School project

[Dzducky]

I am a high school sophomore that's fairly intrested in cars, engines, etc. For my English class, we are doing a "Genius Project" for this project we can literally do anything and it is due at the end of the school year.
I was thinking if I could build a mini engine and present it to my class. Any advice or feedback is great!

 

[chucketn]

Dzducky,

To better advise you, we need to know more about what kind of engine you want to make. Steam? Internal combustion(aka IC)? What tooling do you have available? Hand tools? Lathe? Mill?
there are lots of choices, and depending on what info you supply, folks will be more than happy to recommend something.

Chuck

 

[Dzducky]

Well I'm a beginner. Haha, only knowing common knowledge about this subject. Internal combustion sounds interesting. My dad & uncle have a lot of hand tools. But not a whole shed of tools.

 

[kuhncw]

Dzducky,

Model engine building is interesting and a lot of fun. Glad to hear you are thinking of a project like this. I can't say it is not possible to build an internal combustion engine without machine tools, but it would be difficult, I believe. It should be possible to build a simple steam engine with hand tools and perhaps an electric drill or drill press. Try Googling "building a simple steam engine with hand tools". You don't need to worry about steam, as you can run the engine with a small air compressor.

Good luck.

Chuck

 

[Dzducky]

Awesome! Anywhere to start is good. I'll try building one in a couple of days!

 

[Wizard69]

Awesome! Anywhere to start is good. I'll try building one in a couple of days!

An actual engine or non working model. I suspect that you will run out of time before the end of the school year. You could consider partially complete models sold by the likes of PM Research and others. Doing a complete engine fully ,a chiming all,parts yourself takes a lot of time.

Another option is a plumbing pipe engine to reduce demands on machining. Henry Fords first engines was built this way. You might be able to find plans on line for it. (Edit: a pinky for you: http://www.nbutterfield.com/Pages/HenryFordfirstengine.aspx). Actually this is a good choice to talk about as there is a lot of back story. I believe you would need a lathe to actually get it running but here is a key thing, you don't need to get it running to have a lot to talk about. If the goal is to do a presentation ( this is an English class right?) then lots of story can make for a very interesting delivery.

If you are really interested in small engine building getting a small lathe might be a good investment. Also check to see if the school has a "shop" where shop classes use to be taught. In any event read up on Fords first engine, it is fascinating.