Paper Engine

A software engineer has constructed a fingernail-sized engine made of paper and it totally works!

16:04 14 December 2016

The smallest engine in the world – a fingernail-sized engine made out entirely of paper, has been constructed by a software engineer. The tiny single-cylinder engine features a throttle that controls the air flow and runs on air from an attached balloon. But it is designed with a small crank on the side to power it manually.

 

The creator of the miniature piece of machinery is Aliaskei Zholner who has a collection of paper engines that he’s built over the past six years.

 

His latest creation measures just 18mm long, 13 mm wide and 22 mm wide. It has a shaft diameter of 0.5 mm, making it the smallest contraption yet.

 

Single-cylinder engines are also constructed with metals, cast iron and aluminum. They are often seen in motorcycles, mopeds, motor scooter, go-karts and are used in many portable tools. However, Zholner’s design is just a showpiece but has captured the true essence of a single-cylinder engine and has recreated all of a normal engine’s granular mechanism out of paper.