dorkpunch Engines- 2 cylinder Wobbler.

If you go back aways, you'll see the wobbler air engine I have my 8th grade students build in Metals 2.  Well, I've been working on another version of it.  Pretty simple really- just welded another valve plate on the opposite side, added another cylinder and piston, and cut the pistons so they can share the same crank pin.

Works okay, but still needs some tweaking.  Will run fairly slow but if I try and crank up the speed, it seems to be fighting itself and won't rev way out like the single cylinder version does.

Fun to play with, anyways!

dorkpunch engines #3: Boring the cylinder.

I had some time to kill at the shop while waiting for my wife. She said she would be over in half an hour, which of course means 2 hours. She even ran a little late so it was more like 2 and half so I was able to knock some holes in some aluminum.

1/8" pilot holes, 3" deep through the cylinder. The two for the valves are the finished diameter for the valve guides. The cylinder has a long ways to go... 7/8" more to be exact.



To drill them I had to use a big 'ole aircraft drill. Started with a normal drill bit, got as deep as it could go, then switched to this long one. Figured there was less chance of the holes going crooked on me.



Makin' chips.





Makin' BIG chips...



and big messes.



"Finished" cylinder. The drill bit is obviously a bit rough, so I plan to hone it with a brake master hone and then match the piston to the finished bore.



Because of the vice I was using, I couldn't drill all the way through. This is not a problem though, because I still need to machine off about 1/4" to get it down to the stroke I want.



Bottom.



Will hopefully start doing some figuring on where the valve ports need to go and the final diameter of the valve heads.

Thinking I should have left the bore a tad smaller- its pretty close to some of head bolt holes. Won't have a lot of gasket area in those two spots.

Live and learn...

Pipe dreams: The future dorkpunch Garage.

Alright guys, looking for a little organizational feedback. In a couple of months, if all goes according to plan, this will be the new dorkpunch garage:







Lets assume we are starting with a clean slate- it's sheetrocked / insulated and has a wood stove and thats pretty much it.

Here's what I'm thinking for layout.





The "island" will be on wheels so it can be rolled around. Would like the lift table to be able to stow under the island or workbench so its out of the way when not in use.

Primary use will be fixing small engines in the summer, but I've got my fingers in about a dozen different pots so I'd like to be able to have a welding corner and / or a "paint booth". For the welding corner I'm thinking of building some portable walls / curtains that can be set up where I want them. The "paint booth" will most likely just be a section of wall with a hefty exhaust fan that I could set the welding booth walls up around too.

Any suggestions as to placement of tools? Air compressor would likely live in the back corner, with hard line run along that wall with several air jacks and a drain at the end. My "big" power tools are all pretty portable- drill press, scroll saw, table saw, and sliding compound miter saw would probably all live under the workbench until needed.

What am I forgetting!?

A lift would be awesome but definitely not in the cards anytime soon. I would probably get more use out of a gantry style crane...

As to the placement of the truck- I have a few "project" vehicles- they don't get moved around much. I was thinking I would put two of them back in that corner, and I would still have enough room to park a mobile vehicle at the roll up door that I could pull out when I wanted space to work.

The house also comes with this attached 2 car carport:



and this old chicken coop that I plan on converting for motorcycle / John Deere overflow storage.



In all reality, it will probably look something more like this, but not as clean...