Making tiny 0.1cc two stroke engine from scratch

https://youtu.be/nKVq9u52A-c?si=KVY6AK7tsudqnbJN

155•pillars•2mo ago

Comments

pillars•2mo ago

Some Model Engineering related resources:

1. Engineering drawings of small model engines used for model aircrafts. They are designed for manufacturing and working, not not like showcase item. We can actually build them.

https://outerzone.co.uk/plans.asp?cat=Engines&Xcardsperpage=...

2. https://modelenginenews.org/midge/index.html

WalterBright•2mo ago

I still have a Cox .049 engine in the basement somewhere.

tlb•2mo ago

Of course that's .049 cubic inches (~ 0.82 cc), huge compared to the one in the article.

WalterBright•2mo ago

I also had an .020 engine, but it never ran very well, and I don't know what happened to it.

I had a lot of fun designing my own airplanes and flying them with the .049. Modern electric airplanes are too easy.

greenbit•2mo ago

Used to see adverts for those in magazines and even (iirc) comic books

JKCalhoun•2mo ago

Outerzone is a great site for (mostly vintage) model aircraft plans.

Cut my fingers up many times as a kid trying to start Cox model airplane engines…

xseer•2mo ago

I went down a rabbit hole lately and found this article on tiny diesel engines built throughout the past decades, most of them model engines: https://modelenginenews.org/techniques/minid.html

> I've seen collectors turn a greenish blue and stammer out crazy offers on sight of my 0.1cc Nano, pictured here. But as the size goes down, construction difficulty and criticality of "fits" goes up exponentially.

jiggawatts•2mo ago

I just noticed that this channel has 2 million views and only four videos, all from about a year ago!

wcrossbow•2mo ago

This is great. If you enjoyed it you should check https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IEGmD_aV3w . Next to that it’s child’s play. That’s a whole trasatlantic’s engine room from scratch.

WanderPanda•2mo ago

Wait but the one you linked seems to be pneumatically driven, while the op one is an actual combustion engine, right?

wcrossbow•2mo ago

That’s true! Sorry for not mentioning that.

antonvs•2mo ago

I skipped some bits of the video so probably missed this, but: in the beginning he mentioned no spark or glow plugs and said “similar to a diesel”, but in the end that didn’t work and he had to resort to a glow plug.

Did he mention what fuel he was using for the compression-only attempts? If not actual diesel, it seems like he would have had to use ether or something like that.

Frenchgeek•2mo ago

He did: It was just warm enough for the ether in the mix to evaporate long before it reached the engine, so it couldn't run.

RossBencina•2mo ago

It was a mixture of ether, castor oil, and something else. He theorised that the ether was boiling off in the tank before it made it to the engine.

antonvs•2mo ago

Ah thanks - I was imagining that perhaps the engine didn’t have high enough compression to achieve ignition.

CamperBob2•2mo ago

I would think there would be some interaction between the carburetor air intake and the propeller right next to it. Intentional feedback, maybe, to change the mixture as the RPM goes up? If not intentional, then it sounds like a potential showstopper.

vessenes•2mo ago

https://modelenginenews.org/techniques/minid.html Mentions that this engine needs a spring start and 50% ether and it runs up to 40k rpm(!) seems like it’s finicky, which makes sense given its size

antonvs•2mo ago

The spring start makes a lot of sense, thanks.

N_Lens•2mo ago

If you want to see the engine running it's at 30:12

acomjean•2mo ago

Last century I was gifted a gas powered model helicopter with one of these small gas engines. It had a propeller would fly up, run out of gas and fall back down (it had some larger blades to slow its decent).

You started by spinning the propeller and letting it spring back.

How I didn’t loose a finger…

They’re remarkable little devices.

noefingway•2mo ago

Brings back memories from childhood. I used to build and fly model airplanes (by wire not rc). Starting those engines was also a challenge. I still have a scar on one finger from an engine kicking back when trying to flip the propeller.

kotaKat•2mo ago

I would love to couple one of these mini-engines to an electric motor and... build a cursed USB-C "generator"... ;)

DoctorOetker•2mo ago

I would also like to try that some day, but theres little information on efficiency.

I'd also like to see one running on laughing gas (N2O), as the autodecomposition reaction is nitrogen and oxygen gas, in similar proportions to atmosphere. But the reaction efficiency would have to be high enough or I'd feel bad about the GWP.

jakedata•2mo ago

The second I heard that engine fire it was 1986 in my brain again. I could smell the fuel and feel the finger damage from repeatedly trying to get the darned thing to start. Followed by damage on the other side of the finger when it actually did. Ouch.

jaredhallen•2mo ago

Cox 0.049?

JKCalhoun•2mo ago

Me too, brother.

mycall•2mo ago

Flick a pen on it instead.

greenbit•2mo ago

Ah, the classic "chicken stick" approach. No shame in that!

JKCalhoun•2mo ago

Related? Blondihacks [1] has been working through machining a live-steam powered scale locomotive.

Has it been three years now? She easily has another year of work ahead of her before she has live, rolling stock. Wild dedication to a project that could perhaps consume half a decade of your life.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/@Blondihacks

pillars•2mo ago

Sorry for offtopic, I want to share,

Some Machining related channels on youtube:

this old tony, Chronova engineering, cylo's garage, inheritance machining, breaking taps, blondie hacks, tarkka, dan gelbert, Jonesey Makes, Eric(with a K), Clough42, Alec steele, NBR Works, Not An engineer, Stefan Gotteswinter, oxtoolco, ROBRENZ, MrCrispin, Clickspring, Artisan Makes, MH Anything, Jellyfish machine,Maker B,

And also there is great course on precision engineering by Alex slocum:

https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLksE8LDXGXl_MQHKr2DqhfD...

echelon_musk•2mo ago

https://www.youtube.com/@thisoldtony

https://www.youtube.com/@Chronovaengineering

https://www.youtube.com/@cylosgarage

https://www.youtube.com/@inheritancemachining

https://www.youtube.com/@breakingtaps

https://www.youtube.com/@blondihacks

https://www.youtube.com/@tarkka

https://www.youtube.com/@dgelbart

https://www.youtube.com/@JoneseyMakes

https://www.youtube.com/@Erik-not-Eric

https://www.youtube.com/@Clough42

https://www.youtube.com/@Alecsteele

https://www.youtube.com/@NBRWorks

https://www.youtube.com/@NoEngineerHere

https://www.youtube.com/@StefanGotteswinter

https://www.youtube.com/@oxtoolco

https://www.youtube.com/@ROBRENZ

https://www.youtube.com/@MrCrispin

https://www.youtube.com/@Clickspring

https://www.youtube.com/@ArtisanMakes

https://www.youtube.com/@MHAnything

https://www.youtube.com/@Jellyfishmachine

https://www.youtube.com/@MakerB

pillars•2mo ago

Thank you!

johnohara•2mo ago

Have to recommend TryAlly. He makes it look easy and straightforward. It's not.

https://www.youtube.com/@tryally

chongli•2mo ago

Thank you for the Alex Slocum link. I was aware of a lot of those other machinist channels but the engineering course is new to me. This looks incredible. Alex is a fantastic teacher!

Cockbrand•2mo ago

As someone who always thought that it'd be cool to create my own parts and components by milling, but who never actually had access to a milling workshop, I find this video extremely satisfying to watch. Thank you!

noufalibrahim•2mo ago

"The compression seems a little off".

I'm really curious what kind of background and knowledge the creator of that video would have to develop instincts like that.

tkfoss•2mo ago

Work with few engines and you ll hear most of problems right away

A quantitative, multimodal wearable bioelectronic device for stress assessment

Why Big Tech Is Throwing Cash into India in Quest for AI Supremacy

How to shoot yourself in the foot – 2026 edition

Eight More Months of Agents

From Human Thought to Machine Coordination

The new X API pricing must be a joke

Show HN: RMA Dashboard fast SAST results for monorepos (SARIF and triage)

Show HN: Source code graphRAG for Java/Kotlin development based on jQAssistant

Python Only Has One Real Competitor

Tmux to Zellij (and Back)

Ask HN: How are you using specialized agents to accelerate your work?

Passing user_id through 6 services? OTel Baggage fixes this

DavMail Pop/IMAP/SMTP/Caldav/Carddav/LDAP Exchange Gateway

Visual data modelling in the browser (open source)

Show HN: Tharos – CLI to find and autofix security bugs using local LLMs

Oddly Simple GUI Programs

The New Playbook for Leaders [pdf]

Interactive Unboxing of J Dilla's Donuts

OneCourt helps blind and low-vision fans to track Super Bowl live

Rudolf Vrba

Autism Incidence in Girls and Boys May Be Nearly Equal, Study Suggests

Wellness Hotels Discovery Application

NASA delays moon rocket launch by a month after fuel leaks during test

Sebastian Galiani on the Marginal Revolution

Ask HN: Are we at the point where software can improve itself?

Binance Gives Trump Family's Crypto Firm a Leg Up

Reverse engineering Chinese 'shit-program' for absolute glory: R/ClaudeCode

Indian Culture

Show HN: Maravel-Framework 10.61 prevents circular dependency

The age of a treacherous, falling dollar

A quantitative, multimodal wearable bioelectronic device for stress assessment

Why Big Tech Is Throwing Cash into India in Quest for AI Supremacy

How to shoot yourself in the foot – 2026 edition

Eight More Months of Agents

From Human Thought to Machine Coordination

The new X API pricing must be a joke

Show HN: RMA Dashboard fast SAST results for monorepos (SARIF and triage)

Show HN: Source code graphRAG for Java/Kotlin development based on jQAssistant

Python Only Has One Real Competitor

Tmux to Zellij (and Back)

Ask HN: How are you using specialized agents to accelerate your work?

Passing user_id through 6 services? OTel Baggage fixes this

DavMail Pop/IMAP/SMTP/Caldav/Carddav/LDAP Exchange Gateway

Visual data modelling in the browser (open source)

Show HN: Tharos – CLI to find and autofix security bugs using local LLMs

Oddly Simple GUI Programs

The New Playbook for Leaders [pdf]

Interactive Unboxing of J Dilla's Donuts

OneCourt helps blind and low-vision fans to track Super Bowl live

Rudolf Vrba

Autism Incidence in Girls and Boys May Be Nearly Equal, Study Suggests

Wellness Hotels Discovery Application

NASA delays moon rocket launch by a month after fuel leaks during test

Sebastian Galiani on the Marginal Revolution

Ask HN: Are we at the point where software can improve itself?

Binance Gives Trump Family's Crypto Firm a Leg Up

Reverse engineering Chinese 'shit-program' for absolute glory: R/ClaudeCode

Indian Culture

Show HN: Maravel-Framework 10.61 prevents circular dependency

The age of a treacherous, falling dollar

Making tiny 0.1cc two stroke engine from scratch

Comments