Nitro Engine PENCIL Sharpener!

My friend found a Nitro RC car in the garbage. I decided to turn it into a high performance pencil sharpener!

Step 1: Get the Engine Running.

The first step was to get the engine running. When I got it the piston was seized and the carburetor was clogged. I took everything apart and cleaned it before putting it back together.

Step 2: Adapt Engine to Pencil Sharpener.

Once the engine was running I could get to work attaching it to a hand crank pencil sharpener. I decided to utilize as much of the RC car as possible. I welded the universal joint from the RC driveshaft to the hand crank of the pencil sharpener. Then I cut it off and rounded the edges with a grinder.

Step 3: Connected Drive Shaft.

Step 4: Test Run.

I did a test run and the pencil sharpener seized. It seems the cutting wheel isn't designed to spin at 30,000 RPM :)

Step 5: Add a Brake.

I used a shock absorber from the car to "engage" the brake at all times. This way the pencil sharpener isn't spinning until I want it to. This reduces wear on the bearings/bushings.

Step 6: Make It Look Cool.

I added some modified bumpers and guards from the car to make the device look more complex and cool. It keeps my fingers out of the gears too!

Step 7: Finished!

To my surprise the thing actually works! And it didn't fall apart after it's first use. Everything is still in tact and working.

Comments

[AndrewS549]

Bro; this is such an awesome, petrol-headed idea. I love it.

I have NEVER thought about stripping an RC car for parts. This is genius. You could make so many many petrol-powered tools from this idea.

I love how you could use this to make olden-day-looking machines that actually work, as well.

Thanks for the wonderful inspiration; where did you get the broken RC car?

[world of woodcraft]

this is super cool and rediculouse which makes it better. i am definatly now a follower an look forward to your next project

[DIY KING 00]

so cool project.

[gomanr]

To get rid of the pull start you could hook up a EZ-start system. Also what car it that?

[diybsd]

These small engines are two stroke and run on a mixture of fuel and oil.

The fuel is nitromethane and the oil is caster oil. Caster oil is a vegetable oil and goes rancid left sitting on a shelf. This is worth knowing so if you have an RC car, or an RC car engine powered toothbrush you'll know how to care for it to keep it from being turned into a pencil sharpener.

[sharkstudio]

cool!!!

[Shock-Tech]

This is amazing. I found myself a new project!

[LaserByte]

This is awesome.

[Razor 911]

lol very good project awesome idea

[jcampos14]

I agree with the other guy. it's an unnecessary thing I need to have and obsess over for hours and countless pencils

[mlawing]

Excellent project, Mike!

[Yonatan24]

Awesome!

I watched the video, But I still didn't understand something, Where do you insert the fuel to the motor?

[mlawing]

I believe that was the part of the video where he poured the pink (nail polish remover?) liquid into it.

[BadAngelZ]

Marvelous.

May you know vibroboy ? :)

[nibbler125]

Looks great, Only problem is you will wear out the clutch very quickly by revving the engine with the brake engaged. I think you are best off to combine the throttle and the brake into one lever. That way you can pull one lever and it will rev the engine and disengage the brake at the same time.

[NYCitySlicker]

Dude, that is too cool!!! What a cool (and unnecessary) gadget to have in the workshop! Awesome job!!

[Muddypaws]

You sir are a certified insane genius! That is some seriously impressive repurposing.
One question though, does it eat pencils at a prodigious rate? I have visions of pencils disappearing quickly, and your fingers as well if you don't let go quick enough.

[cboals22]

Amazingly ridiculous! Fantastic job. Throw nothing away! Tinkering genius sir. I like it.