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Finally got around to putting some of my finished engines on display in my office. Nearly killed me lifting the big ones (17kg) up to the brackets but I think it was worth it. Cheers, Peter.

Can anyone explain to me the effect of increasing or decreasing cylinder clearance in a steam engine? If I increase the clearance, and by this I mean the distance from the top of the piston (at TDC) to the cylinder head, will the engine consume more steam? If it does, is more power the result...

In 2014 I purchased a Sieg milling machine, the SX2. It didn't take long to get tired of winding the X axis crank back and forth, motorising this was the first modification I did on the machine. I wasn't very cashed up at the time (I never am) so I utilized the motor from an old electric...

This may seem a strange title for a thread, let me explain. A lot of us here spend a good portion of our time making small engines, steam, internal combustion or whatever, and on completion would like to see the thing do a bit of work after all the effort of construction. It also provides a...

This morning my mill, an Optimum BF-20LV, (Grizzly G0704) started to make some funny noises. I assumed that one of the drive gears might have stripped a couple of teeth as they are plastic and apparently have a bit of a reputation for this. It was one of the gears, the main gear that meshes with...

I had been looking at various steam engine plans for some time, I wanted to build a smallish engine that could form the basis of a plant comprising the engine, boiler, water tank and so on. I was torn between building from a casting kit or doing it from scratch using material at hand or what I...

Hi all, I have been building a boiler over quite a long time, (I will post on this later) and am now at the closing stages, my question is this, "Do I need to dry off the steam before passing it off to the engine, i.e. a superheater coil?" I am not really interested in efficiency, this is only a...

Sorry, somehow this thing has posted twice!

A few weeks ago I happened to see a small sand blasting cabinet for sale for less than two hundred dollars, AUD$160 in fact and the natural cynic that resides in me sneered and said "That'll be a piece of crap". I cant help'myself, I love a bargain so after close inspection, it ended up in my...

I have started work on a new project, a horizontal steam engine designed by Mr Harold E Benson. The plans are free, metric and have been well drawn by J.A.M. DeWaal of New Zealand. Here is the link http://www.vapeuretmodelesavapeur.com/telechargements4/. The engine is quite large, nearly 700mm...

For the past eight months or so I have been fooling around, trying to make an attachment for a milling machine that would cut gears. Because I'm lazy, I wanted the machine to do all the work. I don't think this is unreasonable as winding a table back and forth, turning the dividing head etc. etc...

I recently extended my shed for the third time and took the opportunity to revamp some of the existing benches and shelves. Very pleased with the result and I took these photos to show that the place is not always in a mess. Cheers, Peter

I have two small DC motors that appear identical physically but differ in output power. I would like to change the the small spur gear with the brass spiral gear. For the life of me I cannot see how they are attached to the shafts. Both motors are designed to operate in both directions so I...

I finally got the bullet and purchased four keyway broaches and I now want to make a range of bushes to suit. My question is, can they be made from aluminium? I don't see that they are subject to a great deal of load and they will not be used enough for wear to be a problem but I have been wrong...

I found an old arbor, MT3 x JT6 in one of my tooling drawers. It has a draw thread of 1/2" UNC and as a consequence will not connect to my M12 drawbar. Where it came from I have no idea, but that is happening to me more and more these days. Anyway, I ran a file over it and it didn't seem too...

My lathe, a Chinese made AL 250 is almost exactly three years old. I brought it new and have had little trouble with it. I do not want to stir up the hoary old debate about Chinese made machine tools, suffice to say that I got what I paid for, a fairly robust machine at an extremely affordable...

The quick change tool holder on my lathe seems to be a bit of an orphan and I have not been able to source a supply for the tool holders at a reasonable cost. The local agent has them for $68 each which is more than I am willing to pay. I had some 2011 aluminium so yesterday I made one and will...

If ever you have used a lathe fitted with a brake and liked it, then using other lathes not fitted with this will leave you with the feeling that something is missing, which of course it is. My small Chinese bench lathe does not have a brake, turn off the power and it coasts to a stop as you...

Some time ago I posted about the Z axis power feed modification I made for my Optimum BF20 mill, (I believe these machines are marketed as Grizzly G0704 in the US). The motor and the speed control and the electrics were obtained from a cheap scroll saw and are ideal for this modification. The...

Help! Cutting gears is not my long suit (not my short suit either), in fact I've never done it. This project I'm looking at requires making four gears: 1 x 33T diameter 49.7mm 2 x 50T " 72.5mm 1 x 115T " 160mm All the gears are in mesh and a tooth profile is...