Air engines and Sketchup Animations

Been tinkering with this for the last couple of weeks.  A new trimester starts next Monday, and I get to teach a new class.  This is one of the projects I'm hoping will turn out well...  We'll see.  I found this cool air engine project on instructables.com  :

http://www.instructables.com/id/Air-Engine/

As you can see, it is VERY involved, and uses about 30 different machine tools that I don't have in my classroom...  So I set about to re-create it using nothing more than a drill press, a welder, and various hand tools.  Here's what I came up with.

The class this is for is an Engines & Metals class, so there has to be some welding...  Making the "crankcase".





Making the cylinder.


First attempt at a piston- using an allen bolt I had sanded down.  Didn't work- didnt have enough piston skirt and it would get kinked sideways and jam.



Beggining assembly- the piece of bicycle chain was used for the crankshaft.


Exploded view of parts.  Note the piston- I cheated a little and spun it down on my Smithy Lathe.  I think with the right size drill bit and metal rod, I can get it to work with some light sanding in the drill press.


Assembled!


 
Some vid of it running!



And this was a breakthough for me- I finally figured out how to "animate" stuff in Sketchup.  I did this using the Proper Animation plugin.  Fairly simple, hoping I can get it to work a little smoother.  Still playing with it.

 



So there you go.  I have several changes in mind for the one my students will build, hopefully making it a little simpler to lay out and build without using any machine tools.  Watch for some samples in a few weeks!

Mikuni Mouse

Absolutely no plan in mind... Just start cutting. 

So I had an old carburetor I wanted to cut up to make a cutaway.  I started cutting and realized I would have a fairly large chunk leftover.  I have no idea how my mind finally arrived at this particular destination, but as luck would have it a computer mouse and a Mikuni Carburetor were about to cross paths.

Had this mouse that worked, but had some loose buttons.



Had this carb I had cut up...



Cut the mouse up a little more.



Machine a bigger hole in the carb.



after GOBS of mucking around- the final set of parts.




Assembled and working!

"CompuStow"

This year has been pretty rough as far as reserving the computer lab goes...  There were a lot of changes this year and as a result all of the available computer labs got booked over the periods that I was supposed to have access to them.  Makes it really hard when the only one I have access to is the Library, and half the teachers in the school are fighting for it too!

In the last 3 years, I've managed to go from 1 1/2 working computers in my classroom to 14.  This was plenty for Lego Robotics because we work in pairs.  When I do my CAD unit or if we need to do any individual computer time, I would have to schedule a lab.  I was out of space to add more computers, and then I had a *ligghhhttt bullllbb!* moment.  I call it the CompuStow.



 

Still have a lot of things I want to do with it, but it's useable!  Need to do something with the cords and put some handles on it to make it easier to get in and out. 

Storing the computers like this will give me more computers without taking away any of my shop workspace.  Plan on trying out these two for awhile to see how it works, then if I can scrounge up a few more flat screen monitors, I'd like to do the 4 computers I already have taking up one full table and maybe 2 more after that, bringing my total to 19 computers.

Some work in progress pics:

 




And what it was SUPPOSED to look like... I was hoping to get the smaller flat screen monitors that have the computer mounted to the back of them, but that didnt work out.


Just for fun, the rest of the computer lab.

Grinding Wheat

Not really, but it sure feels like the grinding wheel of life has been busy the last few months. Between school, kids, family, food, work, and all the other responsibilities it seems like there is hardly time to take a breath. I have been meaning to write here more frequently, so now seems like as good a time as any to try it again...

Education has been on my mind a lot recently. As a teacher with a whopping 3 years of experience under my belt, and with a wife who is almost finished with her degree in education, I guess that would be normal. I really feel that Idaho's students are at great risk if Propositions 1, 2, and 3 are passed. What it amounts to for me, is that the grand poo-bah mucky-muck of education (who has never set foot in a classroom as an educator) really doesn't care what educators have done and are doing for their students- nor does he care what we think might help our students succeed.

Enough politics. Can't stand 'em. Becoming and educator was a real eye opener for me- really can't avoid politics when you're a teacher, but that's a different story for another day. How about something more intersting!?

Progress update on a few current projects. Milly the $200 F150 has come a teeensy little ways- got a bit more painting done over the summer and just scored some sweet brand new tires and rims for it. Traded off a different project bike for them, so it's win win for me. One less project to fuss over and more parts for another!

 POJ, the '67 Yamaha Trailmaster Cafe is still dormant. Trying to find a non-existant rubber plug for the oil injection pump. Got rid of a fixxer upper car, made it possible to move the truck and for the first time since we've lived here (really, the first time ever) we can park a car in the garage!

Finished and road the ST1100 all over the place this summer. Did Glacier / Going to the Sun Hwy, and a bunch of other roads too. Managed to put just over 2000 miles on it in under a month, visiting 4 states and 2 provinces. It was a BLAST.

Managed to drag home another project- this one with some sentimental value and a whole lot of history.  Its a '48 Dodge 1 ton pickup- that my great grandpa bought brand new in '48.  Hoping to get it back on the road.

Stayed busy fixing things for people too, that was a much needed blessing. Anxious for next summer- hoping to have more time to work AND play. Hopefully, I can keep the blog going a bit more. Got a few things dealing with education I'd like to get off my chest and hopefully glean some ideas from y'all (yeah, the two people that might check the blog once a month..) Pics from the summer.

The "Document Camera"

I was talking to our art teacher the other day and he told me about a cool little device called a document camera. I thought it would be real useful to be able to project things I was trying to demonstrate up on the screen rather than have a gaggle of students trying to crowd around to see what I was doing. Did some research and came up with this!

Its a cheapo 5 megapixel webcam ziptied to a fancy arm light. I can point it in any direction I want, its plugged into my computer so I can project it on the screen, and I can also record things to use in step by steps or how-to's! Oh yeah, I can also use it to keep an eye on the students who always think they can get away with things behind my back.

You can see the webcam here pointing down at the table, displaying the images on my computer screen. The cables that go up from the computer go to the projector. Desk is a mess- last day of the tri and we were cleaning shop.

And today's test... How fast can I take an entire Briggs and Stratton engine apart? 5 minutes and 40 seconds.




Camera cost $7.00, light was about $80.00, and I needed a USB extension. The software was free!

Popcan engines

So my Dad emailed me a link to a video showing a stirling engine made out of popcans. Stirling engines are pretty slick- basically operates on a temperature difference. Warm air expands, cold air contracts. One side of the engine is warm(er than the other side) and the other side is cold(er than the other side). I say it like that because theoretically, you could run one of these on ice instead of fire!

Heres a link to the instructable I followed: http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-Coke-Can-Stirling-Engine

Basically, you take two popcans, cut the lid off both of them and the bottom off of one of them. The one that still has the bottom on it becomes the "cylinder". It has a displacer inside made out of steel wool. Its only job is to circulate air from the top to the bottom. When the displacer is UP, there is a pocket of air at the bottom, or hot end of the engine. The air in this pocket get hot, expands, and causes the crank to spin, which drops the displacer and pushes all the hot air in the pocket up to the top or cold side of the engine. Now the pocket of air at the bottom is gone, because the displacer is in it, but it created a pocket of air at the top. That air cools, which means it shrinks, spinning the crank and moving the displacer UP, pushing the cold air back down and starting the process over.

Gads... Thats about as clear as mud. Dont take my word for it- look here: http://www.animatedengines.com/stirling.html

Pics of mine:

First attempt amid the rubble:

It didnt work. I think it was because the steel wool displacer was too loose and it didnt move the air around enough. That or my crankshaft throws were to big. Either way, I got it too hot trying to get it to work and ended up melting the bottom can.

Whoops...

Second attempt worked GREAT!

Next step was to build a base for it so I didnt have to hold it up. Even built a cooling jacket for the cold side out of a tuna fish can.

For heat, I'm using one of my popcan stoves...

Which, as it turns out, also puts out too much heat, cause I melted the bottom popcan AGAIN...

I got a lot better at makin these things... First one took me about 4 hours. Second one took about an hour, but I re-used a few parts. The "third" one took about 15 minutes to cut out a new can and transfer all the parts over.

Even have a video clip of it running! Sorry that its the wrong way and really poor quality... Gotta work with the tools I have.