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I finally improved the power of the solenoid and designed a tractor around it. Hopefully you can see hints of a Field Marshall

Not sure that this is really an engine when it does no useful work, except that it does make me smile I now need to make a stand, I'm thinking of a birdcage frame made from brass - thoughts? The forming of the dome did take some time, I made a jig to hold the copper disc and ended up...

I wanted to make a fuel tank stand and wanted a formed brass structure. As I only needed two parts I decided to form these over MDF. I cut out the former in 9mm thick MDF and then hardened it with superglue Note: make sure you are in a well ventilated area as the fumes are not great. I cut...

A simple page with an online calculator for change gears Then I thought about doing this calculation in reverse. So you supply the leadscrew pitch and the thread pitch you want to cut. Then I have made it so that you enter 3 gear options for each position and it then calculates all of the...

My free hand and ball turning attachment for the Warco lathe, video below gives an overview of the build and my reasoning. OK, it's not that short, but hope this gives a good overview of the tool. Thanks, Nige

With the tiny vertical boiler I made I managed to estimate the thermal conductivity of the multi-layer insulation: Teflon sheet – a thin baking sheet wrap Medium weight paper wrap Polythene – this was a thick clear polythene bag Medium weight paper wrap Air gap – created using thin wood veneer...

I got this little 3.56cc OS 4-stroke engine and thought it might be useful to show how to set it up for bench running.

My dad (Roy Louis Taylor) made this miniature oscillating engine years ago and I found it hidden away in a cabinet. It does run on compressed air, but would benefit from a tidy up. It might have inspired me to have a go at making a miniature oscillating engine.

I found this article on my old blog and just had to re-post it. This was written by Bob Lane some 20 years ago and it is just superb how to he can make something look like an engine from literally rubbish. A great way to add realism to a radio controlled model plane is to make a dummy engine...

How often do you need to square a piece of stock? This process was written by Alan at Woody's Workshop: Step 1 Inspect the stock and pick the side that has the surface that is the flattest and most appropriate for the end result you are looking for. Place this surface against the rear vice jaw...

I made an etching tank that uses a fish tank air bubbler to help circulate the ferric chloride. This improves the quality of the etchings. The video shows us adding a dye to the water filled tank to watch the flow of water, the bubbles in the end chamber lift the water and so creates a...

A simple video of this engine running has been on here before. I just thought it would be interesting to talk about the engine and show the ports etc. At some point I want to add pipes from the exhausts to the flywheel - not sure it will add much, but the principle is interesting

First part of me installing a Machine-DRO measurement system This is a good quality kit of parts and brackets

I made an electric fan with a homemade aluminium centrifugal fan blade. I then made a simple u-bend hockey-stick pipe and fed compressed air into it. I compared both of these methods for raising steam in my small vertical boiler. on the left is the compressed air hockey-stick pipe (drops...

I've been reading the Harris book "Model Boilers and Boiler Making" and saw the simple drawing for a riveting hammer. The drawing is very simple, but with a few additions like threads etc to fix the shaft into the handle and the head I was away. What has struck me most is the balance of this...

By accident I swiped my Android phone screen from the right hand side and found a new tab. This tab gives you fast access to: compass, torch and a level. If you then hold the phone on one edge in level mode you get an angle gauge. That made me wonder just how good an angle gauge it is. So, I...

This little engine is gradually getting designed and built. I hit a problem and it goes on the shelf until I get inspiration. It reminds me of the little engine in Nevil Shute's famous "Trustee from the Toolroom"

The length of the conrod has an impact on the smoothness of an engine, if we look at this equation that describes the position of the piston: Plotting the velocity and the acceleration of the piston we get The solid line is for an engine with a stroke of 30mm and a conrod 50mm between...

I was wondering what it might be like if our street lighting was provided with a network of steam (might work in New York) and we have a steam engine attached to the lamp post that has a dynamo to generate electricity and hence drive a light bulb. Something like this: This has taken me a while...

I'm designing, drawing and building a 1/20th scale Burrell traction engine and thought I would share some details here as well as on my pages These are the rear wheels, rims machined from mild steel, spokes from 0.9mm thick brass. the wheels are 97mm in diameter (machined from 4 inch round bar)