# My first engine- and it's a runner



## V. Lehtonen (Nov 2, 2011)

This is my "first" post on this awesome forum, so I hope I got it on the right place :-\ .

This was my first attempt to manufacture an engine from solid blocks of steel and some other materials ;D . I designed and drew it with SolidWorks (It took way too long to design, but it was fun : ). It was supposed to ran with gasoline, but I couldn't find any working tools from school, so I redesigned the whole thing and made it ran with compressed air. 

After the designing part, there was the best moment to come; time to start machining. It took me about a month to machine the whole engine and during that time period I learned a lot more about machining than ever before :big: . When the engine was finished, the teacher came to me and said that it was one of the biggest works that has ever been done at school, what was a little surprise, because at my last school one student made small CNC center for himself, and that is probably the biggest work a student can do.

First there's two photos of the starting point (the block is dia 240mm X 140mm steel which worked as a cylinder block)

In the middle; Block with machining almost completed

And last; The finished engine

And here's the second start of the engine: 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvCY8cUIq0g[/ame]

That and the first start were one of the greatest moments in my school life, I was jumping everywhere with a big grin :big: :big: :big:

So, what do you think about it?


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## kustomkb (Nov 2, 2011)

> So, what do you think about it?



I think I am very impressed! That is a great accomplishment and you should be very proud.

It looks really cool too!

I know you will go far and have fun with your future.


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## IronHorse (Nov 2, 2011)

Great job, keep up the good work



IronHorse


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## tattoomike68 (Nov 2, 2011)

that is very nice, well done.


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## dsquire (Nov 2, 2011)

Ville

WOW. Its hard to believe that you found that amazing crankcase hiding inside that block of steel. The whole engine is great. It is something that you should be very proud of. Thanks for sharing it with us and we look forward to seeing more of your work in the future. :bow: :bow:

Cheers 

Don


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## Mosey (Nov 2, 2011)

It is clear that you are very talented and hard-working. You can be proud of your engine, which I am sure is the first of many to come. Welcome to the group and congratulations.
It seems to me in this time when we might lament the lack of interest of younger people in our hobbies, that this is very positive and encouraging to see.
Mosey


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## cwelkie (Nov 2, 2011)

Congratulations on your first success of what will become many I'm sure.
I've a feeling that we'll all be learning from you ...
Thanks for sharing your accomplishments.
Charlie


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## canadianhorsepower (Nov 2, 2011)

V. Lehtonen  said:
			
		

> This is my "first" post on this awesome forum, so I hope I got it on the right place :-\ .
> 
> This was my first attempt to manufacture an engine from solid blocks of steel and some other materials ;D . I designed and drew it with SolidWorks (It took way too long to design, but it was fun : ). It was supposed to ran with gasoline, but I couldn't find any working tools from school, so I redesigned the whole thing and made it ran with compressed air.
> 
> ...


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## Ken I (Nov 3, 2011)

That is a wonderful piece of work.

Welcome to the forum.

Ken


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## metalmad (Nov 3, 2011)

unique and lovely!
We have not heard the last from this one 
Pete


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## CMS (Nov 3, 2011)

I'll tell you what, the school projects keep getting better and better. What ever happened to the cigar box and macaroni projects??? :big: Just messin!!! A lot of time and work has payed off with a very cool looking engine.


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## Blogwitch (Nov 3, 2011)

In all honesty, lots of people with a lot of experience would have trouble achieving what you have done. I really congratulate you on achieving what you have.

The next bit of encouragement is that even so young, what you have done is astonishing, and it is really heartwarming to see a younger person taking such an interest in machining metal. If you carry on in what you are doing, I can see you going from strength to strength.

Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty.


John


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## tel (Nov 3, 2011)

Wot Boggy said! Thm: A job to be very proud of!


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## bigrigbri (Nov 3, 2011)

I`ve gotta hand it to you, its a nice runner without even bedding in.
Superb finishes on the machining also showing nice choices of feeds and speeds.
2 thumbs up i say.

Brian.


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## danstir (Nov 3, 2011)

Great engine and it looks impressive standing still or moving.


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## ShopShoe (Nov 3, 2011)

Great Job!!!!! I was going to ask if anyone had ever done a rotary and here you are. Keep up the good work. Ditto that we hope to see more of your work. I would hope your school gives you recognition as they would a sports standout or an academic star. Your work shows those talents with some art as well.

--ShopShoe


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## V. Lehtonen (Nov 3, 2011)

Thank you all for your positive comments :big: :bow:

The reason I decided to do this was my interest in engines, machining, mechanics and motion. Also the works that school recommended just weren't enough of a brain tease :-\

CMS:

My classmate made an ashtray, other made foot supports for his motorcycle and I did an engine so the scale was big ;D

John: 

Thank you, it took couple of sleepless nights and a whole lot of calculations, books and self believing ;D :-\

ShopShoe: 

My school gave me recognition at the graduation party, but I think that it was because of my surprise success at SkillsFinland. It was a Finnish " Leijona" (Lion) watch and two stipends. I put a photo of watch in this post. 

I have some photos of my other works, mostly CNC stuff, but they aren't really related to model engines so I don't know if can I put them here :-\ . If it's okay, then I'll show them 8) .

Here's few videos of different machining operations:

Cylinder block (basic contouring):
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNs2i2kKIow[/ame]

Connecting rods (grinding part):
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXTDPujmORY&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL[/ame]

Ville


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## V. Lehtonen (Nov 8, 2011)

Got my engine back from school :big: . There was a becoming acquainted to Vocational Institute event, and my former teacher asked if he could borrow my engine as a show piece for a while  . After the event teacher told me that the engine had raised a lot of interest within visitors :big: . It was a great chance to break a little bit of beliefs that you can't do anything interesting at Vocational Institute  . Also, I got some photos of the front of the engine and connecting rods.


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