bryan1
Well-Known Member
G'day Guys,
After reading a thread on the FL forum about using the wind for compressed air I decided to go and do some research on engines from the past which would suit the task. In that thread a guy in the US has made a SS 4 cylinder 2x2 side by side compressor which is one beauty of a compressor. Anyway in my research I found the old radial engine would fit the bill nicely and to date I've never seen one made for a wind based air compressor.
After reading a thread on the FL forum about using the wind for compressed air I decided to go and do some research on engines from the past which would suit the task. In that thread a guy in the US has made a SS 4 cylinder 2x2 side by side compressor which is one beauty of a compressor. Anyway in my research I found the old radial engine would fit the bill nicely and to date I've never seen one made for a wind based air compressor.
This image is shown on the wiki site


As one can see with a few mod's to the head arrangement this style of engine would be a smooth runner. I had a steel billet at work rusting away that measured 177.8 diameter and when faced 110mm long. Today being xmas day and with the sun shining I spend about 6 hours on the mill roughing down the crankcase. With the material being EN35A it is pretty tough on tools and only small cuts could taken. Anyway got a 5 sides roughed down and in the morning I'll put up a facing tool and do the final cuts ensuring all 5 sides are within 0.001". for the barrels I do have a few old engine crane rams which will be purfect for the barrels. I'll bore a seat on each face and put a O-ring groove on the seat and use 4 off M10 tie rods to clamp the head and barrel for a air tight seal. For the pistons I'll make my own and use some chrome leather soaked with silicon grease for the piston rings.