Hello... I awlays wanted to get into building mini engines and I think I can now

[ialwayswantedmakeaminiice]

well the title kind of says it all... I finally think i have the time and nessisary tools to getting to this hobby that I always admired (although from a disitance). So i started to do some research and of course there is already a thiving forum about this exact thing so here I am. I am hopefull to gleam some good info and direction from the experienced here on how i should go about getting into this hobby? is it like RC anything and you should start small? Well any advise would be greatly appreciated!

I have a detached shop on my property and hope to have all the tooling I need fit in here as i dont have room anywhere else to put tools. I have s small 5axis vmc and a grizzly mini lathe.... but im curious if most people scratch build here or from a kit?

And for scratch builds, are there any other tools except maybe a cnc lathe i would need?

 

[dnalot]

Welcome to the forum. It looks like you are already better equipped than most of us. For scratch building a metal cutting band saw is handy. I see you are in Utah so a shop AC would be nice.

Mark T

 

[ialwayswantedmakeaminiice]

Welcome to the forum. It looks like you are already better equipped than most of us. For scratch building a metal cutting band saw is handy. I see you are in Utah so a shop AC would be nice.

Mark T

Thanks, I only have a few fancy tools as I use them for my day job too... I do also have a bandsaw too (should have mentioned that) and 2 CMMS but I doubt I will need those. and lol, I have an ac but I wish it wasn't tiny and porable...

 

[kwoodhands]

well the title kind of says it all... I finally think i have the time and nessisary tools to getting to this hobby that I always admired (although from a disitance). So i started to do some research and of course there is already a thiving forum about this exact thing so here I am. I am hopefull to gleam some good info and direction from the experienced here on how i should go about getting into this hobby? is it like RC anything and you should start small? Well any advise would be greatly appreciated!

I have a detached shop on my property and hope to have all the tooling I need fit in here as i dont have room anywhere else to put tools. I have s small 5axis vmc and a grizzly mini lathe.... but im curious if most people scratch build here or from a kit?

And for scratch builds, are there any other tools except maybe a cnc lathe i would need?

CNC is nice to have but not necessary for hobby work.

well the title kind of says it all... I finally think i have the time and nessisary tools to getting to this hobby that I always admired (although from a disitance). So i started to do some research and of course there is already a thiving forum about this exact thing so here I am. I am hopefull to gleam some good info and direction from the experienced here on how i should go about getting into this hobby? is it like RC anything and you should start small? Well any advise would be greatly appreciated!

I have a detached shop on my property and hope to have all the tooling I need fit in here as i dont have room anywhere else to put tools. I have s small 5axis vmc and a grizzly mini lathe.... but im curious if most people scratch build here or from a kit?

And for scratch builds, are there any other tools except maybe a cnc lathe i would need?

A mill , drill press or a heavy duty mill-drill instead of the drill press and mill. CNC is not something you have to have, nice if you can afford it. CNC on a mill would be a better choice. A power hacksaw , machine drill sharpener comes in handy. That is all I can think of power tooling.
All of my engines and other stuff are scratch built. Not positive but I would guess the majority of HSM work from scratch.
mike

 

[ialwayswantedmakeaminiice]

CNC is nice to have but not necessary for hobby work.

A mill , drill press or a heavy duty mill-drill instead of the drill press and mill. CNC is not something you have to have, nice if you can afford it. CNC on a mill would be a better choice. A power hacksaw , machine drill sharpener comes in handy. That is all I can think of power tooling.
All of my engines and other stuff are scratch built. Not positive but I would guess the majority of HSM work from scratch.
mike

Good to know. So I was hoping to not have to design my first IC engine. Are there plans out there we can buy?

 

[a41capt]

Welcome aboard!

The Webster is an excellent first engine and the plans are free. There are also many great build threads here on this site if you need assistance during the build. A quick search will put you onto that and many more great projects.
Have fun!
John

 

[stevehuckss396]

There are plans for many engines out there. Some plans only, some include raw castings. V8's to many single, twin, and 4 cylinder inline designs. Many hit and miss designs. As mentioned the Webster is a good first build. My first was a v4 called Peewee. Find something that you really would like to have and go for it.

 

[awake]

There are quite a few free plans out there, as well as plenty of plans for a small fee. One of the "starter" engines that many of us have made is the Webster - the plans are free, and the design is simple enough to be a good first engine. Some have made it more-or-less exactly to Joe's plans, and others of us have taken our cue from the plans but modified to suit our own preferences / stock on hand / etc. Here's my take on the engine, but you'll find many others on this forum, including some that are currently in progress: Introducing ... the "Steel Webster"

 

[kwoodhands]

Good to know. So I was hoping to not have to design my first IC engine. Are there plans out there we can buy?

Do a search for Elmers Engines. You will find 20+ designs that were from Elmer Verberg's book. Elmer has passed on but his engines are being built by many. Some are fairly easy to build, these would be a great starter. I have made about 8/9 of his engines. These are steam engines meant to also run on compressed air. Another more difficult build would be a locomotive. A Japanese engineer ( Kozo) has written books on several separate engines. I built the Pennsylvania A-3 Switcher which is the least complicated of the locomotives he has written about. My locomotive runs on air as I gave up trying to build a copper boiler. I would not try to build this at first. Might be the easiest of his locomotives but still a complicated build.
As far as IC engines I have built two. One I gave to my grandson, the other I never tried to run.
mike