Author Topic: How to design and build an engine that will be 3D printed?  (Read 6621 times)

Offline jeffmorris

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How to design and build an engine that will be 3D printed?
« on: June 29, 2016, 09:06:46 PM »
I have a 3D printer and I would like tutorials on designing and building an engine.

There is Toyota 4-cylinder engine at http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:644933

There is Subaru 4-cylinder engine at http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1643878

I also would like tutorials on designing and building transmissions.

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: How to design and build an engine that will be 3D printed?
« Reply #1 on: June 29, 2016, 09:29:17 PM »
Jeff--You're trying to run before you have even learned to crawl. If you want to design an engine and 3d print it, first learn to draw using a cad system, preferably 3D. To become really proficient at it only takes about 5 years or so. Build a couple of very simple single cylinder engines using a mill and a lathe. Then learn all there is to know about how and why an automobile engine runs. Then you might be ready for what you want to do.

Offline sshire

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Re: How to design and build an engine that will be 3D printed?
« Reply #2 on: June 29, 2016, 10:06:37 PM »
Jeff
Brian is right. Since the printer needs a CAD drawing, that's your first step. Try Google Sketchup. Free and easy to learn. Another issue is that the precision of home 3D printers isn't good enough for a complex engine.
Here's what I'd suggest. Get Sketchup and become familiar with it. Then, look online for plans for a simple wobbler air engine. Redraw the plans in Sketchup and print the parts (there will be about 4 parts). Then, when that runs, try something a bit more complex.
Best,
Stan

Offline Jo

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Re: How to design and build an engine that will be 3D printed?
« Reply #3 on: June 29, 2016, 10:16:55 PM »
So Jeff do you have the detailed drawings? Are they in a drawing package that supports 3D printing?

Do you have the tools/machinery to make the rest of the components? I am assuming you are a skilled machinist with a comprehensive machine shop to achieve all this. Cams and crankshafts are fun to machine   ;)

Jo

P.S Would you like to post an introduction to yourself in the Forums intro section?

Enjoyment is more important than achievement.

Offline sshire

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Re: How to design and build an engine that will be 3D printed?
« Reply #4 on: June 29, 2016, 10:24:40 PM »

Just a comment about the replies.
Of course, that's not going to happen but, if I'd gotten a reply like that when I was starting, I'd have given up and would probably be tying flies as a hobby. Fortunately, the first reply was from Bogs and was positive.
This person apparently has a 3D printer. No mill. No lathe.
I taught Digital Imaging and Engineering for over 30 years in College and the last thing you want to do with an enthusiastic kid is to tell him what he wants to do is way beyond him and, he needs to spend a boat load of cash to do anything.
Go to any show and look at the gray hair. Younger people are what will keep this going. Don't drive them away.

 
Best,
Stan

Offline Jo

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Re: How to design and build an engine that will be 3D printed?
« Reply #5 on: June 29, 2016, 10:42:29 PM »
When I think 3D printing I am thinking for using it as a means towards lost plastic casting (lost wax) = really nice casting in aluminium/bronze/Iron. That then casting/printing needs a little more machining to be able to fit in the working engine.

Jo

If you want to see really impressive 3D printing you should see what the Lego guys build  8)
Enjoyment is more important than achievement.

Offline zeeprogrammer

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Re: How to design and build an engine that will be 3D printed?
« Reply #6 on: June 30, 2016, 01:29:47 AM »
I'm with Stan regarding giving support.

But there's a lot of information missing. A model of an engine is one thing. A model of an engine that 'moves' is another. And a model of an engine that 'runs' is yet another. The 3D printer can do the first two. Unless it's a mix of printed parts and machines parts that can take the stress, etc. I can't really tell when I look at the links he provided.

I think he's asking for information on engines, how they work, and how he can go about designing his own. That's beyond me and probably not within the scope of this forum. All I can suggest is to google and absorb.

I suspect there's not that much on 'how to design' but a lot on 'how it was done'.
There's a lot of that even here in this forum. I see people doing things...but I often have to ask why.
Not a complaint. That's a learning process.
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Offline b.lindsey

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Re: How to design and build an engine that will be 3D printed?
« Reply #7 on: June 30, 2016, 01:34:04 AM »
Well if you look at the videos in the links in the OP, these appear to be fully 3D printed models with the exception of maybe some fasteners and perhaps some bushings. They are driven it seems by electric motors. I can understand the attraction as I too, deal daily with budding engineering students who are quite adept at drawing but much less so as to machining. If the 3D printing can get them interested in how engines function and go together, then in some cases the patience to learn the machining processes will follow. One of the major draws for out Mechanical Engineering Department is the motorsports concentration (remember we are in the heart of NASCAR country), and by the time many of these students are seniors and their technical skills have been focused through course work and practical lab experiences, I can attest to the fact that they are capable of some cutting edge stuff...both in design and production.  Is it the same as the old school apprentice programs? No, but those days are gone now. If we want to get them interested in this great hobby, we are going to have to meet them at least halfway on their turf.  Just my 2 cents.

Bill

Offline jeffmorris

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Re: How to design and build an engine that will be 3D printed?
« Reply #8 on: June 30, 2016, 01:52:22 AM »
Here is a picture of an one-cylinder engine that I created using Autodesk Inventor software.

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: How to design and build an engine that will be 3D printed?
« Reply #9 on: June 30, 2016, 02:01:02 AM »
Jeff, as Jo had said, it would help us help you to know more about what it is you want to do both short and longer term, what type of printer you have or have access too, as well as any machining skills you already have. A brief introduction will do that as well as allow us to welcome you to the forum properly.

Bill

Offline jeffmorris

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Re: How to design and build an engine that will be 3D printed?
« Reply #10 on: June 30, 2016, 12:46:02 PM »
I am 60-year old hearing-impaired man. At home, I have PowerSpec Ultra 3D printer. At the program for mentally-handicapped people where I work in the wood working shop, I have a CNC router for cutting wood. I don't have access to metal-working machines. I'm interested in making model engines and transmissions. The engines will be ran by electric motors. While I can print engines and transmissions that I get from Thingiverse, I don't have good skills at designing my own engines and transmissions. Look at the one-cylinder engine. It doesn't look like a real engine. I have Visible V-8 engine (new version without motor and light bulbs) made by Revell, Dodge Hemi Visible V-8 made by Testors, and a Visible 4-cylinder engine made by Haynes. I had the Visible Auto Chassis a long time ago. I built large model cars made by Lego.

Offline gbritnell

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Re: How to design and build an engine that will be 3D printed?
« Reply #11 on: June 30, 2016, 02:05:57 PM »
Hi Jeff,
While I somewhat agree with some of my friends and constituents on this forum about encouraging people into this hobby I think what you're asking for is way beyond what I or others could provide for you.
I can't say I've ever seen 'tutorials' on designing and building an engine. People go to college for years to get mechanical engineering degrees and then work in the field for who knows how many after graduation before designing parts for engines.
A great many of us here have designed and built or just built I.C. engines and that skill was honed by putting in hours and sometimes years of machining and experimenting. There's no easy way to convey all of that knowledge in a two page treatise.
The internet is a wonderful place for gleaning knowledge about almost every conceivable subject. Just by typing in 'designing internal combustion engines' will give you links to all kinds of information, such as
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mechanical-engineering/2-61-internal-combustion-engines-spring-2008/index.htm
gbritnell
Talent unshared is talent wasted.

Offline ShopShoe

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Re: How to design and build an engine that will be 3D printed?
« Reply #12 on: June 30, 2016, 02:20:09 PM »
jeffmorris,

I want to encourage your efforts as much as I can (see posts by sshire, blindsey, zee, etc.) I think that perhaps some time spent studying and making different mechanical devices might help you develop skills in thinking through design processes to the point where you can make them.

I might suggest that you reverse-engineer some things in order to figure out how some of their features might be drawn and printed. Since you are not looking to make running engines, you can probably get ahold of some worn out and broken engines and other things to study. I would suggest a small investment in hand tools and measuring tools like digital calipers and gauges might help you figure out clearances and relationships.

I am going to be lazy this morning and not look up the links, but I recommend you read through some of Brian Rupnow's projects here and on other forums to see how someone who is an industrial designer thinks through projects. He usually has to rethink and redesign as he works through something, which is a reality in bringing a design to successful completion. Brian has also posted plans online you can use to make various engines and mechanical devices he has made for his and our entertainment (???). If you read his posts, you will see references to some of these. By mentioning Brian, I do not mean to diminish the other talented people here and elsewhere. Pay attention to a lot of the skilled people here. I have learned a lot from all of them.

There is also online a wealth of information available on engines and mechanical devices from the past which can be used to create your own interpretation of what they might have been like in reality. Read the threads here about the Monitor engine builds in the works right now. There is also a thread about disk engines that is fascinating as the whole idea is very different from anything being done today. I might also suggest the back issues of Popular Mechanics and Popular Science: I avidly read these in the 1960s and there were many new approaches to automobile engine design being created then that never made it to reality.

I may be off-target with this post, but I would like to see you taking off with some great projects and posting here as you go. We like pictures, renderings, sketches, and all other images. Don't be afraid to ask questions. The first time I posted myself, I was rewarded by several responses from the "top guns" that were encouraging and provided what I needed to keep learning.

ShopShoe

Offline Hugh Currin

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Re: How to design and build an engine that will be 3D printed?
« Reply #13 on: June 30, 2016, 05:35:25 PM »
I have a 3D printer and I would like tutorials on designing and building an engine.

There is Toyota 4-cylinder engine at http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:644933

There is Subaru 4-cylinder engine at http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1643878

I also would like tutorials on designing and building transmissions.

Jeff:

Interesting. You mention design and build. The Toyota and Subaru engines mentioned are scaled models of existing engines. No design work, just the difficulty of getting prints or a full size engine to measure from. I suspect there would be a lot of trial and error figuring out how to 3D print the parts, even given the drawings, for such things as tolerances. A large undertaking but obviously doable. Looks like the goal is to have the parts move as in the full size engines.

There are a number of existing model engine plans that you could try producing with a 3D printer. Complexity all the way from a wobbler to V8 engines. That would solve the problem of obtaining plans. Being designed for machining the problems of adapting for a 3D printer would still remain.

Another approach, related to build, is an engine operating on compressed air. There are a lot of model engine plans available for air and steam engines. These are designed to be machined. It would be interesting to see if they can be made functional using a 3D printer, or primarily 3D printed parts.

Building from a set of plans, then design your own engines based on existing plans is a good way to learn about engine design. Start simple and move to more complex designs. This, in my opinion, is the best way to learn model engine design.

I think many here will be interested in a 3D printer build, I'd personally like to see it. Reading of the success and failure as you go along would be much more instructive than just seeing the finished product. 3D printers are fascinating and following an engine build would sure point out the positives and negatives of the technology. I look forward to a build log.

Thanks.

Hugh
Hugh

Offline 10KPete

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Re: How to design and build an engine that will be 3D printed?
« Reply #14 on: June 30, 2016, 09:05:09 PM »
Nicely said, Hugh! I agree with that approach. And, I would be very interested in seeing a 3D engine build, with all the issues included!

Pete
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SB 10K lathe, Benchmaster mill. And stuff.

 

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