Wolfgang Engineering / Engine Library

Find your next mechanical curiosity.

Explore how engines turn heat, pressure and motion into useful work. Choose a family below, then follow a mechanism from its working parts to its history.

01 / Engine family

Steam Engines

From reciprocating mechanisms to rotary power.
Period plan of a horizontal stationary steam engine
Steam · Engine Library article

Horizontal Slide-Valve Stationary Steam Engine

Trace steam pressure through the piston, crosshead and crank to the flywheel.

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Wolfgang Engineering rendering of the Single Cylinder Wobbler engine
Steam · Engine Library article

Single Cylinder Wobbler

See how a pivoting cylinder simplifies the steam-engine motion.

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Historical plan: Archibald Williams, How It Works, fig. 18; original image. U.S. public domain via Project Gutenberg. Wobbler rendering: Wolfgang Engineering.

02 / Engine family

Gasoline / Piston Engines

Explore two approaches to V8 valve placement.
Early Chevrolet small-block V8 on display, photographed in 2011.
Gasoline / Piston · Engine Library article

Chevrolet Small-Block V8

A compact pushrod V8 with decades of development and adaptation.

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Close view of a sectioned Ford flathead V8 on a chassis at the LeMay Family Collection open house, Marymount campus, Spanaway, Washington. Red section edges reveal internal passages, valve springs and part of the cylinder-head/combustion-chamber region.
Gasoline / Piston · Engine Library article

Ford Flathead V8

Affordable V8 motoring with valves beside the cylinders.

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Chevrolet Small-Block V8 thumbnail: JOHN LLOYD (Hugo-90); source, original; CC BY 2.0 Generic. Unmodified; resized for display; no crop.
Ford Flathead V8 thumbnail: JOHN LLOYD (Flickr: Hugo-90 / hugo90); source, original; Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0). Unmodified; resized for display; no crop.

04 / Engine family

Aircraft Piston Engines

Explore liquid-cooled V12 and air-cooled radial power.
Complete silver-painted Merlin Mk 100 prototype on a museum stand, with propeller-drive end at left and rear accessories at right.
Aircraft Piston · Engine Library article

Rolls-Royce Merlin

A supercharged V12 developed for demanding aircraft missions.

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Front three-quarter view of a preserved two-row R-2800 radial engine with a display propeller.
Aircraft Piston · Engine Library article

Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp

Eighteen air-cooled cylinders arranged in two radial rows.

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Rolls-Royce Merlin thumbnail: Eric Long; source, original; CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Unmodified; resized for display; no crop.
Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp thumbnail: Alf van Beem; source, original; CC0 1.0 Universal. Unmodified; resized for display; no crop.

Future library families

More mechanisms to explore.

These four families remain part of the seven-family library. Their featured articles are not yet published.

03 / Diesel Engines

Future researched articles.

05 / Jet & Turbine Engines

Future researched articles. The J79 Windows product is available separately.

06 / Rocket Engines

Future researched articles.

07 / Rotary & Unusual Engines

Future researched articles.

Explore further

Machines worth a closer look.

The library will grow as each engine is researched and illustrated. Wolfgang Engineering also makes interactive mechanical experiences inspired by visible motion.

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