Vane Engine

This is a fully 3D-printed vane engine designed to run on compressed air, and it performs surprisingly well for a PLA build. I powered it using a dental compressor (exact pressure unknown), and it runs smoothly and consistently under steady airflow. All parts were printed in PLA using 20% gyroid infill, 3 walls, and 4 top and bottom layers, which provided a good balance between strength and weight. For best performance, I highly recommend lightly sanding the moving components to reduce friction and improve overall smoothness. Applying graphite powder as a dry lubricant significantly enhances motion and reduces wear without attracting dust like oil-based lubricants would. Proper surface finishing makes a noticeable difference in efficiency. I am also very curious to see this design printed in resin, as the smoother surface finish from a resin printer could potentially improve sealing and rotational smoothness even further. I did not have access to a resin printer for this version, but it would be an exciting upgrade to test.