Are Woodworkers who like to build engines and other turnip twaddlers welcome?

[Train_Fan]

Hi!

As the title says, I've got the shop of a cabinetmaker and the mind of a 16yo wannabe engineer.

I am currently working on a maple single cylinder (If you can call a square pistoned, square bored thing a "cylinder") air engine based off what you would find on the woodgears.ca website. While it has no planning whatsoever and is designed as the piece is needed so far there has not been a hitch and I think from here I am moving to a two "cylinder" wobbler. As of now is should be complete tomorrow night so I shall have the pics and a video on the completed section!

Regards,
TF

 

[Swifty]

Hi TF, welcome to the site. Yes, you can purchase flat pneumatic "cylinders", used for non rotating situations. You won't be the first person to build a wooden air engine.
By the way, what's a "turnip twaddler"? Sounds like someone who grows vegetables.

Paul.

 

[Tin Falcon]

All are welcome here who are willing to learn about model engine building, willing to show respect to others and follow the few rules of the forum.
Tin

 

[Herbiev]

Woodworking skills are also excellent if you intend to do some metal casting in the future. Making good patterns is a real challenge

 

[Philjoe5]

Hi TF,
Welcome to the forum. Here's a photo of an engine I saw at Cabin Fever last weekend:



There were a few other engines there made of wood being exhibited there.

All mechanical movements are of interest here, made of what materials you're comfortable working with

Cheers,
Phil

 

[Tin Falcon]

Turnip twaddler: Generic name for any useless consumer gadget of the sort frequently sold on late-night infomercials. Commonly sold together with a tomato musher. Originally from the comic strip Bloom County.


I will say had not heard that term either. And it certainly does not apply to the fine craftsmanship we see here. the projects here are products of craftsmanship not mass production and not mass media. While sometimes misunderstood far from useless gadgets.
Tin

 

[Swifty]

Thanks for the explanation Tin, we have several 24 hour TV channels that advertise that garbage here in Australia.

Paul.

 

[jwcnc1911]

Hi TF,
Welcome to the forum. Here's a photo of an engine I saw at Cabin Fever last weekend:



There were a few other engines there made of wood being exhibited there.

All mechanical movements are of interest here, made of what materials you're comfortable working with

Cheers,
Phil

Wood, carved soap, anything like the picture above is a thing of beauty made with skill and patience. I love the contrast of the dark and light woods.

 

[kvom]

In the past we've seen engines made of glass and lucite, and even one made of precious stones and gold!

One guy was going to make one of stone, but I haven't heard from him in a while.

 

[neseng]

Well, .....the way I see it, we all started out with play-dough, popsicle sticks, paper mache, sticky tape, cardboard and wood. (ok, ...so that was quite a few decades back into the last century for me) but then one day there was an epiphany, a blinding realization that there was more to it than playing around with cellulose based products, ....there were METALS!! That was probably around the time that I first pinched my belly button with the back end of a pair of tin snips or got my thumb between a hammer and a steel nail head! But I got hooked on working with metals and I just love stainless steel splinters, blue-hot swarf chips, castings with blow holes and glass-hard spots, different expansion rates of differing metals, corrosion, non weldable, non machinable, non glueable metals and expensive materials, cutters, tooling and machinery.
Go for it Train-Fan, there have been some exquisite models fashioned in wood and I personally reckon they and their makers are more than welcome in these forums. (although I am not a moderator and don't actually have a say in the matter)
By the way, .....keep visiting this forum long enough and we will eventually win you over to the dark side! .......heh, ...heh,...heh.

Cheers, Norman.

 

[Train_Fan]

Ah, thanks! was just checking. I've got my first engine done and running, and I should have pictures up in the Finished section soon.

Turnip twaddler: Generic name for any useless consumer gadget of the sort frequently sold on late-night infomercials. Commonly sold together with a tomato musher. Originally from the comic strip Bloom County.


I will say had not heard that term either. And it certainly does not apply to the fine craftsmanship we see here. the projects here are products of craftsmanship not mass production and not mass media. While sometimes misunderstood far from useless gadgets.
Tin

Well, that was the origin indeed. Around here it is more a colloquialism for "contraption" moreso than a useless consumer good. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

[mwilkes]

Turnip Twaddler is an excellent word - I shall save it for future use.

I find that people who look at model engines and/or turnip twaddlers fall into two categories: the ones that say "wow", and the others that say "what does it do". The first bunch I like. The second lot I find very difficult to deal with... "uh, it sits on a shelf gathering dust, but it was fun to make..."

 

[Tin Falcon]

Well, that was the origin indeed. Around here it is more a colloquialism for "contraption" moreso than a useless consumer good. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Apology accepted . I sometimes over use Acronyms and machinist lingo. and have to explain myself. I do however try to avoid street language or urban slang . I find the urban dictionary definitions of some words are so numerous and varied that they render the word or term meaningless.

In a modern world when most people think all good things come from wall mart. those of us that actually repair and make things are often misunderstood.

There is and always will be value in skill and craftsmanship, design skill ingenuity, creativity etc. I think many of us are building the toys that we could only afford to dream of when we were younger.

It is not about a big collection it is about learning and enjoying a hobby.
Tin