A bit of a tangent from woodworking-related topics today. This video of a Spanish machinist constructing a fully-working miniature 12-cylinder engine brought a smile to my face, partly out of an appreciation for skilled craftsmanship of any kind, partly due to a personal liking for precision and metal craft -and damn! - it's pretty exciting to watch! With all the parts, reminds me of some furniture projects too. It's in Spanish, but that shouldn't get in the way of understanding what's going on.
Hope you like it:
This is a very cool engine, but it's no diesel. It runs on compressed air. Note the lack of injectors and the fact that the camshaft gears are the same size as the crankshaft gear. This implies a power stroke every revolution, and there's no blower or crankcase compression here, so two-stroke operation is out. The probable lack of piston rings (didn't see any unambiguously) would make the required compression for diesel ignition impossible. Compressed air operation for sure.
ReplyDeleteRD
Roger,
ReplyDeleteyou're absolutely right. Not sure where I got the 'diesel' from, but I have amended the post accordingly. Thanks for pointing that out.
~C
The YouTube vid of the fellow that completely hand built the miniature Ferrari, spending fifteen years on the project, is also a very worthy one pertaining to small scale workmanship and dedication. He wanted to capture the Ferrari engine sound with his model, and he was successful.
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/LyOlrCHV21w
Dennis, that video was awesome - thanks for posting!!
ReplyDelete~C
There is a machinist who works down the street from me. His Dad built a 1/4 scale Offenhauser engine that ran. He did all the math and machining by hand, no CNC stuff. Took him 10 years.
ReplyDeleteAwhsome work there!!
ReplyDeleteAgreed!
ReplyDelete~C