Pull My Finger Engine

[Captain Jerry]

I had one last day in the shop before closing it up for the season. I wanted to do something that I could finish without making too big of a mess so I pulled some pieces out of the project box and made an engine. These parts will be used in a project that I have planned for the fall but for now they have become a finger engine. A slightly unorthodox finger, but what did you expect out of my project box?

Here are some pictures

Jerry

 

[chuck foster]

looks good captain but were's the video so guys like me can see how it works ??? :

chuck

 

[ksouers]

Jerry,
Now that's an interesting twist on the finger engine. Can you post a video before you leave?


Man, I wish I was heading south with you. It's still freezing here. I just got my sailboat dug out of the mud last weekend. It's a Catalina 22, the trailer sunk up to the axles in mud. Got some clean up to do on the bright work and it needs fresh bottom paint, but otherwise ready to go. Hope to have her back in the water by Memorial Day.


Kevin

 

[Captain Jerry]

Oops, I forgot the videos. This is another implementation of the wobble plate / swash plate mechanism known a the Z-Shaft which incorporates elements of both designs. The means to create a balanced/centered Z-Shaft with only a Unimat has bugged me for a while and when it finally came to me a few weeks ago, it was way easier than I had thought it would be. These are some of the concept test sessions I have been going through and I plan to build a three cylinder axial air engine in the fall. I may also build a six cylinder opposed axial engine as well if my valve design proves out.

If you have ever operated a finger engine, you might notice that this one starts with the pedal alone, no need to spin the flywheel.







Jerry

 

[Captain Jerry]

Kevin

Sorry about the weather in MO. I'll be eating fresh Mahi-mahi and stone crabs by Memorial Day.

Jerry

 

[Tool Post]

Great engine! But is it a "finger engine" or a "finger and thumb engine" ???. I like it and would like to know if you have drawings or plans for it?

 

[defarijf]

Great engine :bow:, Do you have plans , I like to see what makes it tick.

Joe

 

[Captain Jerry]

Good observation. Version 1 was indeed a finger/thumb engine since there was nothing to restrict the rotation of the wobble plate. For V2, I added two more arms 120 degrees apart with finger knobs. The additional mass on the wobble plate makes it much easier to operate with just a finger. Now that there are two more finger knobs, three can play! It takes a lot of cooperation but it can be done.

I have no plans for it. It is made from some parts that I built to investigate several methods of producing an accurate, balanced and centered z-shaft on a Unimat with the intention of building a 3 or six cylinder engine which I hope to get back to in the late summer.

The construction is very simple. The vertical shaft turns freely on a ball bearing mounted in the base. Fixed to the shaft is a three cornered round plate that was going to be the end plate of my next engine. Here it is acting as the flywheel.

Above the flywheel is another ball bearing mounted on a plate so that the bearings axis of rotation is inclined. The inner race is fied to the shaft. The vertical axis, and the inclined axis and the plane through the balls of the upper bearing intersect at a single point which is the problem that I was trying to solve with this experiment. The outer race of the upper bearing is mounted in the plate that holds the arms which are centered in the plane of the bearing.

Last week I downloaded the Alibre free trial and I am madly trying to produce plans for my Weeble Engine as well as design and produce plans for the next engine based on the above.
I need to do this before the 30 day trial expires so I probably won't do any plans for the finger engine for a while.

Best to all
Jerry