Search results

A guy at work brought this in today, and asked if I knew anything about it. It was built by his late father possibly from a design in a magazine/publication. All I could tell him was it was a stirling, and that the flywheel and one conrod was missing. He has gone home to look for those tonight...

For my recent engine I had to cut 25mm off a 100mm tube of perspex. I didn't want to make a 4" mandrel so I figured I'd have a go at parting it. I chucked the tube up in my 3-jaw on the outside of the jaws - very gently though because even light pressure deforms the tube. The far end I just...

Hey all. Today I'm attempting to build a working LTD sterling in a few hours - this will also be my first engine. Just using scrap I have lying around in my workshop I hope to get it done inside of 5 hrs with a break for New Year's dinner. I started at just after 4pm, got the displacer...

I plan to make a furnace using a small propane bottle for a casing and a propane burner. I have a 11kg bottle which I'll cut the lid off, and I have a 25kg bag of Bentonite clay with a chance to grab one or two more this week. I understand this clay is used as an ingredient in casting sand but...

Another couple of questions if I may: What tolerances must I hold to prevent air bleeding past the spool on a basic valve, typical of the type I see used on small engines on this site. I want to achieve as close to zero as possible. I see many valves from brass running in cast iron. Is there...

Looking at the 'miser' type sterling engines, I was wondering: Do they work best with a very thin top and bottom heat-transfer plate in the displacement cylinder or do they prefer a thicker plate in order to store heat energy?

Some simple questions for the members: Firstly, how is a typical air driven-engine timed with regards opening and closing the cylinder valves? Is it a simple matter of opening at TDC and closing at BDC? Are single-acting cylinders timed differently to double-acting ones? Also, are they timed...

Hi folks, just thought I'd make a proper introduction. I put up a question about engines as I fancy building one (or several) for myself. I have a small workshop of 4x5m, with a metric lathe of 1980's vintage, and a small vertical milling machine from the 50's. I'm self-taught and still very...

Hi folks. I have a fairly basic question about steam/air-driven engines: Is it possible to build a self-starting, and reversing engine that will start from any crank position and start consistantly in the desired direction, using just one cylinder? If so, how is it achieved? Pete.