A Small "Wobbler" Built in the Home Shop


(Video at the bottom of the page.)


I built this little wobbler around the same time period as the vertical engine, ('95-'96)
They're really kind of fun to watch, and their value is definitely in the entertainment realm.

 I put pictures of this one on an old website I used to have, just to show it,
and promptly got a bunch of emails asking where I bought it.  After a few weeks of
that, I made up ten of them, which took me about a week, and I put a notice on the page
that displayed this engine that I had some for sale.  I sold nine of the ten in about a month.
I still have this one, which was the first one I made, and I have one from the batch of ten
that didn't sell.  I had never intended to make these to sell, but sometimes it just works
out that way.

The engine is basically 1/2" square bar stock and 1/4" X 2" aluminum, with a brass flywheel
and a few pins and other odds 'n ends.  There are plans for these little things all over the web,
though I had no plans for this one.  Except for the intake and exhaust port geometry, there is
nothing really critical on these little runners.  They really go, too.  Fast enough that all the parts
are a smooth blur, though they won't idle down much slower than about 100 rpm.

Back around 1995, when I had a 10" lathe, I made a large wobbler with a one inch bore.    It had
about a 1 1/2" stroke.
I have no pictures of that one, and it's long since been lost in the shuffle.
 It took about 15 psi to run it and wasn't near as fun to watch as the little one you see here. 
Small seems to be the way to go for wobblers, and I've seen some really small builds.  The
smaller they are, the faster they go.























Here's the video:




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Copyright  Dean Williams