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I use AN-10 flare fittings on my boiler's input and output connections and have experienced more than a few problems with leaky connections. No matter how much torque I apply, I almost always get a small leak. Smaller AN sizes, such as AN-4 & AN-6 connectors, almost never leak, but I always...

Here in Thailand Buddhist temples often cast their own statues on the temple grounds, not in some foundry that has all the latest equipment. Seems you can melt bronze using only charcoal and a fan as shown below in the pics. The bronze metal used to make the statue wont be pure bronze but...

Question: Could Hydrostatic testing a copper boiler work harden the copper making the boiler permanently stronger? This question occurred to me as I work through the process of Hydrostatic testing my monotube boiler. Given that copper hardens and becomes stronger when it's hammered or...

I made a pop safety valve using mostly hardware store plumbing fittings. However, I did use my lathe to make the valve & stem and to modify the fitting used as the valve seat and the spring tensioner. All the parts are shown below, and with exception of the spring, they are in assembly order...

First, this project is not yet finished, and I need to find/purchase larger air fittings, including a valve, before I'm able to move forward. Not much to see from the outside. The only testing so far has been done using my shop air compressor, set to 100 psi max. The brass fittings are...

In Thailand, many Buddhist temples still cast their own bells and statues in bronze, and the larger works require a team effort to complete the process. In photos, this is how they cast bronze at a temple in Thailand.

This rather clever water pump is on display in a Thai Temple (Wat Tha Mai) just outside of Bangkok. While this display is powered by an electric motor, it was clearly designed to run on wind power. There were no plaques indicating it's origin or age.

Thought I would share this little repair in case anyone else runs into a similar problem. The Plum shaft coupler on the Z axis of my DIY CNC lathe quite literally went to pieces last week; the red plastic insert between the coupler's two halves (shown in left photo below), broke up into lots of...

First, I’m a retired electronics engineer with almost no formal education in thermodynamics. All the meager knowledge I have on boiler design comes entirely through self-learning. So don’t take anything I state as being 100% accurate. Which means I’m open to advice, critique and suggestions...

I saw this engine posted on Facebook and wondered if anyone else had ever seen this design? I've seen several other engine designs using a rotating swashplate, but this is the first one I've seen that uses a fixed swashplate. Here's a link showing a short video: Unique Engine Anyone know...

A few months back I purchased an Auto AC compressor (Denso 10S15C) to see if I might be able to use it on my steam turbine project; I ultimately concluded that this compressor was far too large and ended up building a much Smaller Swashplate Compressor. Not wanting to simply toss the Denso...

This air compressor will be used in my Ambitious ORC Turbine project to supply 6 psi nominal air pressure at 70 L/min to a siphon-type fuel nozzle. There are several variations of wobble plate (aka, Swashplate) designs but the one I chose has 5 double end pistons operating inside 10 cylinders...

For the past year I've been slowly designing and building pieces of a rather ambitious "steam" engine project. I'm retired so I have the luxury of taking as much time as I want, or need, to complete this project, and like most folks here, this is my hobby, not my job. My goal is to build the...

Rule-of-thumb says that a water tube boiler needs about 5 sqr ft / Hp, and perhaps only 4 sqr ft if the boiler uses small diameter tubing and/or high combustion gas flow rate. But what property or thermodynamic characteristic of water determines the value of 5 sqr ft/HP ? I ask this question...

My plan is to use the burner shown here in a water tube boiler. At max output, the burner consumes 14 liters of diesel per hour. One liter of diesel produces 10.6 KWh of energy, therefore 14 liters = 148KWh. The slotted burner "cans" and the external housing are both made from stainless...

I’m an American Expat who’s thoroughly enjoying retirement in the tropical paradise of Thailand. My formal education is in Electronic Engineering. I have Zero formal machine shop training, but I’ve pursued hobby machining most of my life. I appreciate engines of all types but my focus has...