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Run it in Explorer. That version doesn't like Firefox. What engine are you making? A Westbury, perchance? -Andrew

Nice work on the spring- it's a fiddle, isn't it! So are you going for the full float carb, or the mini fuel tank approach? -Andrew

There may well be a B.S. for dies, but they can come from anywhere. However, the one I have in front of me now (maker unknown) has FOUR dimples. Two of these are dead opposite (90 degs from the split) making it easy to see that the two "normal" ones are disposed 45 degs each side of the split...

Well, do keep me posted, mate! I did win a muffle from the University (it's lagged with white asbestos) but I don't want to fire it up 'cos of my employment situation, and the 'leccy cost. Those cylinders will drive you mad. You'll need a jig, and lots of patience. Some music, prozac and a...

Chris, 30 thou is close to 1/32", not 1/64"! -Andrew

The tube trick is a good one. I first saw it at the 1981 M E Exhibition, then George H Thomas wrote a chapter on it in "The Model Engineer's Workshop Manual". It can be used on steel, but it works best on brass- turn your ball blank to its eventual length, turn the o/d plus a thou or two, and...

Chris, I don't know where you got the 40 thou per inch figure! Here's how Les was working. Remember, we're dealing with circumference here... 0.75" x Pi (rounded up to tenths) = 2.3562" 0.745" x Pi = 2.3405" The latter subtracted from the former = 0.0157" 1/64" = 0.1562" So his resulting...

Richard, your progress is astonishing! You will very soon have caught me up! However, a question... I have long suspected that Les had a friend with a cyanide bath, as many of his designs use case hardening in (seemingly) unnecessary places. Given the laws of roots and squares, never mind the...

Nice work, as we've come to expect! Two things (for anyone who hasn't made their needles yet) first is that Dremel sell a polishing wheel, #425, that'll shine up a needle after grinding, just like one out of the wife's sewing box. Second, it's nice to see that you took the trouble to make the...

When I was building Les Chenery's gnome engine, the cylinder bores were 0.745" diameter. Eventually, I worked out why. He was turning his rings to 3/4", then cutting them through with a 1/64" slitting saw. Instant, automatic gapping. I also wedge and roast my rings, but otherwise, like Les...

My Moore and Wright die stocks have the screws disposed at 90 degrees to each other. I looked sideways at first, before realising that's actually the most logical way to do it.

I must congratulate you! Quite a kick when you get an engine going. Now, if you want more old plans, and if you look hard enough, the Motor Boys International were all about re-creating old engines, usually without castings, and many if these have appeared on the net. They're often single...

Any pearls of wisdom that I can provide may be the result of cracking many oysters full of cock-ups... Which you won't hear so much about... At least some of the time, that will be why I made notes in the margins. After sequence planning, there is nothing particularly methodical in the way I...

Nice work, Richard! I fabricated mine- nothing wrong with the casting, but I got to use brass against copper, for "bling"! I also made a brass float bowl, for the same reason... I made my tank from some 1+5/8" copper tubing that started life as the outside waste pipe from my Dad's kitchen sink...

That's a very nice looking crank, Ghosty! Is that a quad bearing revolving centre you're using? If so, could you remind me of the manufacturer? I've been promising myself one for years!!

Hello again! I went for a light press fit; I can't remember if I cooked the castings in the oven before fitting the races or not... Either way, there is so much support from the front face, you'd need to be completely ham-fisted to split the casting. Half a thou shy of 7/8" should be ample...

On closer inspection of the articles, the main caption reads "Tiny super", but in the smaller caption box, the name is continued... "Tiny super high speed gasoline engine" which makes a lot more sense, even if it's a bit of a mouth full! Andrew UK

I have no idea what grade of aluminium is used in the casting, but I'm guessing it's nothing fantastic. I didn't like the way it was machining, so I ended up making mine from bar stock. The two common ally grades (UK) are HE15 and HE30. The latter is good stuff, and perfectly adequate, but it...

Mike, you've just reminded me! I drilled the 3 and 9 o'clock stud holes and reamed them to accept 5/32" hardened dowels; that way I could firstly split the case halves as many times as I wanted, secondly ( and more importantly) I could put parallels beneath them and wobble off 'em as a reference...

I didn't consider the cylinder casting useable, as it was undersized. I think Richard found the same thing. So knowing the Kiwi has a reputation for running hot, I made a fresh cylinder muff from HE15, and had it anodised black before skimming the o/d to finished dimensions, to give cosmetic...