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Engine stand build

KPAero

Active member
Joined
Nov 16, 2012
Messages
25
This past week I've had some spare time and with a couple engine and transmission projects coming up soon I decided it would be a good time to tackle building my own engine stand. I wanted to make one with a worm gear drive. The gears and bearings I've had sitting around ready for this for a while. Everything else I tried to do with materials I had on hand.

Here is the main gear and shaft. I drilled and tapped the main shaft to except a M12 wheel stud that fit perfectly into the existing whole through the center of the gear.
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After threading the pieces together I welded around the perimeter of the gear.

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And the main shaft set up in the bearing blocks.

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Here is the head of the engine stand with the gearbox coming together. I used 3/16 plate for this stuff, as well as a short section of 2"x3" tube to space the two bearings out. I used the same tubing for the stands base.
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You can see the bottom is not totally enclosed, this allows easy access to the lower bolts.
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Here is the base for the handle.
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The aluminum handle parts. The shaping is a little rough, my plasma really struggles on aluminum that thick, so I used a rasp to smooth things out reasonable well.
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And here is everything together. I still need to weld most of the joints after I re-fill my gas bottle tomorrow. Everything is just tacked except the couple joints that Are now hidden. In the middle of the base I sleeved the tube so it can be broken into two smaller pieces.
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And finally I still need to add castors and make a faceplate to go on the stand. I already have some fixtures I've made for the engines, transmissions and heads I will typically use this for, so the faceplate will be made to easily attach to those.
 
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KPAero

Active member
Joined
Nov 16, 2012
Messages
25
Are you going to have a way to lock the head in any angle?

Like Greyson said, the worm gear will hold it in place, so just rotate the handle and leave it at any angle.

There are a couple other details I've contemplated including that I've seen on other engine stand builds. But as they would be more for aesthetic purposes, I think Im going to try and finish it off quickly this morning.
 

Thumper68

Well-known member
Joined
May 16, 2013
Messages
5,134
Location
Duluth MN
Very nice stand I like the worm gear, nice to not have to lock it down when rotating.

One thing I included in one I built for my uncle was a 3 inch deep SS pan with a drain, nice to catch all the fluids that seem to remain in any fresh engine. It was on a pivot so it could be swung to the side and also worked great as a stand for parts while pulling it apart and reassembly.
 
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KPAero

Active member
Joined
Nov 16, 2012
Messages
25
Very nice stand I like the worm gear, nice to not have to lock it down when rotating.

One thing I included in one I built for my uncle was a 3 inch deep SS pan with a drain, nice to catch all the fluids that seem to remain in any fresh engine. It was on a pivot so it could be swung to the side and also worked great as a stand for parts while pulling it apart and reassembly.

Thanks, a drip pan holder and also a separate parts tray up higher were both things I considered adding but didn't. I also want to add some feet that could be threaded to raise the stand off the castors. I could still do this stuff later, but in an effort to move on to more pressing projects, I finished it off with some paint tonight.
 
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KPAero

Active member
Joined
Nov 16, 2012
Messages
25
Like I mentioned above, I finished off the stand tonight. First I finished welding the base together. Then stripped the head down and painted everything. After it was dry I bolted all the parts back on, including some castors.

While the paint dried I completed the face plate. It consists of two 1/4 discs I cut out with the plasma. With the two discs firmly clamped together, I welded around the perimeter to end up with a nice thick piece to work with. Then I made a template with the center whole, and three outer holes arranged in a triangle with 2.5" sides. With this all laid out I drilled the 1" center hole and then drilled and tapped the out holes.
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After that I beveled the edge of the center hole and welded it onto the main shaft.
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Completed, and with a transmission mounted to it with a fixture I already had made.
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Overall I think it turned out pretty good. It rotates very nicely with the transmission on it. Will have to test it with a heavier load soon though. The worm gear is definitely a nice feature that I think will make a big difference when working on stuff.
 
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