I am going to build a test stand and, while I have a pretty good idea how I am going to go about it I would love to see what others have done. I'm betting there is probably a thread somewhere on here on this very subject but in a cursory search I didn't see one.

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I use a 12" x 4" x 3/4" plank with a notch in the end to fit the engine. I screw the engine to the plank. I then "C" clamp the plank to a saw horse with two clamps. To the plank I use #64 rubber bands to hold the tank and slip a 12" wire rod with clevis attached to the throttle under a rubber band for a friction hold on the throttle.

Since one of my OS 70II Surpasses once took a saw horse down the driveway I also tie the sawhorse to a tent stake in the yard.

I just use the aircraft that the engine is going to be used with. Most break-ins are ok after a couple of tanks of fuel, and that can easily be done at the field before you maiden the plane. It also shakes loose anything that is going to shake loose on that maiden, you can fix it before you fly.

CGr.

I clamp the unit into my workmate type protable sawhorse. The motor mount is the permanent one to be used with the motor and is mounted to the 3/4" pine. Everything is glued and screwed. The tank sits behind in foam and I usually drill small holes in the wood to hold the throttle pushrod end which is bent at a 90 degree angle at various settings. The strip at the back helps the back end from dropping down though once clamped in, it doesn't budge. The engine in the sawhorse is a magnum .70 and on the the bean bag is a magnum .52

The can is my homemade muffler I made from an old RCM article.. works real well and quites things down quite a bit so I can run the motors in the neighborhood. has an exit exhaust behind the input which can't be seen

Your stand is pretty cool. I am making something similar so I can also invert the mount to test an engine's ability to run inverted to keep the scale looks of some of the planes I plan to buy and build. Mine is going to be for .46 - 2.10 engines.

One of the hobby shop owners has a engine test stand made from the 1980's, it's all aluminum, trussed and free standing about 14" high, it even has a built in throttle bracket with a little T-handle and control rod. I'll have to call him and see who made it, but it was a manufactured engine test stand.

I use a 4 x 4 yard timber from Home Depot/Lowe's. I cut a 4 x 12 piece of 1/2 plywood to mount the engine (just cut a notch to fit the specific engine). I mount this plate to the 4 x 4 with deck screws and use bungee cords to mount the 4 x 4 to something that won't walk down the driveway. (I've even used the tail gate of my truck.) I then mount the tank and push rod like CharlieP above. I don't fuel proof anything. Just toss the ply plate and make a new one for the next engine test. You'll never need anything fancier unless you're doing this for a living. This has worked well for me for many years and never had any "close calls" with anything vibrating apart. By the way, I once used C-clamps, but they tended to vibrate loose due to the compression of the 4 x 4. Use lot's of bungee cords!!

Paul

planebuilder: You may be referring to this stand http://www.pspmfg.com/EngineTestStand.html


Kitbuilder: would you by any chance have a copy of the article electronically? Seems like an excellent idea. I've been wanting to break in a few engines in my backyard, but haven't done so as a courtesy to my neighbors. If the can works, that may have solved my problem. Does the can also catch the oil (or enough of it) so that it doesn't kill a strip of grass behind the test stand?

No, this is old, but way cooler than that, it looks like it was made by ship builders from WWII, japaneese manufacture. It handles everything from a .10 to a ST3000. He wouldn't sell it to me, but he did give me a deal on one of the tatone stands.

Iuse the heck outa my Tatone mount, it has served me well through hundreds of engine tests. Works well up to about a .65 Thunder Tiger. .049 is the smallest I ever mounted on it.

here is my latest mount not quite finished yet, its set up for OS120 4strokes now.

5/8 ply screwed and glued with tite bond III wood glue I will clear coat it with oil based polyurathane, I also plan on making a adjustable tank mount, for various sized engines, behind the firewall.

it mesures 14"x24", ialso used a tatone aluminum mount for the 120

It is made by the Japanese company MI Products. MI Products (a Japanese DuBro) does not currently have a US distributor that I know of, but there was one in Canada. I have the test stand; I picked it up in Japan on a business trip in 70's. They still make it. It is a very nice test stand and I have been using it for 35 years.

Bruce

Does anyone have any more details regarding the above "muffler can"? Seems simple enough to make, the question is really regarding the parts that I cannot see. Specifically, are there any baffles inside the can, and is the exist exhaust just a hole on the back side?

Appreciate the comments.

Some great ideas.

On Vibration:

Isolate the tank: Make sure that the tank is isolated from the stand with foam. Without it - kinda cool visuals but not very good for a nice fuel flow to the engine.

Good clamps. 2-strokes are pretty smooth with ignition once per rotation while 4-strokes are pretty rough running. Make sure that clamps are very tight. My Saito 100 kicked 1 of 2 clamps off of my test bench clamped to an engine run-in picnic table at our field - yea, the clamps are pretty big - just didn't give it that last "dent the wood a bit" turn. Thinking about it - if the hardwood stand had some "bite" the clamp probably would not have vibrated loose. Glad that I had a Rx/Bat/Servo arrangement for controlling the engine with a throttle kill switch enabled on the radio.


pic 1/6 - unknown stand on the market
pic 7/10 - my stand from junk around the shop. Each engine has its own 1/4"ply mounting plate.

I bought mine from Ebay. I converted it to work with a servo as I had a 72 MHz system laying around when I switched to 2.4G. No more fuel and exhaust on my hands from adjusting the throttle.

Make sure ya put the electrical components in a zip lock for the very same messy reason.

messy oil residue, is part of the reason I decided to make the firewall design,to hide some of the other components behind a wall, also I can drill for various size engine mounts for whatever engine I want to run at the time.

I've never understood the need for engine stands unless you're......

an engine dealer, or....

into R&D, or setting up a racing engine, or...

got an old iron engine that needs all day to break in.....

After a rebuild it's good practice to ensure that it runs rather than waiting until _________ - you can fill in the blank.

What's wrong with running it in the model?

If it was a 2 row, 18 cylinder radial, then ya you betcha...run it on a stand after a rebuild.

I like to run them on the stand, with a known good fuel setup. Once the engine is in the model, if it doesn't run right, I know it's the installed setup at fault. Plus, I broke in an engine today whose model is still in the box. It's next on the bench.

the main reason I am building a new test stand is most of the planes I have now are cowled, and I happen to have several of the same type of engine that I have bought used,or rebuilt.
before I mount one in a plane, I like to go over the engine, check the valve lash so its in specs, adjust if necessary, and then test run it, check for leaks. and any problems like exessive oil spitting out where it shouldn't, and that its running at pretty much perfect tune, then I will mount it in my 1,000$ airplane.

its a matter of economics, if a engine isn't running spot on, I will go with another one and figure out whats wrong with the rough runner, getting oil all over my airframe is a bummer to clean up as well, deadsticks can be really costly.

I can accept flying a plane into the ground under power but gliding a powered plane in and crashing because i didn't make sure the engine wasn't running perfect inexcusable,and some engines take a little time to get just right so I like to stand option.

I don't know, I usually break-in my new engines in the plane, but when I aquire a used motor, I mount it up in the test stand and run it, ust to get use to it and check it over befroe mounting it a plane. I find the older engines of vintage years tend to need a little more learning curve than a newer ABC engine.

I am maybe 2 months away from having my model ready to run an engine on it.  And that brand new 91 4 stroke is begging to be heard.