— We've noticed a recent rash of comments and videos from enthusiasts accusing cam companies of flooding the market with low-quality flat-tappet camshafts and lifters. These comments inevitably stem from losing a cam lobe or two during a cam swap.

 — Your camshaft raises and lowers the intake and exhaust valves as follows: The intake valve opens as the piston moves down and sucks the air and fuel into the cylinder. The intake valve closes, then the piston moves up, which squishes or compresses the air and fuel mixture.

 — I need to make some new camshafts for a one cylinider diesel engine that I am experimenting with. How does one go about making camshafts. I only have a lathe, no vert mill or CNC.

 — A leading manufacturer of high-performance valve train components installed a twin spindle/twin-turret lathe to bring camshaft machining work in-house. Here, the company explains how it has become more effective using its multifunction lathe to produce small batches of custom racing camshafts.

 — Milling Camshafts. Reading through the many interesting exchanges on making camshafts, and wanting to get my new CNC mill to justify it's cost, I was convinced a CNC machine could generate a decent cam.

An interactive camshaft calculator where engine builders can see how valve overlap (and boost efficiency) is affected by a camshaft's physical design.

 — Anyway, in order to stay lean I MUST have a CAM program that can get that machine to run at full capacity, be able to generate programs for quotes quickly, and be able to check itself for interferance (prove itself).

All performance camshafts, especially roller cams, must employ a smaller base circle to accommodate larger lobe profiles. This must be done to physically fit the cam lobes in the engine since lobe lift cannot exceed the radius diameter of the cam journal, or the cam doesn't fit in the engine!

 — The camshaft timing card included with your cam provides the essential specifications for installing your cam correctly. It includes lobe lift, net valve lift, timing points at the advertised duration, duration at 0.050-inch lift, lobe separation angle, and the installed intake centerline.

Kinematics, fluid dynamics and metallurgy must all be mastered by any engineer that sets out to design a successful valve motion profile for a high performance engine and ultimately translate this motion onto a camshaft that will accurately …