Truly awesome engineering in miniature

SimonAH

Now of course, doing something like this means that by definition you are unmarried and probably struggle to pass plate glass without giving it at least a cursory lick - but by Belenos, awsome engineering in miniature! A working V12 that would probably fit in a pint glass????

Mad as a gobfull of poprocks, but fantastic! The vid is a little long - but worth it IMO

http://www.wimp.com/tiniestengine/

rubertoe

one thinks one has to much time to surf t'internet...

... pretty cool though.

craker

that is just neat. Heck of a lot of engineering there in one 9 minute vid. I didn't see any spark plugs (or distributor etc) - did I miss something? Though I suppose it could be some sort of fuel that ignites on compression.

SimonAH

That would be diesel?

gosport_commuter

It's a fantastic little engine! love it! Please note though it's not actually running on anything other than compressed air. getting plugs and an injection system working on that scale would have been ridiculous to say the least! Still absolutely extrairdinary craftsmanship though. Loved the turning of the crankshaft!

PedalPedant

I believe it's a compressed air engine so it doesn't actually burn fuel or generate power in its own right. Fantastic piece of engineering though.

More info here:
http://www.gizmag.com/spanish-engineer-crafts-the-worlds-smallest-v-12-engine/20636/

PP

EDIT: Damn, beat me to it

Rigga

Genius, reminds me of the mini v12 ferrari that was on top gear about 15yrs ago.

veronese68

Take a look at this one. A Ferrari that works. Apologies for the annoying bloke conducting the interview, but it is truly incredible.

veronese68

Rigga wrote:

Genius, reminds me of the mini v12 ferrari that was on top gear about 15yrs ago.

I must have been Googling that as you typed.

CiB

That sir is one neat pIece of kit. Practical uses...?

Aaah - compressed air. Shame.

Torvid

CiB wrote:

That sir is one neat pIece of kit. Practical uses...?

Aaah - compressed air. Shame.

Does something like that need to be practical, isn't it a bit like art for arts sake?

mouth

Veronese68 wrote:

Take a look at this one. A Ferrari that works. Apologies for the annoying bloke conducting the interview, but it is truly incredible.

I remember being absolutely astounded when I first saw this. He says 20000 hours in 12 years building it. That works out to be more than 30 hours a week spent on his 'hobby'.

CiB

Torvid wrote:

CiB wrote:

That sir is one neat pIece of kit. Practical uses...?

Aaah - compressed air. Shame.

Does something like that need to be practical, isn't it a bit like art for arts sake?

Yes, clearly. I loved it, but surely you can't help wondering what use it could be put to, like attaching to an egg whisk and using it to fluff up a meringue, or the world's best tea stirrer, or attaching a length of string to the engine at one end on a pulley, with the other end attached to a dozing cat then you fire it up. Etc.

redjeepǃ

Holy sh!t !

My only thoughts are a) the cost of equipment to make that must be phenomenal and b) I'm surprised that he was using a micrometer as I wouldn't have thought that it would have the resolution he needed. Does that make me a geek ?

Really is a piece of art. I have to confess that in the past I've seriously thought about buying a working model rotary engine just because of the sheer engineering beauty of it (but almost passed out at the price). Something like this :

http://seidel-engines.com/st-7-160-b-2/

Of maybe a Wankel - but they're not nearly as pretty.

http://ludens.cl/aeromod/wankel/wankel.html

redvee

A friend has a model of a Brompton, right down to the folding pedal as on the real thing. Think he paid close to £400 for it and sweet talked a Brompton dealer into getting it for him as they aren't for sale to the public, shops only.

rjsterry

SimonAH wrote:

Now of course, doing something like this means that by definition you are unmarried and probably struggle to pass plate glass without giving it at least a cursory lick - but by Belenos, awsome engineering in miniature! A working V12 that would probably fit in a pint glass????

Mad as a gobfull of poprocks, but fantastic! The vid is a little long - but worth it IMO

http://www.wimp.com/tiniestengine/

Nope, he's married: wedding ring on the right hand. A very understanding wife, all the same. Not sure what it says about me that my thought was, "why has he not lined the slots on the bolt heads up?"

majormantra

Schweet.

JamesB5446

Pretty cool.

Would have better if it was a real tiny engine rather than just a model though.

Also, two valve, pushrods? What is this, the 60s?

meanredspider

It's cool but not nearly as cool as the engineering that goes into building a real engine - or tuning a real engine to become a race engine - after all, all the pieces only needed to be in broadly the right place at the right time - it wasn't running particularly fast nor did he have to worry about power or efficiency. Still very neat but "just" a model.

nicklouse

cant see the point.

jejv

V12 ? Radial ? Rotary ? On compressed air ? Meh.

How about a turbojet:
http://www.modeljetclub.co.uk/turbines.htm
http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/arti ... cle_id=166

Or perhaps a turboprop ?
http://www.wrenturbines.co.uk/engines/t ... -turboprop

jejv

The single & twin cylinder compressed air engines can be quite practical for small R/C aircraft.

The V12's & the rotaries seem mostly for show.

nicklouse

jejv wrote:

The single & twin cylinder compressed air engines can be quite practical for small R/C aircraft.

The V12's & the rotaries seem mostly for show.

yes but that one would not have kept any compression. Or he missed out (simplified) some of the build.

mudcow007

has anyone see or ever heard of Moki engines?

basically engines for radio controlled planes but are proper radial engines, they sounds fantastic

clicky