Commentary and photos by Craig Libuse. Click on any photo to see a larger image. See bottom of this page for information on entering next year's contest.
Overall contest winner David Kerzel of Pompano Beach, FL receives his award checks and certificates from Sherline marketing director Craig Libuse. David's winning entry was a model of the famous Wright 9-cylinder radial that powered Charles Lindberg's famous "Spirit of St. Louis" on its record-setting flight across the Atlantic. (Click on photo to view a larger image.)
David Kerzel submitted two entries, and one of them took the top spot in the voting. David represents the Florida Area Model Engineers (F.A.M.E.), and his Wright J5 Whirlwind 9-cylinder radial engine was the most popular entry among the spectators at the show who did the voting. This is the engine that Charles Lindberg used in the "Spirit of St. Louis" when he was first to cross the Atlantic Ocean. David also entered a second model, a "Just Miss" electric farm engine took fifth place, but the combination of the two entries earned David a hefty $301 award check that hopefully made his weekend more fun.
This year's contest received only six entrants with a total of seven projects. This is down from 17 entries two years ago, and there was not one entry in the Novice Division. Sherline doubles the prize money of the Novice winner and the Joe Martin Foundation puts up an additional $500 for the Youth Division entrants, but some of that money stayed in the bank account this year with no entrants to take it home. We hope that next year there will be more entrants. Because of the declining number of entries we are considering two options for next year. One is to add to the rules a statement that if there are less than 10 entries the contest will not be held. A second is to make a concerted effort to let exhibitors at the show know about the contest by inserting flyers in the show package that NAMES sends out in December and also making announcements over the PA system on Friday and Saturday morning to try to get more entries from the show participants. Many of the engines displayed at the show fit within the contest size requirements, and we feel more don't enter the contest because they either don't know about it or because they don't understand that it is not necessary to build the project on Sherline equipment in order to enter.
Though Sherline puts up $100 per entry in prize money (up to a possible maximum of $2500), the voting is done by spectators at the show. Each spectator who wishes to vote is given five tokens and asked to choose their top five favorite projects with no more than one vote each. Each vote is worth a dollar to the builder. To read the most current copy of the complete contest rules and learn about entering next year's contest, CLICK HERE for a .pdf version of the rules/entry form sheet. At this time there are no anticipated changes for the next contest other than the higher standards for entry mentioned above.
Benjamin Roth accepts both the first place award for the Youth Division and the "Craftsmanship" award. The craftsmanship award is voted on by former Martin Foundation winners of the "Metalworking Craftsman of the Year" award who are present at the show. This year that included Ron Colonna (2008), Jerry Kieffer (1997), Bill Huxhold (1999), Roger Ronnie (2004) and David Kucer (2006).
See the section below for photos of each entry.
OPEN DIVISION
1. David Kerzel, Pompano Beach, FL—Wright J5 Whirlwind engine in 1/24
scale
2. Jerry Pontius, Deadwood, SD—Engine made entirely from 1/4" bar stock
3. Bert de Kat, Troy, Ontario, Canada—"Robin" 4-stroke model aircraft gas
engine designed by Eric Whittle*
*NOTE: Plans for this project were published in Strictly IC magazine, and back issues are still available.
OTHER CONTESTANTS (In alphabetical order)
Forrest Atkinson, Madison, WI—"Finger" type Solenoid (electromagnet)
motor
David Kerzel, Pompano Beach, FL—"Just Miss" Electric farm engine with
electronic limit on speed, Hall sensor coil trigger
YOUTH DIVISION (Additional $500 Young C. Park
award added to vote totals--$300 for first, $200 for second)
1. Benjamin Roth, Elgin, ND—1/16 scale McVicker Automatic Gas Engine
(work in progress)—$386.00 total award
2. Trevor Katona (15), Rochester, MI—"Cool Running" Sterling engine—$255 total award
NOVICE DIVISION (Less than 2 years machining
experience, double prize money for top division finisher.)
No Entrants
Click on any photo to see a larger version. Use your browser's "back" button to return to this listing. A U.S. quarter dollar coin is used for size reference in many of the photos. It is 24 mm in diameter for those outside the USA.
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1st Place—David Kerzel Wright J5 Whirlwind engine. David drew up the plans from an installation manual and made it as a rotary valve air powered model. The nine cylinders have a master rod and 8 slaves. Bore is .125" and stroke is .140". Cylinders are turned from brass and drill rod. The crankcase is aluminum. |
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2nd Place—Jerry Pontius Jerry built this as a challenge for the contest to see what could be done with 2 bars of 1/4" diameter stock 12" long. The small engine includes a flywheel made from stock bent into a circle and is displayed on a wood base with glass dome. Jerry also put out a full 3-ring binder with all the plans which will hopefully be published in a future issue of a model engineering magazine so that others can build it. |
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3rd Place—Bert de Kat Plans for this 4-stroke "Robin" model airplane engine were published in Strictly IC magazine years ago. (Back issues are still available at www.strictlyic.com.) The engine was originally designed by Eric Whittle. |
Other Entries (in alphabetical order) |
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Forrest Atkinson "Finger" type mechanism powered by a battery drive solenoid motor. In an effort to provide a "green" entry, the batteries are housed in a recycled Starrett indicator case. |
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David Kerzel No matter which side you do a mechanical drawing of this 12 sided object, it always looks the same. How would you have to machine this part just from the 3-view drawing shown on Bert's little display card? Bert is our oldest entrant at age 75 |
Youth Division (Under 21 years of age on date of contest) |
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1. Benjamin Roth (18) 1/16 scale McVicker automatic gas engine. This 4-cycle gearless engine is made from steel and brass. Though a "work in progress," the fine craftsmanship and detail was apparent in the major components constructed so far. Benjamin will be attending the North Dakota School of Mines with a major in Mechanical Engineering next year and hopes to specialize in restorations of mechanical equipment. |
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2. Trevor Katona (15) "Cool Running" is the name of Trevor's Stirling engine. It runs on the difference in temperature between the top and bottom brass plates. It took 22 hours to build and required the use of a lathe, drill press, milling machine, band saw, buffer, sander, threading taps and dies and hand assembly. Trevor's first machining project was completed at age 9, and this is his 4th. Trevor's favorite subjects in 9th grade are math and science. |
Ron Colonna is the 12th winner of the Joe Martin Foundation Metalworking Craftsman of the Year award. A long-time exhibitor at the NAMES show, Ron was a popular choice with the crowd. He brought a good selection of his engines and ran the V-twin, Offy 270 and others whenever requested. (Click on photo for a larger image.)
Ron Colonna has built a number of engines over the years, from live steam locomotives to internal combustion engines. One of his projects, the 1/4 scale 270 Offenhauser 4-cylinder engine made famous in the racing world was documented in a book of plans and instructions he prepared. This extra effort to make his knowledge available to others was one of the factors in his selection. Ron has been a mentor to many other engine builders and shares his knowledge freely. For more on Ron see www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/Colonna.htm.
Click this link to learn more about the Joe Martin Foundation's Metalworking Craftsman of the Year award. Visit the Foundation page for more details on Mr. Colonna and all the previous winners and their work, or visit our online museum that includes the work of Ron and many more craftsmen at www.CraftsmanshipMuseum.com.
photos and commentary by Craig Libuse
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You have two choice views from the Park Inn, which is located as part of the convention center: For the past two years I have looked out on Fifth Third Field, home of the Toledo Mudhens baseball team. This year I decided to get a view of the Maumee River on the other side. The large building in the foreground is the Owens Corning facility. On the river behind it is an old freighter that is or will eventually be set up as a museum. There are also a number of good restaurants around the hotel as well as right across the river. |
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John Barlage points out the wooden locomotive wheels he turned and engraved on his Sherline CNC equipment. |
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Lou Chenot's Duesenberg model now has the bodywork nearing the final stages. The detail and fine craftsmanship on each part is incredible. |
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At the Foundation's invitation, Ken Foran of Ohio brought up two of his aircrafts models for display. The Folker D-VII and Einbacher were built uncovered so all the strut and fuselage interior detail could be seen. Ken and his work will be an upcoming addition to the model making section of the Internet Craftsmanship Museum. |
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Don Hall will also be added to the museum's web site soon. He was at the show with a large display, but it still represents only a portion of the 186 engines he has built so far. He is now working on number 187 and 188. They represent a wide variety of types and each is made with outstanding craftsmanship. |
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Rich Carlstedt has completed his model of the engine from the recently recovered Union ironclad ship Monitor. Attempts to model this engine in the past have been somewhat unsuccessful, because the only known drawings were incomplete, incorrect in places and very faded. The recent recovery of the actual engine and years of research on Rich's part led to this model, which is undoubtedly the most authentic representation ever completed of this engine. It is also done with spectacular skill and attention to detail. |
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A number of the former winners of the Joe Martin Foundation's "Metalworking Craftsman of the Year" award were present at the show to offer their congratulations to this year's winner Ron Colonna. From left to right they are: Wilhelm Huxhold, Jerry Kieffer, Ron Colonna, Craig Libuse (representing the Foundation), Roger Ronnie and David Kucer. Some of Ron's engines can be seen in the foreground. |
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Jerry Kieffer once again amazed the crowd with his demonstrations of accurately cutting extremely miniature parts on a Sherline lathe. Here a couple of show spectators watch him at work and examine the results. Typically he turns a piece of 3/4" steel down to about .010" and then drills a .005" hole down the center of that hair-like stalk. Three of his tiny, hand-made spade drills were broken when people would try to touch them. They are so small you need a microscope or powerful loop just to see them, and especially to see the hole in the end. |
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David Kucer, the Joe Martin Foundation's winner of the Craftsman of the year award in 2006 attended the show with his display of miniature firearms. The gun shown in David's hand, an 1/3 scale 1854 Smith & Wesson "Volcanic" lever action pistol is now part of the Foundation's museum collection in Vista, CA. David's son Zavie also attend the show and is now part of the family business of making these fine miniatures. He is the 5th generation of craftsmen in the family. |
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The featured exhibit at this year's NAMES show is this 39% scale model of a 1939 Maserati 4CL Grand Prix car. Built by Fiore di Bernardo, the curbside model was made from photos and measurements taken from the original, which is in the Indianapolis Motor Museum. Fiore is also modeling a 1940 Maserati 8CL engine and transmission as a static display to go along with the car. |
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A large modular display of N-gauge model railroading was set up by the Dayton-N-Track model railroad club from Ohio's Miami River Valley. It featured many detailed modular segments with every type of scenery from train yards to winter scenes with snow. |
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In a very poor attempt to show the quality of these pieces, these photos just don't do the job. Roger Ronnie displayed his completed 1/2 scale Lefever "$1000 grade" shotgun. The ornately engraved gun is so detailed you really need magnification to appreciate the detail. Next to it at the right of the first photo is his 1/2 scale 1896 Bergmann pistol. Roger is now starting on a pair of Sharps Borchardt rifles as his next project. |
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Cliff Roemmich stands next to his large steam engine and paddlewheel display. Cliff's models are always beautifully finished and detailed down to the last nut and bolt. You can see more of Cliff's work in the Foundation's on-line museum. |
There is no entry fee. Sherline makes available $100 in prize money for each entrant up to the first 25, so a maximum of $2500 in prize money can be available. We hope next year to see at least 25 entries so that the full total of $2500 will be up for grabs. There is also a Youth Division for entrants under the age of 21 the day of the contest. An additional $500 is divided among the entrants in this group as part of the Joe Martin Foundation "Young C. Park Award" for youth. There is also a "Novice Division" for machinists with two years experience or less. (The top Novice finisher receives double prize money.). Start making plans to get a project together for next year's show. Call 1-800-541-0735 for details or watch this site. As far as we know at this time the contest rules will remain unchanged. Our goal is simply to show the interesting and fun things that can be built with a few cents worth of material, good miniature machine tools and a bit of skill and imagination. Don't let the quality of some of the entries intimidate you. In the past 16 years, no entrant whose entry has been available for voting for the whole contest span has ever won less than $30 and some have one hundreds. Most of all, though, everybody has had a lot of fun. If you are just starting out, you can still build a good project. For '09, think big and build small! Check links below to see the rules and the results of past contests.