What material is your house made from? The way you asked this question is the same as the way I asked mine.
(Hint: You need to be a lot more specific with your question. The crankshaft is a different material from the cylinder block and that's a different material from the piston)
It depends on what size it is, and if it is meant to run as a heat engine or not. If it is to burn fuel then likely it should not be made of some flammable material. Did you mean what are the various metals they are made from? Again it all depends on what part of the engine your talking about. Small weed eater engines the crankcase/cylinder block can be made from some sort of aluminum alloy, a large marine engine the same parts are steel, on the old not manufactured for trucks any more 2 strokes the same parts were made from cast iron. Small engines are most always die cast, cast iron is mostly sand cast. You can use what ever type of casting you wish and can afford for the small engine crank case. Even machine it from a solid block.
Thanks for the answers! To be more specific the 2 stroke engine I was referring to was the one found inside lawn mowers. TO my understanding, they are made from aluminium alloys and are made from die casting. Just wanted to confirm as I am still new!
Why is die casting more economical in the long run than sand casting? Isn't the pattern from the mold reusable for sand casting while for die casting its a limited amount of times?
And die castings can create many surfaces and features that can be practically used "as-is." Cast holes suitable for self tapping fasteners, even some gasket surfaces.
Most lawn mower engines I have seen are air-cooled, flat-head, 4-strokes. Die cast aluminum blocks and heads, sand cast steel cranks, die cast aluminum rods and pistons.
2-stroke engines used for chain saws or weed wackers usually have aluminum die cast cylinder/heads and crankcases, die cast aluminum pistons, sand cast steel cranks and rods.
Lawn Boy made nice 2 stroke mowers for years, unfortunately EPA regs killed them off several years ago. I bought one the last year they were sold, very good mower for the money. Depending on how much you mow, they can uses less oil than a 4 stroke since there is no crankcase oil to change every year.
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