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This has been a bit of a sore point over the last half of my career. I started as a machinist, then after 20 years in manufacturing progressed to design and will be retiring next year as a chief engineer. Before I retire, I am on a mission to try to build communications between the engineers and...

Thanks for the explanation, Bob. I assume you machined the base flat before drilling and tapping the holes?

Yes please Bob. Photos of the process are always interesting. Glad to see I'm not the only one who works on the bench of chaos!

If that engine is to pump anything, it should be the ingredients for a pan-galactic gargle blaster. Anyway, you can't use an improbability drive to make tea - that would be perpetual motion.

There are high temperature locking compounds, e.g. Loctite 278, which are suitable for this application. I've used similar adhesives in engines with no issues so far.

Ahh - the room temperature confusion upgrade...

You're confusing Ken's improbability drive with the infinite improbability drive. What Ken had built is a finite improbability drive. It's easy to tell. Ken's engine does not require a really hot cup of tea to start.

Mike, yes - in this case the errors may be so small as to be insignificant, but I would leave that to Foketry to decide. Given his attention to detail in other areas, he may choose to correct for the slight differences in compression. The princliple is sound - geometry of the master rod does...

Even with compensated slave rod eye angles or the Edwards cylinder length adjustment, the stroke of each piston is slightly different, because the angle between the master rod and any given slave rod is wider at TDC ( when the pistons are furthest apart at the tops of the bores) and narrower at...

Hi k2, Yes, you understand correctly. No padded room required. I did enjoy making the spreadsheet, perhaps I should be in the padded room.

Spreadsheet here: https://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/threads/radial-engine-balance-calculator.34677/

Spreadsheet to calculate balance of a radial engine. Enter values for your engine in column C. If you select 'corrected' slave rod pin angles, they are calculated automatically. The first graph shows piston displacements from TDC. The second shows the motion of the centre of mass of each of the...

Hi k2, Yes, my spreadsheet plots the location of all pistons through a full crack rotation at 1 degree intervals. It also calculates all the mass moments of the moving parts and the resulting balance of the engine for a given counterweight. Pete.

I think that's not quite true, Foketry. Assuming you have compensated for the master rod angle when positioning the slave rod eyes, at bottom centre on either the left or right cylinder, the master rod angle is different, so those cylinders have slightly different stroke to the centre cylinder...

My most recent engine build will go in an RC aircraft. Many years ago, when my middle son was a teen-ager, he expressed an interest in making something in my workshop. I purchased the castings kit for a small oscillating engine, which we built together. It occurred to me that it would only ever...

Print in any convenient material, then paint with fuel proofer.

The design I remember did not use piston porting, but poppet valves. This not only avoids oil consumption, but also allows for asymmetric valve timing which makes for a more efficient engine.

I remember reading about a 2 stroke design which didn't burn oil. It has a 4 stroke type pumped oil system, with each bearing being sealed and the oil recovered through a second set of oil ways back to the tank. The piston was relatively tall with oil rings top and bottom, oil being fed into the...

+1 for ESP32.

Hi Sutty and welcome to the forum. I did a similar thing with one of my son's (the only one who showed any interest). Together, we built a P&M vertical boiler and a Stuart oscillating engine. I mounted both on a base and added a dynamo, a 5v regulator and a USB socket. He can use his steam plant...