Fox
Sterling Engine
Skills Used
Project Management, Design, Communication, Project scheduling, SolidWorks, Time Management, Manufacturing, Product Development, CNC MIill, Lathe
The Sterling Engine project was a major semester long venture designed to teach me and my peers both how to design devices with manufacturability in mind, and how to use CNC mills and lathes.
The Mission
Create a Sterling Engine.
A Snapshot Of The Project
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Designed and manufactured an engine from scratch.
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Utilized many different manufacturing techniques to complete the project.
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Exercised detail oriented skills to ensure preciseness of measurements down to ten thousandths of an inch.
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Used organizational and time management skills to successfully handle 3 other major projects in conjunction with this one.
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Created the 3rd fastest engine out of a class of nearly 30.
Journey to Success
For this project, there were several parts of the engine that I was allowed creative freedom to design: the flywheel, the base, the bedplate and two other smaller pieces. Because I was given this creative liberty, I decided that I wanted to bring to life a scene from one of my favorite childhood shows.
The engine parts were manufactured on a CNC mill and lathe. The precision at which most of the pieces were manufactured was to one thousandths of an inch, while some smaller pieces required a precision as high as ten thousandths of an inch. The base, although cut out with a CNC mill, had a slightly different manufacturing process in order to engrave the inscriptions. This process involved layering a metal sheet in CerMark which allowed the base to be properly engraved using a laser cutter. Once the CerMark layer had settled, I placed the metal sheet into a laser cutter and set the laser cutter to etch my design.
Result
The project in the end produced the 3rd highest speed out of a class of about 30 people with speeds of 1900 rpm.
Lessons Learned Along The Way
This project gave me the opportunity to see what it’s like to take an idea and turn it into reality. It taught me how necessary it is to design for manufacturability and the importance of being critical with design choices.