The Wig-Wag Oscillating Engines - Build Notes - Generic

The Wig-Wag oscillating engine design is loosely based on a drawing by [Link] from his book
'Model Stationary and Marine Steam Engines', and has been modified and updated so that it can be
built from readily available sizes of metal stock, rather than from castings, the engine has also been
scaled up approximately 25% from the original design and re-drawn in metric dimensions.

The single cylinder engine has a 15mm cylinder bore and 30mm stroke which creates a 5.3cc engine
for running on either compressed air or steam.

Some of the downloadable drawings are complete as a set, others only detail the chassis
specifications. There is a common components drawing (Drawing C) which should be used in
conjunction with the basic chassis drawing. This generic set of build notes also accompanies the
drawings.

BASE
Fabricate the base of the engine from mild steel or brass, the extra weight here helps to dampen the
oscillation and prevent the model from vibrating excessively at moderate speeds.

CHASSIS
The chassis should be machined as a rectangle first to square up any cut edges, I have used both 10
and 12mm thick aluminium to create my engines, so small adjustments to the other components
should be made to suit. Mark out the chassis details and drill and ream the axle and pivot bore and
drill the port holes to depth. The base fixing holes can also be drilled and tapped. It is helpful to
complete these operations before being milled to final shape, this is to facilitate ease of marking out
and work-holding during these stages. It is very important that the marking out for the axle, pivot-
point and port face holes is accurate and the use of a magnifying device is very helpful to ensure that
centre punch marks are exact, the holes for the bearings must be perfectly at 90° to the face of the
column, and parallel to each other to ensure smooth operation of the engine. Cut out the chassis
shape using a bandsaw, or chain drilling, and then shape to dimension on a milling machine or
vertical slide in the lathe. File the edges smooth and finish with fine abrasive paper to remove
machining marks.

CYLINDER BLOCK
The cylinder is milled from 25mm square aluminium stock to 25x20mm and the cylinder centre
position is marked on one end centrally and 10mm in from the outside face. This is then mounted in
a 4-jaw chuck and centred to the mark. Ensure that the stock extends +30mm from the chuck,
enough to turn the outer diameter to the correct depth following the boring operation. Drill and
bore the cylinder to 15mm, taking several spring-cuts inward and outward at a very slow feed rate to
ensure a perfectly parallel bore with a smooth finish. Don't be too concerned with being precisely at
15mm for the bore, as the piston will be machined to suit later, a smooth finish and parallel bore is
more important here. Alternatively, a reamer can be used if available. After turning, the internal
bore can be polished using a lapping shaft if desired. Once the bore is complete, turn down the outer
diameter to just under the major diameter of the square stock to form a shoulder. This dimension is
not critical. Mark out the port inlet and pivot point and drill the port hole through into the cylinder.
The threaded pivot hole needs to be blind and not break into the cylinder, use a plug tap to thread
this hole to bottom depth. File or machine a radius on the external edges of the cylinder block.
FLYWHEEL
The flywheel needs to have a good weight in the rim, so brass is preferable and also looks good as it
is a nice contrast against the aluminium. The flywheel needs to be heavy to give the engine the
kinetic energy to run smoothly at slower speeds, the recess in the flywheel is turned in the lathe
using a trepanning cutting tool, or alternatively by roughing out with a 60° V tool set perpendicular
to the face of the flywheel and then finished using a boring bar for the internal outer edge of the
recess, and a regular knife tool to turn the inner bushing. A short portion of the outer rim of the
flywheel is also turned (oversize) during this setup to facilitate clocking-in when the flywheel is
remounted in the chuck. The flywheel can then be reversed in the chuck and held via external jaws
within the recess and clocked true from the partially turned outer edge. The same recess is now
turned, and the outside can then be turned to final dimension. The centre hole for the crankshaft
can now be drilled and reamed to 6mm. The threaded hole for the grub-screw can also now be
drilled and tapped utilising a tool-post drill setup in the lathe. Start by using a small slotting end-mill
to create a flat then proceed with a centre drill, and finally drilling and tapping to size. Clean out any
burs in the hole with the original reamer.

BEARING BUSHES
The bearings should be made from phosphor bronze, gun metal or brass, and made so that they are
a light interference fit into the bores on the chassis, and the through holes should be a close running
fit to the accompanying shafts. To enable alignment during press fitting, a short portion of the bush
can be turned down to an interference fit to the bore, this will prevent the bush entering the hole
out of square-square and ruining the workpiece. Do not fit the bushes into the column until final
assembly.

SHAFTS
The pivot pin and connecting rod are made from 4mm ground silver steel stock, and threaded via the
manual crank method, the terminations of the threads on the bar are tidied up by turning a small
relief. The pivot pin can be swapped with M4 threaded rod. Keep the area to be turned as short as
possible in the chuck to prevent flexure of the rod, and ensure your tooling is sharp and on centre
height. It is a good idea to turn away a few thou from the shaft to ease threading and file a lead
taper, use cutting oil and clear the swarf by reversing the die regularly. The crankshaft is made from
6mm ground silver steel stock, the ends of the bar simply need facing and chamfering to tidy up. The
length can be extended to accommodate a pulley wheel if desired. A small flat can be filed to suit
the flywheel grub screw location.

CRANK DISC
The crank disc is made from brass and can be turned on the lathe prior to milling to final shape, or it
can be fabricated on the mill using a rotary table. The reamed hole for the crank shaft needs to be a
light press fit to the shaft. This can be achieved by only reaming through with the tip of the reamer,
as they have a slight lead taper which will be slightly undersize. Old worn reamers are also ideal for
this job as they usually cut undersize. I keep old reamers specifically for press-fit work on precision
ground silver steel. The crank pin is also required to be a press fit into the crank disc, so adopt the
same technique here. Alternatively, they can be fixed in place with locking compound or a grub
screw.
PISTON
The piston is turned from brass. Firstly face off the end of an oversized bar, then drill and tap a M5
thread part way through the stock, then turn the outer diameter just oversize via measurement. The
piston needs to enter the cylinder without resistance but must not have any discernible lateral
movement. Take 'very' small cuts to reduce the diameter to creep up on final size, using the finished
cylinder bore as a fit guide between cuts. I have lost count of the number of pistons lost to just being
a smidge undersize! Ensure the surface finish is as smooth as possible by using fine feed. Finally turn
the oil recess grooves in the piston and chamfer the ends and part off from the stock. With the
piston lubricated with oil, it should be a resistance-free sliding fit. A good measure of this it to block
the port ant top of the cylinder, and the piston should make a reassuring ‘pop’ when withdrawn
from the cylinder.

CRANK CONNECTOR
Make the connector from mild steel or brass, and turn a chamfer on the corners to round off the
'squareness' of the block for a better appearance. Drill and tap the shoulder and ream the central
hole to be a running- fit on the crankpin

PORTFACE
The port holes should be set out on a 12mm radius from the pivot-pin centre and at 6mm apart from
the centreline. The input and exhaust are reversible if you want to change the direction of the
engine, so you can configure these ports as you wish, such as on opposite sides or both on top, or
directly through the column to the back. The configuration in my drawings use 1/8th inch brass tube
as the inlet, and a 3/16ths brass tube as the exhaust, but 3 and 5mm brass tube is available. The
holes were opened out with an appropriate drill to allow the insertion of these tubes, which were
then fixed in place with the use of thread-lock compound. The exhaust port was made a larger
diameter for aesthetics, although it's placement at the top of the engine also allows for reuse of
expelled oil to run back down onto the port-face.

PIVOT SPRING & TENSION NUT

ASSEMBLY
Shape the column to the finished dimensions on the milling machine or vertical milling slide on the
lathe, or alternatively with a hacksaw and files, and clean up any machining marks with abrasive
pads and polish the components to your desired finish. Clean away all residue of abrasives
thoroughly afterwards. Insert the bearing bushes using a drop of oil and press them into place using
a hand press or a vice, ensuring they enter squarely and taking extra care not to damage or mark any
surfaces in the process. The crankshaft bearing needs to protrude on the crank side to take up the
clearance between the crank and the column, so set this at approximately 2mm and test fit, re-
adjust as necessary. The port face and cylinder face need to be smooth and in perfect flat contact
with one another. Use ultrafine abrasive wet and dry paper against a flat surface such as a granite or
glass material and gently polish these surfaces flat. When finished remove all traces of abrasive dust
by washing and blowing out with compressed air. The pivot pin can now be screwed into place, using
thread-lock compound and inserting the rod through the pivot bearing so the faces are flush and the
rod is square and perpendicular with the column. Make sure there is no excess thread lock which
may adhere to the port faces. Gently clamp the unit and allow to set. Press fit the crank shaft into
the crank, again making use of thread lock if the components are not a tight fit, and insert through
the crank bearing, align the flywheel grub screw so that there is approximately 0.25mm clearance on
the bearings and gently tighten to make a small mark. This can then be referenced as the position to
file a flat on the crankshaft. Screw the piston onto the connecting rod and assemble the crank
connector again using thread lock, fit into the cylinder and to the crankpin and check that the top of
the piston at top dead centre does not cover the port-hole, adjust as necessary and then fix the
piston securely using thread lock compound. Finally press-fit the cylinder cover into the cylinder
block again using thread lock to seal and secure. Remove the piston and add oil to the recess and re-
insert, assemble the entire engine and fit the spring and tension nut. Lubricate all moving parts and
bearings during assembly.

RUNNING
Connect to a regulated air supply or a steam boiler and run the engine. Disassemble the engine
occasionally and re-lubricate the piston and bearings - Enjoy!

MEDIA
Drawings can be downloaded free of charge from:

[Link]

YouTube videos here:

[Link]

Wig Wag Build Series: Wig-Wag Build Part 1: [Link]

Facebook Group: [Link]

Disclaimer: Care has been taken to ensure that the details contained above and within the drawings are complete and
accurate as possible. However, mistakes do happen, so I urge any builder of these engines to use their own skills to sense-
check all dimensions prior to fabrication. The build notes are not a comprehensive step by step instruction and should only
be used as a guide to accompany your existing skills as a model engineer. The author accepts no responsibility for costs
incurred due to any errors in this work. This work is Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Licence 4.0
International, which means you are free to modify and distribute with attribution, but not to use for commercial gain.

© Ade Swash – 2021

Contact me at wigwagengine@[Link]