I'm professionally a toolmaker, but got petrol running through my veins (100% gearhead) and this is one of the most impressive builds i've seen for 2 decades. I'm being honest, this truly handmade engine and "well... i'll just do my best and see" approach is both amazing and refreshing. Maybe it was do to vibrations, but i saw that rpm gauge hit 10K! Simply amazing!
This guy teaches us that anyone can make your own engines. The only problem is that you gotta have the smarts and the correct tools. So can’t wait to see more
You dont need expensive tools to make something cool. Ive made a telescope mirror with nothing more than rocks and 'dirt' that has its accuracy measured in millionths of an inch using a tool made out of a copper pipe, palletwood, a dull boxcutter blade, a couple of scews and a flashlight bulb
This is extremely impressive. The fact you did this with no precision machinery whatsoever is crazy. Not even a drill press! The guy who built the wright brothers’ engines would be proud
@@nikkiofthevalley "Precision" is how anyone from 1825 would have described that lathe. You don't get how far even cheap chinese tools have come. Roller bearings in a lathe? They had to use plain split brass bearings with shims to control clearance. Roller bearings in an ENGINE? They used poured babbit metal that was hand scraped!
This is really impressive. I have been building race engines and doing machine work for 30+ years. This is one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a while. A homemade 2 cycle engine with that limited equipment. Two thumbs up sir!
I love it. This is what guys were doing 120 years ago. No global multi billion dollar companies stamping out a hundred thousand engines a day, but guys in garages experimenting, learning things through trial and error.
Exactly! We're sorely missing that today. The impact is has on society is huge. All of the earned wisdom, qualified mentorship, genuine innovation, inspiring role models etc. That's why I love working in the guitar-making world. We're all just figuring things out on our own in our garages, finding what works and what doesn't and learning from each others mistakes and successes.
remember that they also didnt have the last 150 years of experience to fall back upon... no flicking switches for instant light, and spinning chucks... light a lantern and start pumping that treadle... having to forge ones own cutters, harden them, grind them (more treadle action, or maybe a handle to spin?)... anything needing to be purchased... telegrams, letters, waiting, waiting, waiting... of course, with no televison, radio, or internet to distract... and then, despite it all, what we have here is really just "stuck in the rut" thinking... crank scavenged two stroke was the first ICE made... so we really havent progressed very far.. simply refined what our ancestors developed..
@@paradiselost9946 you whippersnappers with your new-fangled metal. Back in my day, we made things out of stone, like intended. I'd like to see them build a 2-stroke out of granite that runs on mutton tallow, that would be worth seeing
4:40 That "little tool" you made is called an arbor, for anyone wondering. Good thinking for a relative beginner, you're improving rapidly and picking up all sorts of tricks! Much better looking welds these days, too.
and at that scale, sometimes you can get away with super gluing the part to the arbor, especially if the arbor has a large step on it to add some surface area. A bit of heat releases it.
i've promised myself that after getting my degree in MechE, im gonna buy myself decent tools to make this kind of stuff. Can't wait to have the money and the rest of knowledge needed to pull off a DIY engine. Great video, thx for the inspiration.
A 2-stroke exhaust isn't about pressure, it's about reflected waves. That's why they have to be tuned. Adjusting the length of the system is the primary method. Exhaust cross-sectional area matters, too.
You are on the right track. Here in the Netherlands we've got many mopeds. Many of us (me included) worked and maintaind our own mopeds including my friends with 2 strokes like aerox, speedfight 2 and so on. It was when we put on some performance exhausts like polini or yasuni r exausts those things had so much more power. Back preasure really is a thing with engines i assume.
@Turnipstalk Indeed yes, as his does. I just wanted to hopefully correct a misunderstanding that he has about the purpose of an exhaust on a 2-stroke engine. As you said, having a tuned exhaust system would improve his engine. It's a bit like a pulse-jet in a fashion. While I ordinarily wouldn't compare the two, the physics is related. It's about mass flow and reflecting pressure waves to push the gasses to where they need to be at the right time.
@@bryanpeeters2552 The tuned exhaust is what improved your engine performance, not an increased back-pressure. In fact, Ive seen some independent studies that dispute the claim that exhaust system back-pressure is helpful to an engine, be it 2 or 4-stroke. Your exhaust needs to do what it's name says and exhaust gasses as freely as possible. Back-pressure is disruptive to the function - However having a tuned system which can utilize the pressure waves of the exhaust cycle to push gasses to where they need to be should be goal of any performance exhaust.
Damn, that's really impressive. This brings me back in time. Back in the day when we were 15 or 16 and working on our 50cc scooters the stock carbs usually had 12mm. For easy tuning we used 17.5mm dell'ortos with decently sized airfilters and nozzles and most importantly proper exhausts. You would be surpirsed about how an exhaust completely changes the running characteristics and power output on 2 strokes. It's almost tike a turbocharger on 4 strokes. Back pressure has a lot to do with it. And the way gases flow through it, that's why tuning exhausts tend to be bow shaped. And not to forget they take away the heat from the cylinder. WIthout one the engine runs like crap and tends to overheat. And fuel mixture was usually 50:1 so you don't get smoked to death and the engine wont choke on soot. When you combine a proper carb, intake and exhaust with a sport clutch and variator your 50km/h scooter was ready for 90km/h, sometimes much faster depending on the engine, how it was geared and what else was done to it. Adding fuel chanels between crankshaft and cylinder or making them larger and the exhaust channels larger also helps. Next step would be 70, 80 or even 90cc. It's unbelievable how much power you can get out of those tiny engines and how fast the accelerate. It's like riding a cannon ball, you just cant keep the front wheel on the ground. All this was highly illegal in germany, but it was easy to loose the cops because scooters can go just about anywhere. Just bend up the license plate and be gone. We felt like ghost rider on our Aprilia SR50's, Peugeot Speedfight 2's, Yamaha Aerox's and Piaggio Zip's. Everyone had a "Scooter tuning is not a crime" sticker. Show's that you don't need expensive cars to have fun with tuning something.
@@radicaledward4717 You can turn that little thing into a rocket with like 500€. Even just taking out the speed limiters would probably get you up to 70 km/h (I don't know the english word, we call it Drossel in german) There should be a metal ring that limits your max speed in the variator. You can just take that out in a matter of minutes. And maybe there are blind tubes that are welded to the manifold of the exhaust to reduce engine power. You can cut that off and weld the hole shut, so the exhaust gasses can flow freely. Sometimes there also is a metal piece inside the manifold to limit the diameter. Take that out as well. Then your scooter is not limited anymore and goes as fast as the engine can. It's even better for the engine because it can finally work in it's default condition. Piaggio engines are great for tuning and very durable. I had one in my Aprilia SR50R Factory almost 20 years ago. That thing made about 140 km/h. You couldn't go full throttle under 70 km/h or the front wheel would rise up.
2strokes can really be as simple or as complicated as you want to make them. From simple piston ports to reed valves to exhaust power valves to tuned expansion chambers.
I think, he should have at least made an expansion chamber. One of the dumbest i ever heared about 2 strokes is, that they need backpressure. 2 strokes don't need "backpressure", they need an exhaust pipe wich is able to get the exhaust pressure wave to resonate with the piston movement.
Or you can do what he did...and re-discover a Poppin' Johnny Hit & Miss design. Which technically is...well...why they used giant flywheels to store torque. Those dudes ran on alcohol or gasoline to heat up the cylinder, then you swapped them over to kerosene or diesel when the chamber & piston expanded so compression got high enough to run on it. Flame-lickers were like that. They only fired every 2 or 3 strokes, sometimes even every 5 to 6, because they depended on torque, not RPM's (being a max of like 350rpm, not the 3600 you are used to or higher, with no torque). That way, they could pull a house off a foundation, and only go 8mph. They also had a piston 50X the length and weight of his, and the crankshaft alone took overhead cranes to install in the REALLY big hit or miss motors (the ones the size of your house).
I wonder what sort of comparative trials he could do with different homemade 2 strokes. I’d advocate for rotary and reed valve designs based on Cox engines to be a good place to start. Also, it would be much better and easier to make them for nitro or diesel, or just straight methanol.
"You might even say, it's almost good." This is my mood towards any creative endeavour I undertake. Not being particularly versed with construction or engineering though, I thoroughly enjoyed the approach and attitude to this, great stuff.
yeah, these kinds of projects are really empowering. It really reduces the magic around us to being just a collection of concepts we all can understand. And really shows off how wide the "good enough" tolerance band is on things. He showed it early on with the 2 stroke expansion chamber thing!
as impressive as it is, he still had to order a carb, order gaskets and whatnot, and all that other stuff. Really puts into perspective how much work it must have taken people to invent the very first engines
Imagine being Charles Taylor and trying to build a very light but strong engine for the Wright brothers aircraft. He doesn't get enough credit in history, but his story is awesome.
Dude actually went and made the 2 stroke. Was really fun to see it run. It's only a matter of time before you make something like a vtwin or something. I can see it
After the apocalypse I'm sure paying people to spend all day filing things would actually be a pretty good job given the conditions of the world. Just don't expect quick parts.
I have worked on replacing this, that, and the other part on cars for 45 years, but never had occasion to build even a kit engine. This is another level altogether. Well done.
This is the best, and by far the MOST effective way to learn. Just get in there and do it. Projects like these are frustrating at times, but you learn so much that you can apply down the road when it comes to metal fab and machining. You're always gonna have the critics, but just chuckle and keep your head down and your powder dry!
To answer the back pressure question, back pressure is a bad thing, but what people sometimes confuse with back pressure is pressure differential, this allows the high pressure exhaust to create momentum and draw the remaining exhaust gasses from the cylinder and draw more fresh air/fuel from the crank case. People confuse this with backpressure because it meana the higher pressure is maintained rather than just flowing out unobstructed. To sumarize, its not backpressure, its momentum and pressure differential.
I watch a lot of engineering videos and they always show a mostly flawless process, with people knowing expertly how to operate machines. You just nog giving a fuck and slap dashing something together is a breath of fresh air, and gives me hope that I can actually do something like this myself. Also your humor has me rolling. Subscribed.
@@AnonymousAnarchist2 yeah! they're really cool in the model airplane world. A counter piston you can use to adjust compression/timing! And not really more complicated than his current design, even maybe less complicated due to the lack of electrical ignition timing.
These videos are absolutely amazing. I love all the skills he's learnt and how almost nothing is bought pre-made. This is exactly the kind of stuff I would want to do if I had a workshop like that.
good job. i know you said you were no other youtuber whatever, but you've displayed an adequate understanding of concepts that make up like 60-70% of what would be on the entry engineering exam. i think you're pretty awesome when it comes to building this stuff
I literally just got home from Home Depot and saw this video dropped! And I come with a tip! If you need lots of threaded rod and don't mind it being slightly bent and have to cut it, you can go to the electrical section and buy 10' of it for under $10
I love how you manage to build a magnificent piece of machienery from trying to build a 3d printed engine to building a real functional 2 stroke engine you really learn from your long time of progress and strong patience and knowledge i hope you made a better one i really wanna see it running above the wheels
The next time you use your hole cutter use a drill bit to drill a hole on the inner diameter of your hole saw. This insures that the saw won't lodge on the filings that are being created by cutting. This also reduces wear on the cutter itself and also reduces the time to cut. You can easely cut up to 2 cm with this method. (With cutting oil ofcourse)
2:59 Ok I can see two "problem areas" in your weld here, near the start, and the middle bit. Towards the end, I think you were moving slower, thus the "sunken" look of the weld there, versus the tall nature of the middle. CONSISTANCY I think is your main problem, rather than technique. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!
Braze or solder some ductile copper tube around it to make it liquid cooled! And use Loctite 680 retaining compound on the crank for the flywheel, and the rod bearing. Might help a lot!
This is an excellent project. In my experience, nothing has helped me learn more about a topic than reinventing the proverbial wheel. We do this all the time in computer science. Luckily rewriting code and debugging is free and takes much less time. The same can't be said for mechanical and electrical engineers. Mad respect for you patience and courage to face potentially expensive failure.
i’ve been absolutely loving these home made engines i haven’t found many who have made any. it would be cool to see you make a multiple cylinder engine like a 2,3 or a 4 cylinder inline and even cooler if it’s a 2 stroke. you should check out the detroit diesel 2 strokes. their 2 stroke does not care in the slightest about anything in the way it’s designed. it has a blower that pushes air into the cylinders, you could adapt one from an existing tool or something. this way the crank case can be separate from the cylinder and it eliminates smoke from burning your engine oil. they also used both exhaust valves and ports in different engines. it’s a really cool design and i’d like for someone to take a shot at it. you should also try making bushing bearings lubricated by and oil pump and oil galleries, you can even make them with just a drill. best thing to do is check out the oiling and cooling systems of automotive engines. it would also be really cool if you could someday evolve to trying out diesel. love this content.
3:56 this might be the best bit you've ever put in a video Also, buddy, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but there's a reason roller bearings aren't typically used in crankshafts
@@fishy6320they aren't good. Ball bearings either. Both suffer from cage failures and are rpm limited because of centrifugal force pushing the rollers balls or needles together leading to either cage failure, seizing against each other (cageless) or pitting the ID of race until it eventually fails. Plain bearing is the way to go. The bigger problem is that the balance on this guys engine is AWFUL only one web which is maybe 25% of the counterweight mass needed. Vibes destroyed the bearings.
This channel feels like it's ran by the most terrifying (in a good way) mechanic possible, smart enough to sound responsible and knowledgeable, just crazy enough to *checks notes* "create a potentially explosive combustion engine from what is basically scrap metal" subscribed instantly
3:08 when I was in school for welding, we did a bunch of welding positions. Grab a welding book, learn what positions to practice, and run through that with metal you get from your local scrapyard (or for free if you can find it.)
Back pressure is usually bad for an engine, as it causes resistance in air flow. You want an exhaust that helps in scavenging, which is when the exhaust pulses pull the air through the exhaust and help with air intake by taking more exhaust gasses out of the motor. I’m glad you figured out proper spark timing for the motor, I had commented on a past video about it and the air fuel ratio you were using. Amazing video as always, you made an amazing motor!!!!!
that is for 4 strokes, 2 strokes need backpressure for better compression and using the fuel that goes through the cylinder into the exhaust during the intake/exhaust stroke.
@@tktspeed1433 Wow, this is interesting! I always thought that you’d want to shove more air into the engine, rather than keep exhaust fumes in there. Couldn’t you “add” compression with forced induction?
@@switchpro3842 Yes you can absolutely turbocharge a two-stroke. However, since there are no valves, a lot of the pressure from that turbo will leak out the exhaust port, although the blades in the exhaust will also give you some back pressure.
@@rienkhoek4169 I’m aware of the concept of using forced induction in general, but my question is would adding forced induction increase compression ratio, or can that only be done with higher quality/compression rated pistons and rings. My thought is that if you were to supercharge a 2 stroke you could add compression and expel more exhaust fumes, allowing for better air:fuel and potentially more compression. IE: more power. IMO a good 2 stroke build probably consists of valves and a cam, with preferably a roots/twin screw supercharger. Mechanical valves should add to compression as opposed to static valves. And letting intake and exhaust valves open could allow the supercharger to push the air through.
@@switchpro3842 I think the issue isn't about getting the combusted gasses out, but about preventing the new air/fuel mixture from escaping. The ports that let the mixture in are below the exhaust port.
I'm pretty sure the thick smoke pouring out of the exhaust was the oil you poured into the crack case making it's way over the piston and combusting with the fuel. On the subject of cooling, other than making a whole new block, you could weld some cooling fins on the side of the cylinder. Sadly that might lead to warping of the inside of the cylinder so you might need to make a new piston and re-hone it. Other than that, incredibly fascinating video to watch.
Thanks! For the cooling I was actually thinking of brazing pieces of copper onto the side to create fins, as it would hopefully be a low enough temperature to not warp the bore out of round
@@thomaskletzl6493 heeyy yeah! those old hit and miss engines often contained a big water tank above the cylinder, no radiator. Was literally just a heat holding tank.
Check out twostrokestuffing's video on how to tune a carb. You need to do more than just moving the needle, and the "mixture screw" is an air screw, and is only meant for fine tuning it so it'll idle smoother. Also, a pipe is unnecessary for that thing. You could get enough power to snap that crank in half with just porting and tuning the carb/ignition.
Agreed, mixture is far too rich it seems (even if the added oil makes saying with certainty difficult). Get a set of carburator jets so you can tune it properly :). Congrats though, very nice project
I drive these things daily, never owned a car and never will. I promise you, the pipe is important. Specially if there's any wind, or the motor is under load. That unspent fuel, or having extra oxygen pushed in, really alters the performance drastically. Better than a pipe, get an expansion chamber to really maximize it.
@@XiaolinDraconis Having something for an exhaust is basically a must, yes. But an expansion chamber is completely unnecessary for that thing. I'm guessing it's around 50cc. That crank looks like it wouldn't be too happy with anything over 5hp. I have a sachs MAHLE 6.25ps 50cc cylinder from the 70s in my garage, and it makes that power without an expansion chamber. It's got good low end torque too, meaning there's a lot more power hiding in it if the port timing was raised a bit. I daylied a vintage moped for 3 years, I have rebuilt probably 25-30 engines. They have all run perfectly fine without an expansion chamber. He needs to tune the carb and it'll run perfectly fine
@@XiaolinDraconis He built an engine from a piece of pipe and essentially other "scraps". You think not having a tuned exhaust is the major source of power loss?
@@shanerc I said that? No. Not having any exhaust is definitely screwing the mix, I would know I ride one, kills my ability to accelerate quickly and bogs out before it can top out.
Great job! Older model airplane two stroke engines like the Brown Jr. and the GHQ had a baffle across the top of the piston to prevent the fresh charge from being pushed out of the exhaust before being ignited. It was biased toward the transfer port side and only about 4 mm high. Also, you can boost performance and scavenging by attaching 2 lengths of tubing to the exhaust, maybe 12 cm long one should telescope inside the other. K&S brass tubing sizes will do. While the engine is running slide on in and out until RPM peaks. The increase is usually quite pronounced.
Watching you're videos for a while and as an former mechanic and now mechanical engineer I have to say that you impress me with this build. Nice work and keep on with good stuff like this 👍
Give this guy some love. He is from my home town. Can't wait to see what this channel brings in the future. Thank you Camden for adding to my feed with some great content!!
That video is amazing. I always wondered whether it is possible for a single person to build an engine with tools that you can find in the garage and i always doubted that thought because I never expected them to have high enough precision for such a complex mechanism. Very impressive!!!
You are just causally outputting enough smoke to be seen from space... Going to give the EPA a heart attack to see all their progress for the last 20 years negated by a single engine. On a more serious note I love it, keep up the good work.
Love your videos, and this one is INCREDIBLE! Honestly, though, the hole saw part set off my spidey sense something fierce. Those hole saws can grab like a mother when there's any kind of lateral movement (especially as you just break through one edge of the material), and those high torque low rpm mixing drills don't just stop. I was just thrown by one and nearly broke my thumb and index finger doing exactly what you did. The drill spun down after throwing me and ripped it's own power cord out of the handle. I'm just a tinkerer, but I've found a few things that might help you on similar builds. I'm working on a 5.5" bore 2 cylinder flat steam engine, and I've found that it's just easier to buy pistons and connecting rods together, then use HONED HYDRAULIC TUBING for the cylinder. It's dimensionally accurate, and all you have to do is pick a piston that matches. I'm avoiding welding on the tubing or head by putting a groove in the cylinder cap using a TEPANNING TOOL (hole saws are trepanning tools, but in a lathe it cuts on a single point instead of 30 points), then dropping an o-ring into the groove. Once the groove is in to fit over the end of the tubing, an oversized cylinder cap can be bolted down with threaded rod right into the crankcase. That clamps the whole cylinder. As far as using the Milwaukee hole saw, spring for the whole set! I love Milwaukee's hole dozers. If you give the metal a quick kiss from the cutter, you can then drill a hole on the tool's path that will evacuate chips, and it will cut many times faster.
If you don't mind me suggesting, from various injuries sustaining while used hole drill bits and forstner bits, A pillar drill/drill press is much safer, easier to use and precise that using a handheld drill
No. Most 2 strokes didn't get reeds until the late 70's. He needed some oil... the thing was running with zero oil, doesn't help much And also only one crank web, webs are supposed to be 50% of the rotating mass being the conrod and piston. Probably why the bearing exploded after 2 mins of running time
They need some backpressure to run, but not much. It's just that they benefit from exhaust resonances much more than 4 strokes so in order to get the absolute best performance you have to take it to it's absolute extreme. You optimize it for a specific RPM (same as a 4 stroke, but not really, but still kind of the same thing) and the backpressure will help draw more air out and thus into the combustion chamber at that RPM. 4 strokes use the same trickery on intakes too, which is why variable length manifolds and things like the weird ITB setup with extra valves to change resonance to optimize for different RPM on most new Porsches, but that has almost no erffect on 2 strokes. On 4 strokes that can give you as much as 15-20% more air than you'd otherwise get from just an open port or "whatever it holds tha MAP and MAF" manifold. Also just get a larger pipe to fit around the cylinder and run a tiny electric water pump that pumps water through that jacket. Basically how an open deck engine cools itself, just far more half-assed.
Now, sir, I'm telling you, do you want to make a 2-cylinder engine? You just find another engine and assemble the engines together, and you'll have a 2-cylinder engine.😊
