- Joined
- Dec 2, 2008
- Messages
- 971
- Reaction score
- 9
I'm a new member with little machining experience. I built a few simple junk box/hardware store single acting engines with a hand drill and files before I got a drill press. Then I built a few more that were a little more complicated. Then I got a well used Unimat and went a little further. A couple of V-4 brass and aluminum bar/plate engines. So far, I have stayed with steam/air engines but I plan to try an IC design in the future.
So far, all of my engines have been of my own design. I have more time for design than I do for execution, since I spend five or six months of the year cruising on my sailboat in the Bahamas. No room for a lathe, but plenty of time with CAD on the laptop.
Recently my interest has turned to Axial engines. I recently brought to life, a plan that has been in my dreams and on the drawing board for years, waiting for an AH-HA moment to make it possible. I call this engine the Chevron Axial. This engine has five cylinders, ten pistons and no connecting rods or cranks. It runs fairly well from about 100 RPM up to over 1000 RPM but is quite an air hog. I'm new to this forum so if I can figure out how, I will post a few pictures. It is not up to show finish and may never be since I seem to be moving on. I find it more fun to prove and improve on a design concept than to spend time polishing.
My present project is a wobble plate engine that I call the "Weeble". It is in it's third implementation since I started on it in September. In this case, the AH-HA came before I even knew that I was thinking about it. I continue to experiment with the concept and the design of the linkage between the piston/rod/spider and the control of spider oscillation.
This is the design that I hope to take to IC at some time in the future. I have searched this site for wobble plate, swash plate, cam drive, and bent axis engines and the only thing that I find is the excellent elbow engine that is a special case of the bent axis concept.
As my experience and skill with the Unimat improve, I realize that the Unimat is so limited that it is ridiculous but as long as I am able to keep cruising ( I'm 70 yrs old) I would rather put extra money in my boat instead of my shop so I'll make do. Adding DRO with a few brackets and a digital caliper have made it possible to hold tolerances within .0005 on the lathe but with no real control of the 'Y' axis, the mill function is limited an exercise in ingenuity and patience.
Comments or advice from anyone with experience or interest in wobble plate type engines is welcome.
By the way, is it possible to include a Quicktime Movie clip as an attachment? If so I'll post a movie of the Chevron Axial engine.
So far, all of my engines have been of my own design. I have more time for design than I do for execution, since I spend five or six months of the year cruising on my sailboat in the Bahamas. No room for a lathe, but plenty of time with CAD on the laptop.
Recently my interest has turned to Axial engines. I recently brought to life, a plan that has been in my dreams and on the drawing board for years, waiting for an AH-HA moment to make it possible. I call this engine the Chevron Axial. This engine has five cylinders, ten pistons and no connecting rods or cranks. It runs fairly well from about 100 RPM up to over 1000 RPM but is quite an air hog. I'm new to this forum so if I can figure out how, I will post a few pictures. It is not up to show finish and may never be since I seem to be moving on. I find it more fun to prove and improve on a design concept than to spend time polishing.
My present project is a wobble plate engine that I call the "Weeble". It is in it's third implementation since I started on it in September. In this case, the AH-HA came before I even knew that I was thinking about it. I continue to experiment with the concept and the design of the linkage between the piston/rod/spider and the control of spider oscillation.
This is the design that I hope to take to IC at some time in the future. I have searched this site for wobble plate, swash plate, cam drive, and bent axis engines and the only thing that I find is the excellent elbow engine that is a special case of the bent axis concept.
As my experience and skill with the Unimat improve, I realize that the Unimat is so limited that it is ridiculous but as long as I am able to keep cruising ( I'm 70 yrs old) I would rather put extra money in my boat instead of my shop so I'll make do. Adding DRO with a few brackets and a digital caliper have made it possible to hold tolerances within .0005 on the lathe but with no real control of the 'Y' axis, the mill function is limited an exercise in ingenuity and patience.
Comments or advice from anyone with experience or interest in wobble plate type engines is welcome.
By the way, is it possible to include a Quicktime Movie clip as an attachment? If so I'll post a movie of the Chevron Axial engine.
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