# "Bas" Stirling, a Jan Ridders' design



## kustomkb (Aug 17, 2010)

I have always wanted an engine that would run off of a tea light. Jan Ridders' "Bas" will fit the bill nicely.

I won't get any work done until the Hoglet is put to rest, but for now I just wanted to get some computer modeling practice in;


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NOLnUc3QP0[/ame]



Here is Jan's finished model;



[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCkjdJzIXQE[/ame]




Have fun!


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## kustomkb (Nov 28, 2010)

Here we have gone from "virtual reality" to "real reality";












Here is the second run, after only a little tweaking;

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoWX_lkdNdc[/ame]

Now for a little polish and some fine tuning.

Have fun!


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## doc1955 (Nov 28, 2010)

All I can say is WOW! :bow: :bow: :bow:
Beautiful engine! I like!


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## shred (Nov 28, 2010)

Looks great! I've got one about halfway done that I'll get back to one of these days. Due to a minor CNC error, it's now "left handed"


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## pat1967 (Nov 29, 2010)

Thats a gorgeous looking engine, I really like the fly wheel design. I emailed Jan I while back and got the plans off him, and is on my list of things to do. I struggled for a while trying to get hold of the particular sized test tubes here in australia, so parked it for a while.

Pat


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## arnoldb (Nov 29, 2010)

Thats a magnificent engine Kevin :bow: :bow: - Well done indeed!

And surprisingly big as well!

Regards, Arnold


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## kustomkb (Nov 29, 2010)

Thanks a lot Doc, Shred, Pat and Arnold!

Shred, do you mean the through and blind bores are reversed? In that case, no big deal, I think it's best to put your own "twist" on things when working from someone elses design.

Pat, I couldn't find the correct tubes either, I emailed Jan with my alternatives;



> Hello Jan,
> 
> I have started on Bas, I have these test tubes;
> 
> ...





> And surprisingly big as well!



I thought the same thing when I noticed my hands got in the frame!

Four of us got together to build these, with a fifth made as a Christmas gift. That's why there were no build pics. I will take some photo's of the components and assembly when I put mine together. I just wanted to make sure we had a runner in time for Christmas.

Cheers,

Kevin


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## hobby (Nov 29, 2010)

Very nice workmanship, I like the nice intricate details, with the linkages and the flywheel.

Excellent job on the polishing up, and nice work on the base, all around a real showpiece.


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## Maryak (Nov 29, 2010)

Kevin,

Beautiful :bow: :bow:

Best Regards
Bob


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## pat1967 (Nov 29, 2010)

Thanks for the info on the test tubes Kevin, I'm going to have to dig out the plans and revist this.

Regards, Pat


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## kustomkb (Nov 29, 2010)

Thank you Hobby and Bobby, your compliments are greatly appreciated.

No problem Pat, I hope it works out for you.


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## joe d (Nov 29, 2010)

Kevin:

That's a real good looker! I especially like the flywheel. 
 KB raises the bar again th_wav

Joe


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## kcmillin (Nov 29, 2010)

Great Job Kevin! 

Beautiful Job finishing the parts. Incredibly shiny.

Kel


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## shred (Nov 29, 2010)

KustomKB  said:
			
		

> Thanks a lot Doc, Shred, Pat and Arnold!
> 
> Shred, do you mean the through and blind bores are reversed? In that case, no big deal, I think it's best to put your own "twist" on things when working from someone elses design.


When I drew it up, I reversed the small and large sides of the frame. No big deal. This one is somewhat to Jan's plans, but the next ones will be customized more for my material and tooling (imperial, both.. this metric stuff is cool and all, but driving me nuts) 

The size surprised me as well. I happened to find 16mm and 20mm test-tubes locally. They cut easily enough chucked lightly in the lathe with a dremel cutoff wheel in the toolpost.


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## GailInNM (Nov 30, 2010)

Kevin,
They just don't get any nicer than that. Thm: Thm:
Gail in NM


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## Stan (Nov 30, 2010)

Beautiful engine Kevin. Like you I have long wanted an engine that ran on a tea light, but I have now concluded that I will never achieve it. 

Is any of the work on your engine CNC?


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## kustomkb (Nov 30, 2010)

Thanks a lot fellows!! :bow:

Thanks for the tip Shred. We cut them with a thin section diamond blade on the surface grinder with mixed results. I've tried the score, wet and snap method, carbide v-tool in the lathe and even tried mounting a glass cutting wheel in the tool post. Never got a perfectly clean edge and I'm afraid the stress risers created will eventually grow. I've made the bores a close fit so I don't want to try to flame polish the edges either.I will give the cut off wheel a go tonight.

Stan, the fly wheels and manifold were done entirely on a CNC. Just about everything else was first turned on a manual lathe and then moved to the CNC for hole drilling and profiling. Don't give up on your quest! You have shared a lot of valuable information on lamina flow engines with us, and a Stirling, I believe, will be much more stable.

All the best!


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## Stan (Nov 30, 2010)

Thanks Kevin. I was wondering how you did the flywheels without CNC.

I have made several Stirlings that run but all seem to need more heat than called for. I have little success with LTD Stirlings. I have now accepted that my best days of machining are over.


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## Omnimill (Dec 2, 2010)

Very nice Kevin! Thm: I'll have to think about making one of those when the weather gets better (far too cold in the workshop at the moment!).

Vic.


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## kustomkb (Dec 5, 2010)

Stan, these Stirlings definitely can be frustrating at times.

Thanks Vic!

I went about assembling my own engine. I cut some fresh glass as Shred and Jan suggested;






And then polished the edges with some wet/dry on the surface plate;






And here are the components laid out before assembly;






The assembly;

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sb27f1cEwQI[/ame]

And a few more photo's;












Have fun!


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## kcmillin (Dec 5, 2010)

Wow! You sure work fast Kevin. They must have good coffee in Vancouver 

I love the vid.

Kel


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## kustomkb (Dec 6, 2010)

Ha ha, Thanks Kel, ya I was feeling pretty hyped ;D


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## MatiR (Dec 6, 2010)

Hi Kevin:

A little "late to the party" - well done! The assembly video is brilliant - had a good time at work today showing it to some colleagues.

I got the drawings from Jan this weekend and am going to make a holiday project out of this. Got all the stock on hand except the flywheel blank and test tubes. It's going to stress the Sherline machines at some stages but "mind over matter". Will hopefully post a result in the New Year.

Best regards, Mati


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## kustomkb (Dec 7, 2010)

Thanks a lot Matti!

If you are around next week I can score you the left over slug of 360 1/2 hard, for the flywheel. I've also got 2 inch long 4-40 SHCS. Let me know.

All the best with your build!!


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## RonP (Dec 21, 2012)

kustomkb said:


> Here we have gone from "virtual reality" to "real reality";
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Hello Kevin,
I am intrigued by Jan's design and have started building it. I am having problems though with sourcing the test tube and hope you can advise a suitable source.
Your model is superb and I love watching the video.
I note you are located in Ozz so I am hopeful your source might be easy for us Kiwis to buy from.

All the best for the festive season - Cheers
Ron


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