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It is best to start with a steam/air powered engine. There are many good designs by Elmer Verburg found at http://www.john-tom.com/html/ElmersEngines.html. Probably the best/simplest to start with would be #25 Wobbler. This was my first engine. I have also built #19 Standby, #37 Grasshopper...

Creast, your Kerzel looks great and runs even better. You have it running perfectly with one hit in between misses. Well done.

Thanks Jim. I was surprised at how easy it was to make springs. Good luck with yours. Today I made the tension springs for the governor. I set the change gears up for 96 TPI which is the closest I could get to the desired pitch of .010"(the width of the wire). Then I wound a length of about...

Today was another first for me. I decided to try to make some intake valve springs. I made an insert to fit in my dial test indicator holder that has a point on one end and a .020 hole through it. I fed a piece of .010 spring wire through the insert and wrapped it around the shank of a no.28...

Thanks Brian. I've never heard the term swoopy before, but I will take it as a compliment. Thanks guys, glad you are enjoying the build. I agree Gus. I too would like to see this running but I still have a lot more parts to make.

Do you have any pictures or video of your Kerzel? I am currently building one.

No new parts today. I spent the evening giving the shop an overdue cleaning. While I was out there I snapped a picture of the current state of the engine.

Here are the completed valve guides and valves.

This weekend I made the head. First turned the shape. Then on the mill I drilled all the bolt holes, spark plug hole, and valve holes. Then used two drill bits to locate it properly in the mill vise to drill the intake and exhaust holes. Here is the finished head.

Next is the connecting rod. First I drilled and reamed the holes for the wrist pin and crank. I also drilled four 1/8" holes that I will use later when milling the sides. Using a 1/2" end mill I milled out each end to form the inside radius of the ends. Then milled down the middle section...

Excellent looking first engine. Either the geared or mill would make a very good second. My most recently complete engine was the geared. It is my favorite so far. I look forward to seeing whichever you make next.

After a short break from the shop I made the piston. First I milled a square section on the end of a piece of 1 inch cast iron rod. I will use this square section when drilling the wrist pin hole and when milling the slot inside the piston for the connecting rod to ensure that they are...

I thought of using stainless but I am not sure if my lathe is rigid enough to get good surface finish on stainless. It seems to struggle enough with mild steel. What type of lathe do you have? Do you use coolant when machining stainless? I am also going to use an o-ring instead of cast iron...

And now for the cylinder liner. I started with a chunk of 1" cast iron. Turned it down to .950" with a 1" lip on the end. Then drilled the bore with a 1/2" drill and used a boring bar to get the final bore dimension of .75". Parted off to length. And the finished liner. I used a brake...

Welcome to the forum. Your first engine looks good and runs great. Well done. If working with imperial measurements is not an issue for you I would recommend checking out some of Elmer's engines. Plans can be found at http://www.john-tom.com/html/ElmersEngines.html. So far I have built six...

Great looking gears. Were you able to make them on the first try or did it take a few attempts? I am still trying to decide if I want to purchase gears for my Kerzel Hit and Miss or buy some cutters and make them.

Here are the bearings. First drill and ream to 7/16". Then turn down to 9/16". And part off leaving a 1/32" flange. After repeating for bearing #2, here are the finished pieces.

Check out this post for an explanation.

It was Elmer's Grasshopper steam engine. Finished thread can be found here. Have you thought of making a steam engine or two first and then moving up to IC? Steam engines are more forgiving for a beginner. I made six steam engines before attempting an IC engine. After my Kerzel is complete...

Congratulations on your first running IC engine!