I blagged a broken R6 engine from my local mechanic for the sole purpose of stripping it down and then rebuilding with a view to a) learning how its done and b) make a cutaway engine from it. I've quickly learnt that taking an angle grinder to aluminium isn't the best way to go about things so, question is....what's the best way of cutting an engine block ? In case you're wondering, #3 conrod had enough and threw its toys out of the pram!
By the looks of the thickness of the cut, you are using one of grinding disc proportions, not a cutting disc of around 1.6mm Also, aluminium does not like being ground out so much and melts, clogging the disc. Special discs are available for cutting aluminium to alleviate the problem, but you will need to comply with the disc rpm guidelines for them to be most effective. A big band saw is what you really need.
Actually that's the result of the #3 conrod breaking! The band saw would need to be pretty big though, no other alternatives ?
You could try one of those abrasive wires used for cutting pipes with restricted access. Look like a cheese wire but impregnated with diamond etc. Not sure of available lengths though. This sort of idea. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006EY7626/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_BVQGK5JBHNREBPJMQ806 Hard to make a nice clean cut without a band saw really. Some of the lads may be able to advise if water jet cutting or similar is feasible for such a task.
Be careful if you produce a lot of aluminium dust. Can be nasty stuff . Might be rare, but potential for it to ignite too.
Grinding discs + Aluminium is a very dangerous combination. As above ^^^^ the Aluminium melts into the disc and, if then used to grind steel, melts and ejects itself (yes, so molten Aluminium) at you...
Some big brains and experience in here I’m off to B&Q today, not sure they will have the kit needed...
It’s been posted before but stands repeating, Allen fabricated a 100cc V twin from 2 Honda C50’s as an apprentice piece. Rumour had it, quite a few years ago, Honda offered him an open cheque which he turned down. Andy
After carefully planning to position your cuts so that they show the internal workings you are trying to display without the moving parts falling out, cut the big lumps out with a hacksaw, (as has already been suggested) & then finish the edges on a milling machine. It's also nice to paint the different internal areas different colours, i.e. inlet tracts, exhaust tracts, etc
Here’s how Allen made a 6 cylinder Honda from scratch.. It’s a series of videos so it’s worth watching the whole lot, as well as being a brilliant engineer what I like about Allen is he doesn’t over complicate things, he cuts engine blocks and barrels up with a hacksaw just like they are loaves of bread! Anyone else would be setting them up on a mill and clocking them in etc, but he just eyes it up and takes a hacksaw to it. Worth watching the whole series and his build on the Z1 supersix is probably a better video. I love it when he has a cheeky dig at that Greta Thunberg kid as well ! Give them a watch
