A year ago, the Laakirchner old farmer Franz Grafinger used the lockdown period to construct a wooden bicycle in his workshop. It doesn’t have a single metal part, but drives anyway.
Now the 79-year-old has gone one better: Grafinger built a two-cylinder engine that is also made entirely of wood – right down to the screws. The only concession: Because a combustion engine made of wood would start to burn itself, Grafinger’s machine is not operated with petrol, but with compressed air. But everything rotates and moves as it should.
The Laakirchner farmer, who spends every free minute in his workshop, is a carpenter, turner, mechanic and locksmith all in one. He has been riding a Harley Davidson for 40 years. “Your engine has fascinated me for a long time,” he says. “Given my age, I don’t know how much longer I can ride it. So I figured I could at least replicate the engine and run it in the living room.”
For a whole year, Grafinger tinkered with his unit – and was unsure until the end whether it would actually work in the end. The moment of truth came these days. “I connected the air hose, turned on the petrol tap, which is actually an air tap, and the engine purred,” says Grafinger proudly. “I was speechless and immediately brought my wife and daughter and their husband to my workshop.”
The 79-year-old Laakirchner later presented his marvel to his astounded regulars. They celebrated his masterpiece with beer and mason trout. Now Franz Grafinger is already working on the next wooden construction. But he doesn’t want to reveal what he’ll surprise his family and friends with this time.
In the video, Grafinger shows how his engine works:
Source: Nachrichten
