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I have tried using kerosene and diesel as a foundry fuel, and have found that kerosene is a lighter fuel than diesel, and it lights/flashes much more easily than diesel. I consider kerosene a borderline unsafe fuel for foundry work just because of how easily it flashes when you light the...

Find Hansen posted on his website exactly how he made his injector. He tried several configurations, and finally came up with (as I understand it) a tiny valve, much like the typical mushroom valve on an IC engine. He said this arrangement was necessary to prevent the cylinder pressure from...

Sorry to hear about your health issues. That is a bummer for sure. .

Ok, we give you a few more days to get it done (pun intended). .

This was a muller I made using trailer fenders from Northern Tool. All stick welded using a AC tombstone Lincoln. .

I needed a way to move some office equipment up the stairs to my office, and did not have a lot of time or money to spend on making a lift. I went with a Harbor Freight 120VAC winch, fabbed a trolley, and used a piece of EMT conduit as the rail. I wanted to use IMC, but EMT was all they had...

One can start with two strips of steel, perhaps 3/16" thick, 2" wide, 3" long. Clamp them flat on a table, include the right gap between them, and practice welding them together. You should be able to weld from one side only, and then bend the pieces backwards onto themselves without the weld...

If you can find a good welder to teach you how to do it, that works too. I did take a general class in welding, and that was helpful to learn TIG, MIG, etc., but to learn to effectively stick weld was just someone showing me how to do it, and offering suggestions, and a lot of practice. .

This is the only beginner vertical I have plans for. An old Raymond Yates design. Not too complex. This was one of the first engines my dad built. Its a bit small, but you could put the plans on the copy machine and double them in size. .

Wow Jasen, what a blast from the past. I remember seeing your screen name in 2011, and vaguely recall reading this thread. What a nice engine build. Glad to see you getting back to it. Very nice machining work ! Pat J .

The high pressure pistons were often domed shape one piece, and the low pressure were often built-up from several pieces with a spider in the center. If a steam engine is used reqularly with an oiler, corrosion should not be a problem. If a steam engine is used occasionally, you need to get...

Yes, I see it now. Very clever setup. For my cylinder, yes, only one snap flask, and only one cylinder pattern too. And so I assume crest set his mold up about the same way. I like your arrangement much better than my cemented molds (for this part), but cemented molds do have their uses. And...

Welcome, glad to have you here. .

Here is an example of retracts (retractable pieces) by the light pole manufacturer "Spring City". Everyone who does hobby casting has to figure out how complex they want to get with their patterns and molding. There is no "right" or "wrong" way in the hobby. The "right way" is what gives you...

I don't see the bosses on Jason's post #16. Creast's casting looks perfect, but I am not sure how he molded it. No problem with simplifying a casting like Jason's method, but keeping the bosses is not that difficult. .

Some folks don't like keeping up with multiple pattern parts, but using retracts would be an easy way to cast the bosses on the non-forked part of this pattern. Retracts have been used in the foundry business for a long time, and are quite common. Many of the foundry "tricks-of-the-trade" get...

You have a lot of options of you use bound sand, and even more options if you clamp and cement multiple bound molds together. Here is how I would do it. Parting line in yellow. One side of the flask shown only for clarity. Elevate the sprue taller than vertical piece with a tall pouring cup...

This is an interesting video about the recovery of two Fairbanks semi-diesels. I think this fellow is in North Carolina ? Should be interesting to see him get these engines going. .

I have seen a book where the take cards for the high and low pressure cylinders, and they can show that the power is equal on both. I think the power is the sum of the area under the curve. .

I can't really comment on your calculations; I am not that smart. I do know that the compound steam engines generally used significantly higher steam pressure, and often with superheat. As I understand it, the intent with compound designs is to balance the forces on the high and low pressure...