# Jan Ridders new Glass cylinder 4 stroke engine!



## lazylathe (Jan 8, 2012)

Hi All,

Just found this and thought i would share a link!
Looks very cool!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vSP7FNWUIc&feature=youtu.be

Andrew


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## Mike N (Jan 8, 2012)

Very Cool!


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## ChrisB (Jan 9, 2012)

*sigh* *Another* set of his plans i need to get ;D

Wonderful looking work as always, great demontration model too.


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## shred (Jan 9, 2012)

Jan's plans are free and an incredible resource. You have to e-mail to get them and he does ask for a small optional donation if you like them, but that's it.


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## Omnimill (Jan 9, 2012)

Very neat, but then Jan always seems to make neat stuff!


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## rake60 (Jan 10, 2012)

Elmer Verburg was the hobby model engine plan designer of the 20th century. 
You can still buy his book "Elmer's Engines" used for as little as $250 USD, if you can find a used one.
It has become a collectable book.

Jan Ridders is the hobby model engine plan designer of the 21st century.
His plans cost you an email to him requesting a copy.

Rick


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## bearcar1 (Jan 10, 2012)

Indeed Rick, and I agree with you about his engineering prowess. His designs are refreshing, the lines of them are a very eye appealing. Each one of his designs are vaguely familiar to each other fundamentally and yet are very different in terms of execution. I sit and stare at his engines and marvel at their form. 8)

BC1
Jim


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## Wrist Pin (Jan 11, 2012)

I often wondered what it looked like inside an operating I. C. engine. That is just spectacular!! What is he using for the glass cylinder? The only thing I could find was site glass material from McMaster-Carr. The largest they sell would take a piston diameter of .469 in. Jan's pistons look to be, at least, 3/4" diameter. I wonder where he got the glass?


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## rkepler (Jan 11, 2012)

He talks about it on his build page here:

http://ridders.nu/Webpaginas/pagina_linford_glas/linford_glas_frameset.htm


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## rake60 (Jan 11, 2012)

Wrist Pin  said:
			
		

> I often wondered what it looked like inside an operating I. C. engine.



Inside a full size IC engine cylinder looks like this:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz31eCym2iQ[/ame]

I'd sure like to know how they made that video! ???

I like Jan's visible version better anyway.

Rick


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## Wrist Pin (Jan 12, 2012)

WOW!! Awesome!
Thanks Guys


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## rkepler (Jan 12, 2012)

rake60  said:
			
		

> I'd sure like to know how they made that video! ???



When something similar was being done here at one of the national labs they made a optical fiber bundle that would reach in and faced a quartz window on the cylinder. But I think they were doing a diesel - they had to clean the inside of the window a lot. Here's a link I scrounged up that has a drawing of the imaging process, looks like the process has changed more than a little bit:

http://crf.sandia.gov/index.php/com...w-temperature-and-diesel-combustion-research/


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## el gringo (Feb 2, 2012)

Help,
I am also thinking of building Jan's glass eng.
I also checked out McMaster Carr.
I have spent quite a bit of time on line searching but cant find glass to +/-.1mm or .2mm
 tolerance, or a minimum order problem , or wall thickness issue.
doesn't sound like Jan has any suppliers in mind either

Ray Monahan


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## rkepler (Feb 2, 2012)

This was discussed on a mailing list, I haven't seen a reply from Jan but it looks appropriate:

http://www.airpot.com/html/piston_cylinder.html

Cylindrical to .002mm, apparently.


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## el gringo (Feb 2, 2012)

thank you! rkepler

Ray M


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## Ed T (Feb 11, 2012)

I'm about half way through this engine now. I got the glass tubing from www.waleapparatus.com. I got the three pack of 20-mm OD x 1.2mm wall PYREX, which seems close to what Jan ended up with. The biggest problem I had was breaking the 3+ foot pieces into short lengths that I could work with. Ended up roughing ( roughing being the operative word) with a tile saw and finishing up in the lathe with a TP mounted Foredom and standard Dremel cut off wheels with water. Almost sprang for a diamond Dremel wheel, but Im trying to work with what I have as much as possible. I could get about three cuts from one wheel, but it was SLOOOOOOW going. Didn't blow up any cut off wheels. Trying to go fast just eats up the wheel. More concentricity is better, but it's not a huge issue. I just put some tape around the tube and chucked it up GENTLY. Doesn't need to be very tight since the cut off wheel doesn't exert much torque on the set up. The resulting edge is pretty good and finishes up easily with wet or dry and some water. Worked for me. Your method and results may vary.


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## bearcar1 (Feb 11, 2012)

Hello ED, I wonder how well a good glass cutter tool (the ones with those tiny little carbide wheels) would work mounted up in the tool post would work? Set up like a parting tool and slowly advanced, I think it should make a decent score in the tube. Finish the edges as you described. Of course proper eye protection would apply regardless of what method used. 

BC1
Jim


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## MikeA (Feb 11, 2012)

Hello all,

Certainly agree with the comments re Jan Ridders designs being ingenious and very interesting; it seems each one has some unique features!

I've been chasing sources for concentric glass tubing with about the same lack of success as others - according to Jan, to use graphite pistons without the need for O-rings, the tubing must be concentric within <0.03mm tolerance. 

There are producers of 'precision bore' tubing who claim concentricity at that, or better, levels but finding a source that will sell small quantities has eluded me so far. 

Jan has recently worked on modifying his 'Ridders Opposed 4-Stroke' to use glass cylinders and the information is posted on his site. The glass he originally thought was concentric turned out to be otherwise, so he ended up using Viton O-rings on graphite pistons. 

He has only recently obtained some glass syringes (I believe they are 20CC) and by measurement confirms they are truly less than 0.01mm out of concentric, so they should be ideal. 

I've ordered some syringes from various locations to build this engine as well and will report as it evolves. 

All the best,
Mike


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## Ed T (Feb 11, 2012)

Bearcar,
  My first attempt at cutting the long lengths of tubing was to use an old bottle cutting set up. Essentially a glass cutting wheel set up with a vee block for the bottle, or tube in this case, to roll. The cutter wouldn't even make a scratch. I read that the mistake most people make is to make more than one score. I was able to score all the way around with a diamond file using the top of my rip fence as a way to support the tube. Thought I had it made, but the break was a mess. Tried the thermal shock method which doesn't work too well since PYREX has very low thermal expansion (that's why it works for hot stuff). The diamond tile saw worked best and probably would work better with a bit of attention to the set up. I think there's a problem on the type of saw I have in that the miter fence rides the rip fence and if you register the tube against the edge of the miter, the piece you're cutting is captive between the blade and the miter gage. Any wiggles and it can/will chip the edge. WRT the idea of using a standard glass cutter on the crossfeed I think you would have to apply so much lateral force that you would risk breaking the tubing. That and I couldn't get a regular glass cutter to touch the PYREX. Yours may be better, but it is still only meant to score the glass, not cut through it and I found a diamond file that I got at HF worked well for creating a single score line but, I was not able to convert the score line to a nice cut/break. I did try an experiment with a triangular diamond file on a piece in the lathe and using water as a lube. I could definitely cut through faster than with the cutoff wheel, but I don't think I could cut effectively to a dimension using that method so some clean up would be required anyhow. I'm sure there are a lot of ways to cut the tubing to length. My mission was more about getting the pieces I needed for the project than it was to optimize the cutting process. I got to a process that was acceptable to me, made the parts and now I'm making the metal parts that I'm more comfortable with. Hope you find a good way to make yours.


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## shred (Feb 11, 2012)

FWIW, I cut glass tube as shown here: http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=11580.0 I've used the regular Dremel cutoff disks as well as some cheap Harbor Freight diamond disks. The diamonds are a little better, but not vastly so.


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## Ed T (Feb 11, 2012)

Thats pretty much the set up I used. I did learn that the direction of rotation does matter. the Foredom grinder that I was using has both forward and reverse and, when run in reverse, the disc will unscrew. I don't think there is any difference from a cutting perspective on the two rotational directions.


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## steamer (Feb 15, 2012)

Of coarse ....Airpot Dashpots!  

I saw some pictures in a book by Harry Ricardo of test engines with MICA windows and high speed cameras,,,,,from the 40's!

Dave


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