# Single cylinder horizontal enigne as test bed for multi cilinder engine design



## xander janssen (May 2, 2022)

Hi all,

After building several stirling engines and one Jan Ridders engine, my ultimate dream is to design and build a multi (3 or 4) cylinder engine like the old Holt75, Fairbanks Morse etc engines.

I would like to see how low the RPM's at which it is still running reliably can get, preferably below 500 RPM. In order to investigate the feasiblilty, I start with a single cylinder engine on which I can easily test various key numbers e.g. bore, stroke, head and valve design, flywheel inertia, ignition etc.

I already got some books (incl Doug Kelley) and drawings on a lot of other engines on which I base my key numbers to start with e.g. 25 mm bore, 25 mm stroke and flywheel inertia.

Once this single cylinder is running, the various parameters will be changed to see how slow I can get it running. Once that is determined, the idea is to build a "modular" vertical engine, starting with a single cylinder with the same parameters and then extend that to a 2, 3 and finally maybe even a 4 cylinder.


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## xander janssen (May 2, 2022)

Nice seal between piston and cylinder., needed to run the engine without rings.

Only have to part it off.





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## xander janssen (May 3, 2022)

Piston is now parted off from the stock. When I place the cylinder vertical on a piece of rubber and place the piston in the cylinder, the piston remains elevated on the air trapped below the piston. Once the cylinder is lifted/tilted from the rubber, the air can escape and the piston falls through the cylinder under its own weight.

Next will be the conrod


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## minh-thanh (May 3, 2022)

"" Single cylinder horizontal enigne as test bed for multi cilinder engine design ""


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## Vietti (May 3, 2022)

I too have pursued making a hit and miss run slow and coast long.  My current thoughts are:

1. Use 0 ring not CI rings

2. Put needle bearings on the crank mains and rod.  Since you make a built up crank this should be easy.

3. Leave piston  long above the wrist pin so CR can be lowered in steps.  Actually I tried it and a higher CR did not work as well as I thought it might.  I thought if it hits harder it should coast longer, maybe not true.  4:1 seems about right.  I tried over 6:1 and gradually decreased it.  I think the extra  energy generated on firing is compensated by the extra energy used on the compression stroke, don't know.

4. Heavy and or large diameter flywheels help, though if you overdo it, the engine has to hit more than once to come up to governed speed.

I'll be curious to see how your tightly fitted piston with no rings works out.  Smaller bore engines do it all the time though.  I just finished a R&V that runs under 500 rpm and will coast for 6 seconds.  

I put up a YouTube video long ago of a Red Wing with an oscillating mag that reliably coasts 4 seconds with CI rings.  

Hope others will jump in here with ideas of making slow running, long coasting hit and miss engines.


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## xander janssen (May 4, 2022)

Vietti said:


> I too have pursued making a hit and miss run slow and coast long.  My current thoughts are:



Thanks for your information. I will change the CR by reducing the height of the head in steps since the piston is already finished and never thought of changing CR by removing material from the piston 

I do not want to build this engine as a hit-and-miss, since I want to see how low RPM I can go in continous running. This because once the parameters for slow running are determined I want to extend this to a slow running multi cylinder which will never run in hit-and-miss.

If I can get it running as slow as this beautiful engine of Find Hansen, I would be overly excited


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## minh-thanh (May 4, 2022)

xander janssen said:


> If I can get it running as slow as this beautiful engine of Find Hansen, I would be overly excited


 
You can !
  Step by step ,.. you will get there.


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## Steamchick (May 4, 2022)

...reminded me of a 1950 BSA B31 I owned... 7:1 compression, but worn so was more like 6:1... on tick-over I could manually retard the ignition to just after TDC...  and it ticked-over slower than that with its massive flywheels.
K2


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## Vietti (May 4, 2022)

When you get to the cams consider very little or no overlap if all you want is a slow running engine.


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## xander janssen (May 6, 2022)

Piston insert finished


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## xander janssen (May 29, 2022)

Conrod bearings, main bearings, crankshaft, piston/cylinder are all sufficiently square and parallel for a smooth motion without binding. Thank god

single cylinder engine: piston, conrod, crankshaft and main bearings all in line and square.


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## xander janssen (Jun 8, 2022)

Having an engine to run that slow, that must be really rewarding

A nice slow running single cylinder, check from 2:00 onwards


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## kf2qd (Jun 8, 2022)

Slow running will require a heavy flywheel.


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## xander janssen (Jun 21, 2022)

Cooling sleeve with a tight slide-fit on the cylinder lining. Hence the short tapered lead-in to ease installation and scratches due to the fitting test.


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## xander janssen (Jun 26, 2022)

Drawback of not designing upfront and making drawings is that I have to cope with several non-optimal choices in the beginning that need a work around along the route.

Some frame bolts were in the way and cannot be removed without compromising the squareness of the frame. Hence the cooling fins needed an ugly cutout, not visible in this picture 




So far I learned a lot to be usefull when I start designing the multi-cylinder engine.


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## xander janssen (Jul 12, 2022)

First time stainless steel (AISI 303) in a precision part.

The stem is diameter 3 with +0 -0.01 mm tolerance.


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## GreenTwin (Jul 12, 2022)

Here is a Fairbanks at a local engine show.

I have another photo of my dad running a big 3-cylinder Fairbanks that he helped restore.

I have to find the photo of the 3-cylinder.

.


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## GreenTwin (Jul 12, 2022)

My dad running the 3-cylinder.
It was a very smooth engine.
I can't remember the maximum rpm, but it ran pretty slow at idle, but did not run cleanly at idle, since it was basically designed to operate continuously under full load (it powered a generator for a small city, of of several).

.


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## xander janssen (Jul 13, 2022)

GreenTwin said:


> My dad running the 3-cylinder.
> It was a very smooth engine.
> I can't remember the maximum rpm, but it ran pretty slow at idle, but did not run cleanly at idle, since it was basically designed to operate continuously under full load (it powered a generator for a small city, of of several).
> 
> ...



This exactly the type/appearance of the multi cylinder I would like to build.


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## xander janssen (Jul 19, 2022)

Inlet valve cage assembly ready. 

Need to do some more deburring


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## xander janssen (Jul 19, 2022)

Improved version with a depth stop for pressing in the cylinder head.


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## xander janssen (Sep 1, 2022)

Gear are in place, as are the head and head gasket.

Still to do:
Tapered clamps for flywheels
Pushrod, rockerarm and exhaust cam
Ignition cam
Fuel tank


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## xander janssen (Sep 14, 2022)

First tapered clamp in place. Even with only four M2 screws, the clamping force is impressive.

The extra 2 holes (one visible) are M3 for pushing the bushing out of the flywheel and release the clamping force.


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## xander janssen (Sep 18, 2022)

Drilling, threading and milling the tapered clamp for the 2nd flywheel


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## xander janssen (Sep 29, 2022)

Cam and push rod finished. Only have to add a rocker arm and ignition cam.

Compression looks to be sufficient but not so high that it is too hard to overcome.





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## Vietti (Sep 29, 2022)

Probably a dumb question but is there any way to make this sort of clamp that keeps the flywheel spokes in alignment, one to the other??  Easy with keys.


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## xander janssen (Sep 30, 2022)

Vietti said:


> Probably a dumb question but is there any way to make this sort of clamp that keeps the flywheel spokes in alignment, one to the other??  Easy with keys.



Not that I know. The advantage of these clamps over using a key is that you can fix the parts really well by pinning (gear to flywheel and cam to gear) while still allowing to set/adjust timing later by rotating the flywheel over the crank shaft. 

The "disadvantage" is indeed that you need to align the 2nd flywheel one way or the other. However, this is only a seemingly disadvantage to me, as with a key, you have to cut the key ways in both flywheels in the same orientation. So also there an alignment is needed.

In the end, I will align them "by sight" which is sufficient for me as this is "only" a test-bed to test various engine parameters.


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## Vietti (Sep 30, 2022)

Got it, seems reasonable.

Thanks, John


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## xander janssen (Oct 4, 2022)

Ignition cam finished.




Heavily overdimensioned fixation lugs, but by that historically correct


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## xander janssen (Oct 5, 2022)

Got it running twice for about 30 seconds but then it stops. Does not run consistently and it sounds as if it has not enough fuel. Increasing irregular firing and then slowly dying.

Tried a rather small version of the "Ridders vapour carburetor".

Now looking for plans of a simple but consistent real carburetor. Does not have to be a throttling carburetor as I do not want to do "vroom vroom". A nice steady RPM is all I'm looking for.





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## xander janssen (Oct 6, 2022)

Adding more fuel in the "carburetor" improved things greatly.

Even got several minutes of consistent firing. Unfortunately no movie of that. This is 2nd best with an occasional misfire.




Not bad.


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## Richard Hed (Oct 6, 2022)

xander janssen said:


> Adding more fuel in the "carburetor" improved things greatly.
> 
> Even got several minutes of consistent firing. Unfortunately no movie of that. This is 2nd best with an occasional misfire.
> 
> ...



It certainly is quiet.


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## minh-thanh (Oct 6, 2022)

Hi !


xander janssen said:


> Adding more fuel in the "carburetor" improved things greatly.
> 
> Even got several minutes of consistent firing. Unfortunately no movie of that. This is 2nd best with an occasional misfire.
> 
> ...



 Sometimes it's not the carburetor or ignition...it's the intake valve, sometimes it gets stuck a little bit, make it a bit smoother (a little w20 oil at the valve guide or make the guide valve a little smaller...) and will be fine


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## xander janssen (Oct 6, 2022)

minh-thanh said:


> Hi !
> 
> Sometimes it's not the carburetor or ignition...it's the intake valve, sometimes it gets stuck a little bit, make it a bit smoother (a little w20 oil at the valve guide or make the guide valve a little smaller...) and will be fine


Intake is a ball valve that is held close by gravity and opened by vacuum as per Jan Ridders design. It might be a bit too loose in the seat i.e. too much vertical space causing it to bounce. Is one of the risks of this type of valve as Jan Ridders also mentions. I can still adjust the free space, so that is next after optimizing exhaust and ignition timing.


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## xander janssen (Oct 6, 2022)

Handstarting with a rope. Exhaust is held open during revving to overcome compression. Once the exhaust is closed, it starts time after time. Still some misfiring but in a way that adds character.


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## minh-thanh (Oct 7, 2022)

Hi .
Congratulations !
And, next, how many cylinders will the engine have !?


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## xander janssen (Oct 7, 2022)

minh-thanh said:


> Hi .
> Congratulations !
> And, next, how many cylinders will the engine have !?


Hi,

At least 2 or 3 as I'm thinking of a replica of a VD engine of the Dutch "de industrie" brand from around the 1930-1940 era.

Apart from a few (~5) single cilinder prototypes, these were all 2, 3, 4, 5 and even 6 cilinder engines.

Here a nicely restored 2VD5 which might/will serve as example



Meanwhile building the horizontal single cylinder, I searched and found a lot of documentation and dwawings of this type of engine.


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## minh-thanh (Oct 9, 2022)

Hi !

Is that a diesel engine? If yes then I have an opinion - it's just my opinion of course and that's how I do it
   Let's design and build a similar engine but with 1 cylinder
  When you get it running, you play with it, test time  and amount of fuel....everything...and as you get more experienced with diesel model engines and then you can design and build multi-cylinder diesel engines.
   When I make a 2 or 4 stroke engine, with only compression, I'm sure it will run
But when I do diesel engine, even though I'm quite confident, but when I start making injectors, fuel pumps, ball valves, it almost goes beyond the limits of skill, experience...and patience  mine
  And honestly, my 4-cylinder diesel project is my dumbest project


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## xander janssen (Oct 9, 2022)

minh-thanh said:


> Hi !
> 
> Is that a diesel engine? If yes then I have an opinion - it's just my opinion of course and that's how I do it
> Let's design and build a similar engine but with 1 cylinder
> ...


It is indeed a 4 stroke Diesel engine, at least the real ones as build by De Industrie.

Since I'm by far competent of building the key components mentioned by you, let alone design them,  I will build this engine as a 4 stroke petrol engine disguised as a Diesel.

For that, I will build spark plugs that mimic Diesel injectors and the carburetor(s) and distributor will be placed out of sight.


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## xander janssen (Oct 15, 2022)

Cylinder oiler, both functional and decorative


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## xander janssen (Oct 19, 2022)

Now the engine is running reliably, time to replace the screws by studs and custom made high profile nuts.


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## xander janssen (Oct 19, 2022)




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## xander janssen (Oct 19, 2022)

Stable running with the new carburetor. Still there is a very low frequency oscillation in the rpm i.e. slowly increasing and decreasing about once a minute minute. 

Now it is time to take it apart, degrease, prime and paint it red


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## xander janssen (Oct 22, 2022)

Starting the paint job


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## xander janssen (Oct 24, 2022)

Primer and paint were difficult to process.

Both are rather thick, cannot be diluted and are supposed to be used in a rather thick layer.

Given that I only wanted to apply a thin layer, not to obscure detail, the paint dried rather quickly into a paste leaving a lot of brush strokes visible.

Ended up to stipple the paint onto the parts, which gives them a sand-cast appearance and all the brush strokes disappeared.

The end result is rather impressive.


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## Steamchick (Oct 25, 2022)

Clever idea to stipple the paint. Must try that one...
K2


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## xander janssen (Nov 5, 2022)

Lets see if it also runs on a proper carburetor. Chuck Fellows design with a tapered air inlet


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## xander janssen (Nov 9, 2022)

Building the gas tank from some parts in yhe scrap bin: square tube and 2 discs (scrap from a stamping press) that fortunately have a diameter that fits the diagonal of the tube.

Soft soldered together and quite pleased to see that the seam becomes nearly invisible after cutting off the excess material and some filing.

Finally the tank will be sanded and polished to remove (nearly) all dents and scratches and then giving a matt appearance with some scotchbite.


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## Steamchick (Nov 10, 2022)

Hi Xander, personally, I should have fed more solder and flux to the inside of the tube to form a fillet there, as you are deliberately removing the external fillet of solder with the external material, and if you radius or chamfer the corners will have very little of the square tube metal for the solder to have any strength. Pre-formed shapes of flux-cored solder fitted inside the tube when assembling the final end can achieve a fillet, but capillary action through from the outside won't do that. IMHO?
I should have silver-soldered the assembly simply because I can, and it is a stronger joint material.
K2


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## xander janssen (Nov 10, 2022)

Steamchick said:


> Hi Xander, personally, I should have fed more solder and flux to the inside of the tube to form a fillet there, as you are deliberately removing the external fillet of solder with the external material, and if you radius or chamfer the corners will have very little of the square tube metal for the solder to have any strength. Pre-formed shapes of flux-cored solder fitted inside the tube when assembling the final end can achieve a fillet, but capillary action through from the outside won't do that. IMHO?
> I should have silver-soldered the assembly simply because I can, and it is a stronger joint material.
> K2



Indeed, room for improvement. Given that the tank will not take any mechanical load, I deemed this to be sufficient. Next time I will indeed also add preformed solder from the inside. However, it is difficult to tell if that has completely melted as you cannot look into the tank anymore. Hence my decision to add from the outside. The tube has a wall thickness of 2.5 mm (0.1 inch) and a test piece shows that a proper soldered joint with that thickness can take quite some load.

Anyway, I will pressure-proof test the tank to 2 bar (30 PSI) before use. If it fails, I have to repair. If it passes, I doubt that the tank will break down in future. Especially since the engine will hardly ever run and spent most of the time in the glass cabinet. 

Next on my "competence to learn" list is brazing/silver-soldering as that is indeed a much stronger way of joining parts together.

Regards

Xander


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## xander janssen (Nov 12, 2022)

Running on a true needle carburetor by Chuck Fellows design.


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## xander janssen (Nov 16, 2022)

Routing the wires in a neat way on the new/final base.


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## xander janssen (Dec 11, 2022)

Done


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