Homemade Internal Combustion Engine – Sans Machine Shop

We’ve got a question for you:  If you were stuck in a basement, with nothing too much more than some copper pipe, solder, JB-Weld, and a few hand tools, do you think you could make a working 2-stroke motor? Well, [Makerj101] did just that, and the results are fan-freaking-tastic.

[Makerj101] began his journey like most of us do – with a full face-plant type failure. His first attempted at building an internal combustion engine wouldn’t run, due to a low compression ratio, and too small port sizes. So he did what most of us would do, and tore apart a small gas-power weed-whacker motor to see what he was doing wrong.

The type of engine he’s making is a 2-stroke. That makes the design much simpler as there are no mechanically controlled valves a like 4-stroke motor. The piston (along with the cylinder wall) does double duty by also directing the intake and exhaust gasses – along with a simple flap-type check valve.

For now, the ignition system is run off of mains power, but he has plans to change that – creating a self contained engine. We’re amazed that the entire build is made with such simple tools. Even the the piston is cast out of “JB Weld” epoxy putty. After seeing this, we think that the kid who took apart a clock is going to have to up his game a bit.

We’ve included all 6 parts after the break.

At the time of writing the playlist only included parts 1-5 but part six is the first link in our post.

18 thoughts on “Homemade Internal Combustion Engine – Sans Machine Shop

  1. props to this guy! i have a small rc nitro engine i’ve been meaning to convert to spark ignition. you would think that setting fuel on fire would be easy but once it goes into an engine suddenly it decides it’s life mission is to be as inert as water. so to make an engine from scratch and have it work, i can respect that difficulty.

  2. Gaaah.. please.. slow down.. think about what you want to show… use a tripod.. had the person holding the camera been pumped full of sugar and caffeine prior to filming? Did they study at the Blair Witch school of cinematography?

    I’m sure it’s an amazing effort, I know I couldn’t build an engine myself – and for this, the guy deserves congrats.. but if this kind of footage ever makes it to VR headsets, I’ll be investing in companies that make embags…

  3. What’s not been said in the post is that this guy has some very good machining skills, if not a perfect shop or endless available materials. Very accurate soldering (notice the bypass port and structure for the rod bearing support) plus the two valve jam-jar saturated-vapor carburetor is a great trick.

  4. There may be those who may be inclined to dismiss two stroke engines, but what they may not know is that every large diesel power plant is also two-stroke, but generally much, much larger.

  5. Wow, It is amazing that this guy made a working combustion engine. It is an impressive project to take on by yourself. I can’t believe he made parts out of putty, and they actually worked. I’ll have to look at some of the other things he has done, because I bet he has a lot of interesting projects.

  6. I have received over the years, three two-stroke engined weed eaters (for free). My initial intent with each was to tear it apart to learn how they work.

    Unfortunately, they all were easier repair with just a few dollars worth of parts (priming bulb, fuel line and/or tank screen, or filament) so I never got around to tearing them apart…

    Now my wife wants to know why I have 3 weed eaters… B^)

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