Conner TenKley

This was my Engineering Principles I class project my first semester at George Fox: design and build a working oscillating air engine, with no instructions to follow — just work out how one runs and make it run. Since the engine would be entered in our school's Wobble Off competition, my goal was to design for speed, so I went with a horizontal engine orientation and two offset single-acting pistons so the force stayed constant through the stroke, along with a large aluminum flywheel and a low-friction Delrin cylinder.

I modeled every part and the full assembly in SolidWorks and drew up a complete set of drawings detailed enough to machine from, then built it on the mill and lathe, with laser cutting and press fits along the way and Excel models to check the volume and torque. Seventy-seven hours later, “The Big Unit” was finished and running in the Wobble Off.

For my Manufacturing and Materials class, we were tasked with building a lamp. I chose to make one shaped like an apple tree - something that adds ambience to a room, lights it up a bit, and is unique. The hardest part was making it look like a real tree while hiding everything electrical: no visible wires, and branches that didn't just look like sticks stuck in a log. I used real branches for the trunk and limbs, stained together for a uniform, natural finish, and ran the wiring completely inside the wood - a channel in the bottom of the base, a long hole drilled down the whole trunk, and channels in the branches that I filled with wood filler, sanded, and stained over.

To keep this project polished, it was necessary to use very thin wire to power the lights. Because of this, it was necessary to use low voltage DC instead of AC, so the base also holds an AC/DC adapter and the on/off button. With leaves added to bring the tree to life, the finished lamp has two apples that glow red and light the room. Going into the project, I didn't have much of a woodworking background, but throughout this project I learned more about the different processes of woodworking and just designing and executing a project successfully.