Guy Builds Wooden V8 Engine Smaller Than a Coin, Makes It Run

The idea came from a Lithuanian teen who claims to have an “unfulfillable desire for understanding how stuff works.” He’s been into woodworking since he was a child and watched a lot of "MythBusters" and "How It’s Made."

He made a whole Youtube channel called Generic Woodworking, where he frequently uploads his latest projects. From building car models out of wood to creating realistic wooden gearboxes and a driveshaft, he’s putting his hands at work for anything mechanical.

This time, he really outdid himself. The guy carved wooden engines before, but this contraption was much more challenging to recreate. He used oak veneer, birch, and barbecue skewers to make a V8 engine smaller than a coin (yes, that engineering marvel is close in dimension to a thumbnail).

The pistons, which he somehow managed to make them move, are the only working part due to the scale of this thing. But nonetheless, it’s still impressive, considering that they measure 3 mm (0.11 in) each.
He even goes on to show what mistakes he makes in the process (working with something that tiny is bound to not turn out exactly as you might hope from the start). The teen demonstrates that broken pieces smaller than grains of rice can be fixed.

After assembling everything together, he makes the engine run, well, the pistons. In one of his Reddit posts, he says that he uses dry lubricants to reduce the friction from the crank. His small wooden V8 engine doesn’t even get warm, according to the creator.

This looks incredible, considering the scale of this thing. You can check out the build process in the video below to see him in action. He also has bigger versions and ultra-realistic ones too that show just how talented the guy is.