Making tiny 0.1cc two stroke engine from scratch(youtu.be)
155 pointsby pillars2 months ago12 comments
  • xseer2 months ago
    I went down a rabbit hole lately and found this article on tiny diesel engines built throughout the past decades, most of them model engines: https://modelenginenews.org/techniques/minid.html

    > I've seen collectors turn a greenish blue and stammer out crazy offers on sight of my 0.1cc Nano, pictured here. But as the size goes down, construction difficulty and criticality of "fits" goes up exponentially.

  • pillars2 months ago
    Some Model Engineering related resources:

    1. Engineering drawings of small model engines used for model aircrafts. They are designed for manufacturing and working, not not like showcase item. We can actually build them.

    https://outerzone.co.uk/plans.asp?cat=Engines&Xcardsperpage=...

    2. https://modelenginenews.org/midge/index.html

    • WalterBright2 months ago
      I still have a Cox .049 engine in the basement somewhere.
      • greenbit2 months ago
        Used to see adverts for those in magazines and even (iirc) comic books
      • tlb2 months ago
        Of course that's .049 cubic inches (~ 0.82 cc), huge compared to the one in the article.
        • WalterBright2 months ago
          I also had an .020 engine, but it never ran very well, and I don't know what happened to it.

          I had a lot of fun designing my own airplanes and flying them with the .049. Modern electric airplanes are too easy.

    • JKCalhoun2 months ago
      Outerzone is a great site for (mostly vintage) model aircraft plans.

      Cut my fingers up many times as a kid trying to start Cox model airplane engines…

  • JKCalhoun2 months ago
    Related? Blondihacks [1] has been working through machining a live-steam powered scale locomotive.

    Has it been three years now? She easily has another year of work ahead of her before she has live, rolling stock. Wild dedication to a project that could perhaps consume half a decade of your life.

    [1] https://www.youtube.com/@Blondihacks

  • wcrossbow2 months ago
    This is great. If you enjoyed it you should check https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IEGmD_aV3w . Next to that it’s child’s play. That’s a whole trasatlantic’s engine room from scratch.
    • WanderPanda2 months ago
      Wait but the one you linked seems to be pneumatically driven, while the op one is an actual combustion engine, right?
      • wcrossbow2 months ago
        That’s true! Sorry for not mentioning that.
  • pillars2 months ago
    Sorry for offtopic, I want to share,

    Some Machining related channels on youtube:

    this old tony, Chronova engineering, cylo's garage, inheritance machining, breaking taps, blondie hacks, tarkka, dan gelbert, Jonesey Makes, Eric(with a K), Clough42, Alec steele, NBR Works, Not An engineer, Stefan Gotteswinter, oxtoolco, ROBRENZ, MrCrispin, Clickspring, Artisan Makes, MH Anything, Jellyfish machine,Maker B,

    And also there is great course on precision engineering by Alex slocum:

    https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLksE8LDXGXl_MQHKr2DqhfD...

  • Cockbrand2 months ago
    As someone who always thought that it'd be cool to create my own parts and components by milling, but who never actually had access to a milling workshop, I find this video extremely satisfying to watch. Thank you!
  • antonvs2 months ago
    I skipped some bits of the video so probably missed this, but: in the beginning he mentioned no spark or glow plugs and said “similar to a diesel”, but in the end that didn’t work and he had to resort to a glow plug.

    Did he mention what fuel he was using for the compression-only attempts? If not actual diesel, it seems like he would have had to use ether or something like that.

    • vessenes2 months ago
      https://modelenginenews.org/techniques/minid.html Mentions that this engine needs a spring start and 50% ether and it runs up to 40k rpm(!) seems like it’s finicky, which makes sense given its size
      • antonvs2 months ago
        The spring start makes a lot of sense, thanks.
    • RossBencina2 months ago
      It was a mixture of ether, castor oil, and something else. He theorised that the ether was boiling off in the tank before it made it to the engine.
      • antonvs2 months ago
        Ah thanks - I was imagining that perhaps the engine didn’t have high enough compression to achieve ignition.
        • CamperBob22 months ago
          I would think there would be some interaction between the carburetor air intake and the propeller right next to it. Intentional feedback, maybe, to change the mixture as the RPM goes up? If not intentional, then it sounds like a potential showstopper.
    • Frenchgeek2 months ago
      He did: It was just warm enough for the ether in the mix to evaporate long before it reached the engine, so it couldn't run.
  • acomjean2 months ago
    Last century I was gifted a gas powered model helicopter with one of these small gas engines. It had a propeller would fly up, run out of gas and fall back down (it had some larger blades to slow its decent).

    You started by spinning the propeller and letting it spring back.

    How I didn’t loose a finger…

    They’re remarkable little devices.

    • kotaKat2 months ago
      I would love to couple one of these mini-engines to an electric motor and... build a cursed USB-C "generator"... ;)
      • DoctorOetker2 months ago
        I would also like to try that some day, but theres little information on efficiency.

        I'd also like to see one running on laughing gas (N2O), as the autodecomposition reaction is nitrogen and oxygen gas, in similar proportions to atmosphere. But the reaction efficiency would have to be high enough or I'd feel bad about the GWP.

    • noefingway2 months ago
      Brings back memories from childhood. I used to build and fly model airplanes (by wire not rc). Starting those engines was also a challenge. I still have a scar on one finger from an engine kicking back when trying to flip the propeller.
  • jakedata2 months ago
    The second I heard that engine fire it was 1986 in my brain again. I could smell the fuel and feel the finger damage from repeatedly trying to get the darned thing to start. Followed by damage on the other side of the finger when it actually did. Ouch.
    • mycall2 months ago
      Flick a pen on it instead.
      • greenbit2 months ago
        Ah, the classic "chicken stick" approach. No shame in that!
    • JKCalhoun2 months ago
      Me too, brother.
    • jaredhallen2 months ago
      Cox 0.049?
  • noufalibrahim2 months ago
    "The compression seems a little off".

    I'm really curious what kind of background and knowledge the creator of that video would have to develop instincts like that.

    • tkfoss2 months ago
      Work with few engines and you ll hear most of problems right away
  • jiggawatts2 months ago
    I just noticed that this channel has 2 million views and only four videos, all from about a year ago!
  • N_Lens2 months ago
    If you want to see the engine running it's at 30:12