MEMSyard Wars - Blast Finger Engine Competition

[Divided He ad]

Don't worry John, I wouldn't eat that stuff.... It was all someone elses!! :big:

I'm a carnivore at heart .... only potato's get past the veg' screener! (stand back and wait for all the tellings off about 5 a day! Blah blah blah... ) ;D


Looks like it should be a good comp' for the judging ;D


Ralph.

 

[Cedge]

Ralph...
Good thing you never met my mom... playing with your food was good for an instant clouting....LOL :fan: I never had the guts to swipe it from my brother's plate to play with it... :bow: :bow: :bow:

Steve

 

[Bogstandard]

I now recognise Ralphs engine, it is a direct, edible copy of his bling engine, shame on you Ralph.

 

[DickDastardly40]

Here's the vid as promised also updated to pics rather than links in previous post.



Al

 

[Cedge]

The Bugster has been jumping up and down on the PM channel for me to post the results of my nocturnal design session. I'll admit to delaying a bit in doing that, just to watch him oscillate.

I took a different tack from the get go, so my little engine is not as far out there as The finger food entry and my shrubs are still my friends. I stuck with metal, but I stayed well within the rules, even avoiding using threaded fasteners almost completely. After 4 hours and 20 minutes, I had a "working" engine.... right up to the moment that I got loctite happy and accidentally glued the treadle pivot solid. So, I'm taking a mulligan and claiming another 15 minute penalty.

The design is based on the "Scotch Yoke" style of crank mechanism. The hammers on the flywheel are there to add a bit more mass to it so it will rotate a bit better on its own stored energy. If I were doing things again, I'd increase the diameter and use even heavier material for the hammers.

Running this little beggar is different from the normal crank style engine. In fact its almost as tricky as riding a unicycle. Two things come into play here. The flat spots in a Scotch Yoke configuration are just that... physical flat spots. You have to pre-position the flywheel to get it to start. The other oddity is that unlike the standard crank, you can only stroke the treadle on every other stroke, making establishing a rhythm trick as the dickens. If you stroke it out of sequence, it either stops the flywheel or it reverses the direction instantly.

Truthfully, the delay in posting was not just for teasing John. I'm not blessed with a high level of natural rhythm and trust me....no one really wants to see what I pass off as dancing. That made learning the trick to making this darned thing run more than a couple of strokes a right challenge. I'll try to figure out the video thing over the next day or so and see if my new phone will show things in action.

Enough rambling... Below is my "Quarter Pounder", formerly called "Pud".

Steve

 

[Bogstandard]

Steve, it might not be your rhythm after all.
If ever you read and inwardly digested my ramblings on my making the last set of fingery engines, you would have picked up on the fact that the finger pad really needs to be at the same height as the pivot. I pointed out especially that if it is higher or lower, it gives an unpleasant feeling when operated, and maybe it would throw out the finger coordination.

It serves you right for keeping me hanging on.

But a good build anyway, for an out of sync old fart.

Buglet

 

[Cedge]

Jeeeeezzze... you're harder to please than my ex wife....LOL. Don't complain... that was a half dollar when I stated the build, but the weakening dollar struck again. I do see a future powered engine build in the design, so all is not lost. At least I'm still on speaking terms with my landscaping.

Steve

 

[Bogstandard]

Steve, maybe you should let Marv redesign it. He was looking for plans to make a steam hammer for use as a nut cracker. With yours he would be able to crack three in one rev of the wheel.

John

 

[Divided He ad]

I've no shame in what I built John.... I thought of using food whilst making my breakfast, then raided the cupboards to see what I could find to build one with.... the cracker was the biggest base I could find! So a vertical it was!! ;D

If I'd found a cracker bread I'd have made a horizontal!

Wish I could put my (now termed) 'bling' engine in !?!? That one runs a treat! :big:

Good stuff all round though, I like Al's bolt n spoon engine... Runs much better than mine

Steve's looks like it could be fun... I'll await the vid'. (shouldn't it be a 3rd pounder... having only 3 hammers ??? ;D : )


Ralph.

 

[Bogstandard]

Ralph,
Steve explained to me thru a PM why he called it a quarter pounder, there was a deep seated meaning, so don't even think about name changes, you will embarass him.

Fingerteers

You now have just over a day to get 'em built and show 'em off.

I will close the comp mid morning Friday, GMT, because our colonial friends are about 10 hours behind us if they live on the west coast, and we wouldn't want them to lose out because of time differences. They could get a few engines built in that time.

I will post up the poll just after.

So for any stragglers, time to get your a$$ into gear, and spend a couple of hours enjoying yourself.

If we could get just two more made before closing time, it will give everyone who votes a real headache. Up to now all the entries have been outstanding in their own way, and the designs have been mind boggling.

Bogs

 

[CallMeAL]

Well, after viewing the impressive, unusual, and somewhat dumbfounding efforts put forth by the creative members of this group, I can only surmise my thinking remains in side the Box! :-[

Who would of expected an engine made from your neighbors shrubbery, someones lunch, or facial soap and a cardboard box ??? I guess it just shows I must expect the unexpected from this group!

Great work and imaginative thinking by you all :bow:

As to my own attempt, you may recall my starting pile, which included a brick. I was not able to work it into the design, but I did manage to drop it on my toe! I will use the resulting pain as one of the contributing factors to my slow 2 hr time - that and just being too rigid in my thinking...

Here it is in it's bland glory:

And finally, proof that it does work. The end of this video says it all...



It also shows how spastic a finger engine driver I am!!

 

[shred]

Nice cam there.. are the extra holes intentional?

Oh yeah, and Sir John; Capital use of bits of string!

 

[Cedge]

Al
The time factor was definitely shot down early on...LOL. Since I'd already submitted a "running" machine, I took a few minutes to tweak mine a little this evening and then I let my 10 year old grandson have a go with it. While I might be rhythmically challenged, he certainly isn't. He's played with it for over 4 hours and is beginning to master it's idiosyncracies to the point we might even manage a video by the weekend. That is if I can get him to put it down long enough to do so.

He has become completely enchanted with the thing and asked for "a fancy looking one" for him and his younger brother. Then the wife chimed in and asked for one as well. Strange to see them looking at one of my projects without that glazed eyes thing that we all know so well. Now the project has become a lot more fun.... so I'm not going to complain....not one bit.

Steve

 

[CallMeAL]

The extra holes are there for additional speed ratios!

Actually, thanks for pointing out one of my build time extending mistakes! ;D

 

[Cedge]

Al
Those holes are obviously for the travel locks. We can't have heavy machinery without adequate safety features... yeah... that's the ticket...(grin). There are no mistakes in our little world... just features.

Steve

 

[CallMeAL]

Hey Cedge, I for got to say what an amazing engine you built. I could never of forseen a 3 hammer scotch yoke contraption! Wonderful! I've got to use that flywheel arrangement somehow, someway!

 

[Bogstandard]

Al,

I see you didn't manage to get the brick into the build, shame about that, but I thought you might be pushing the envelope a bit too far with that component.

Great engine, and the finale was spectacular. I do like your purpose designed, built in safety feature. When the engine is overstressed, the conrod self ejects, to prevent further damage (sounds better than 'falling apart').

There is a rhyme and reason for everything.

Shred,

Some of the string is just rustic bling, but a lot is for structural integrity.

Steve,

I think that everyone that has taken part have enjoyed doing so, and I think the readers have been amazed at the ingenuity shown by a group of members who took up the challenge, accepted defeat at times and rose from the ashes, all with a good sense of humour and taking all the comments within their stride, in fact joining in at times.

What more could one ask for.

Just a quick reminder, if you want to have a quickie go, 24 hours remaining.

Bogs the BS'er

 

[Divided He ad]

Nice runner there Al

I do like the quick release con' rod ;D

Steve.... We need the vid!..... Got to see that 'monster' run!


Ralph.

 

[Cedge]

Thanks guys... I'm not one hundred percent sure this puppy is sliced bread, but it's been a fun build. The grandson getting hooked on it is the added bonus.

Ralph...
Keep yer clogs on.... we're working on it...LOL The boy just about has a handle on the thing and I've got my hands on a decent camera that will shoot digital video, assuming I can then figure out how to get it on line.

This engine has spawned a couple of interesting ideas, one of which I began pulling metal for this morning. If this idea works out, it'll really should be something else to see.

I'm completely blown away by the entries and the imagination they've shown. You guys would have been dangerous to associate with, back in my recreational pharmacology years....LOL

Steve
Who is not currently getting very much done on his water engine....LOL

 

[CallMeAL]

HAHAHA!

I like that - self ejecting safety quick release con rod (pat. pending)!

I had a 175cc Can Am dirt bike that had this feature, but the only time it activated was one day when I was flying down the highway at 70 mph. It not only stopped the bike quickly, but cause an immediate release of body fluid