Recent content by kevincoxshall

Hi Irek what i nice completed project you have. you should be very proud. Is that a mahogonay base it sits on? Can I ask what the switch on the base does? Kevin

We were in Estepona which is between Marbella and Gibralter. Spain is in rather a poor state financially at the moment. There a no street lights on the roads, lots of shops closed, empty or closing. Lots of Ferraris in Peurto de Venus and big fat motor yachts :-)

Hi Bmurph I love the sound those turbines make. Can I ask how you manufactured the blades so they are balanced and what material they are made from? You have inspired me to try magnetic air bearings (somehow). Kevin

Hi Jerry Script I have seen an idea where the hot end has lots of rods going into the hot end but never actually touching it, the idea being to increase surface area and hence better heat transfer. With your idea for the displacer to bottom out, does this mean you won't have a sine wave...

We are off to Spain for 2 weeks, driving down and staying in the mother in laws flat (luckily she is not coming). I'm sure it will be fun. Is our hobby or any steam rallies in Spain? Kevin

Ok so am I correct in thinking you want to run a 'pump' but in reverse with pressure. Looking at the pump above, if you fed it with air I guess it should turn. Steam would be better as it would continue expanding. Your hardest problem would be the material. I have had a quick look on the...

Hi Brian The backplate came with a spigot but I had to machine it down to size with a small undercut. I always planned on keeping the 2 items together, but as there is hardly any movement between them, it would be a quick job to re-align if needed. Marcello thanks for confirming my suspicions...

Thanks for all the replies. In the end I machined the backplate in the lathe..... then I drilled 4 new holes to take m6 threads into the chuck using the backplate on top to line everything up for the first hole only. I rotated the table for the other 3 holes. I believe the chuck is hardened...

Hi do you have a hearth? some firebricks will make all the difference. have you also considered locktite, I made a crank shaft secured with locktite on a low powered hot air engine. Kevin

Hi all, I have just purchased an ER25 collet chuck and backplate for my lathe. The chuck has 3 tapped holes and the backplate has 4 clear holes. I can't easily drill more holes in the back plate so are there any suggestions how to fix the 2 items together? I have thought about an intermediate...

Hello all, I built one of Jerry Howell's engines several years ago. To get mine to run I had to -machine the fins as close to the stainless liner as possible. -loosen everything off -machine the hot cap as thin as possible -I used insulation between hot and cold end Also have you had a...

Today I fixed my lathe to my concrete garage floor. The lathe is a BH600 from warco. I did this because at the higher speeds I noticed it vibrating. I used those coach bolts that don't need a sleeve. I managed to get a total of 5 bolts into the floor. 3 into the headstock end and 2 into the...

here is my saw. <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP08POaFTf4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed> i need to add a little more weight to the saw. It took 56mins to cut through 1.5inch stainless in the photo. It takes about...

I'm well chuffed becuase I've just finished my power hacksaw that i made from angle iron. I'm really supprised how neat the cut is when finished. I was lucky enough to inherit a 240v motor with worm gear box. I think the cost was about £150 in all but i was given the motor. I could have bought...

Thanks for the advice on this one. The engine is my own design. I'll start a new thread on the engine soon. Kevin