit it to the first 4-stroke I built from scratch. Ugly but runs good. The air vane unit seems to work so much better as an air motor than...

Having put almost 2000 hours on my Taig, I can vouch for it's being a handy home machinist lathe. Mine is stock with the exception of the variable speed powered carriage. The only limits to the Taig is the rate of material removal hardly ever exceeds 0.002 so it becomes a thinking mans lathe...

Sometime back there was a magazine called Strictly I.C. that did an engine build series called the "DUX" If you google Strictly I.C. there site still offers back issues as far as far as I know. The thing that stuck with me about the build was the unique way he overcame the nozzle orifice. And...

Possibly where all the sparks are coming from when it runs. :thumbup:

Overheard a smart fellow once say, "If you cannot explain it simply, then you probably don't understand it yourself" :wall: :fan: :hDe:

One of the little 4-cycle weedeater powerheads I have has a plastic camshaft in it. It would seem plausable if there is little spring seat pressure against the cam for our models. But as my dad always said "plastic belongs in toys" :rant: The Briggs in the video is a classic example...

You may have posted a clue. If it is trying to run, open the throttle all the way and use a heavy rich mixture when trying the first start. If white smoke is coming out the exhaust it is still a little lean. New engines tend to have raw liquid exit the exhaust when running on glow fuel until...

The flywheel is what helps make the engine visualy interesting and different, my vote to keep it also. Nice job on the engine.

I realized you were talking straight dc voltage, but wanted to share what the pulsed amperage would be. At the time I built my circuit Jerry was offering just the chips and i built my circuit around two of them from him. I don't know if he offers parts only or if completed circuits only now...

I used two chips as a basis for my Kinner glow driver from http://www.jamesengine.com/index.htm Using 12 volts and pulsing the on time at the plug to get the 1-1/2 volts. The amperage stays around 4 amps for a 5 cylinder, so a v-8 may only need 6 amps or so to operate.

Quite by accident I found using some small stiff spring stock will connect to the glow plugs quite nicely. I was trying to run my Kinner for the first time and was rummaging for a quick dirty way to make it work. By clipping short lengths of spring and soldering it to the glow wire, it fits...

For the setup as shown, you realy shouldn't need support with a Taig. To loose .002 in such a short distance, something is wrong. The Taig headstock bearings are supported by a two piece design that clamps the bearings and the bed at the same time. Perhaps taking the headstock apart and clean...

Understand what you mean, however for our model engines they just need to run and are not expected to do much work other than to overcome internal friction. Full size engine doing work need more air, fuel volume to produce useful power. Air molecules do not scale down to our models size...

Most multiple cylinder engines have only one intake valve open at any given time through the crank revolution, so treat the carb as one carb filling one cylinder at a time. If the individual cylinder volume is 25 cc, then use a carb sized for a 25 cc cylinder. When you follow the firing order...

How old is your Taig? Perhaps the bed is worn hourglass shapped. An easy check for that is seeing if the carriage is looser towards the chuck and tighter towards the end of the bed. An out of line tail stock will skew the work off center with a chuck an amazing amount, good reason to turn...