Sometimes the tiny appeals

Today I had the pleasure of attending the 7th Annual Gears expo at the Armory in north Portland.  The craftsmanship and, in some cases, the artistry of those machinists was something to behold.  There were all sorts of steam, gasoline, ice and fire, propane, and air powered engines and contraptions.

Small v-8 engine

This little engine has it's own tiny spark plugs and other essential parts all crafted by the man whose hand shows in the picture.  As you can tell, the engine is not much bigger than his closed fist.  And it really runs!

This show was an eye-opener to me.  For although I was very much aware that there were people with such skills (i.e. Fr. Hugo Moschini, OP), I was amazed by the sheer number of participants and the variety of presentations.  Some more of this sort of thing can be found at http://oregongears.org/.

Enjoy!