# Dake Steam Engine in 3D by Ernie Daniel



## JorgensenSteam (Jan 16, 2012)

Here is a set of drawings with 3D renderings for the Dake steam engine, created by the masterful Ernie Daniel, who is a frequent HMEM reader.

Ernie gave me permission to upload these files to the HMEM site.

Thanks Ernie, beautiful 3D work.

Edit: Please note that these drawings are untried and unproven, so do your homework and double check everything if you choose to use them. They are offered "as-is" with no guarantees whatsoever. Thanks.


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## JorgensenSteam (Jan 16, 2012)

Page 3


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## JorgensenSteam (Jan 16, 2012)

Page 4


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## JorgensenSteam (Jan 16, 2012)

Page 5 & 6


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## JorgensenSteam (Jan 16, 2012)

Page 7 & 8


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## JorgensenSteam (Jan 16, 2012)

Page 9 & 10


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## JorgensenSteam (Jan 16, 2012)

Page 11 & 12


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## JorgensenSteam (Jan 16, 2012)

Page 13


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## JorgensenSteam (Jan 16, 2012)

And a partial assembly of the Dake engine.


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## JorgensenSteam (Jan 16, 2012)

A few more assembly pictures.


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## pro-e-geek (Jan 18, 2012)

Wow, those are some beautiful drawings/images.
Outstanding job.

 John


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## JorgensenSteam (Jan 18, 2012)

I was so inspired by Ernie's work that I made the assemblies shown at the bottom of the posts.

Ernie has the best renderings I have seen, and he does it all with Alibre.


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## fakeshade (Feb 5, 2012)

these all models are workin models right .. . . . . plz assist me with an ans i'll be greatfull. . . . ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???


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## barnesrickw (Jan 16, 2013)

Here is one on display at the Muskegon Heritage Museum on display from the grandson of inventor and manufacturer of the Dake Engine.  The wooden parts are some casting molds I repaired.   








Rick


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## Flopearedmule (Jul 5, 2018)

Has anyone used these prints to make a model?  This looks like a really cool and unique steam engine??
Is there anymore prints out there to build this Dake engine?


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## Anatol (Jul 5, 2018)

For those who were initially mystified, like me  (old hands probably know all about this eccentric engine) - this engine has square pistons without rods. The Dake engine was patented in 1888, and was based on an earlier, less successful version of the the same idea by Root (1863).  Doug Self, as usual, has a great page on square piston engines: http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/POWER/squarepiston/square.htm

There have have been a lot of unlikely design ideas in the history of stream, and square pistons is right up there with them. Many of these were unsucessful, the Dake engine was, however, successful (equally unlikely).

What I find interesting is that the two nested square pistons operate in a way similar to (the idea of) nested scotch yokes - resolving rotational movement to  linear movement mutually at 90 deg. Its fascinating how the basic topology of reciprocating pistons to rotary shaft is so ' turned inside out' in this engine.

video of a working engine (by Allan Dake) at 
and a really nice description of a really nice model here

anyone know this maker?


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## Flopearedmule (Jul 5, 2018)

anyone know this maker?

That's Stewart Hart.  Potty Engineering.
Here is a link to him building this one. 

https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=74898

I've been searching online for an hour on this engine.  It's pretty cool, and it looks really simple to build.


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## Anatol (Jul 5, 2018)

Flopearedmule said:


> That's Stewart Hart.  Potty Engineering.
> It's pretty cool, and it looks really simple.



Thanks
Hart is a pretty impressive machinist
simple? its certainly got minimal moving parts and the valve/port system is diabolically clever
As for making it - with good enough tolerances - I'll let the experts chime in, but I'm guessing there's a lot to making those square pistons (work).


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## kadora (Jul 6, 2018)

I am amazed  with this engine.


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## SBWHART (Jul 6, 2018)

Ernie's drawings are very well detailed along the lines of an original:- for my model I very much simplified the design if any one would like a copy of my drawing just drop me a PM with your email address and I'll mail you them.

Stew


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## SBWHART (Jul 6, 2018)

This is a link to a more detailed build thread https://madmodder.net/index.php/topic,7712.50.html

Cheers
Stew


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## Flopearedmule (Jul 6, 2018)

That was a fun read Stew.  Thanks for sharing


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## Flopearedmule (Jul 15, 2018)

I started looking at these prints and wondering if someone could help me out.  The inner piston has the steam ports around the radius and they are not centered??  Why would that be?
one side is .046 and the other is .097

Stew I studied your prints and you put the slots on a radius and they are centered.
Does anyone have Ernie's contact?  Maybe he could explain...there must be a reason.
thanks


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## SBWHART (Aug 5, 2018)

Flopearedmule said:


> I started looking at these prints and wondering if someone could help me out.  The inner piston has the steam ports around the radius and they are not centered??  Why would that be?
> one side is .046 and the other is .097
> 
> Stew I studied your prints and you put the slots on a radius and they are centered.
> ...


Hi

Its quite some time since I built the Dake engine so the details are a little hazey I can remember finding an animation of the engine and I used that to work out the details of the valve ports just kept stopping and starting things and drawing it out and doing a paper cut out and trying it till I had something that I thought would work. If you search enough on the net you will see that the ports don't always look similar on every engine I think the Dake company  must have tried different thing to try and get the best performance from there engines.

Not quite sure what you mean but the ports were bean shaped and distributed around the centre and they do work. 

Hope this helps
Stew


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## edan (Aug 18, 2018)

A little late, but I thought I would answer this question.

This project was started 6 to 7 years ago and was going to be presented in a magazine. I do not remember why, but the drawings did not make it to publication. 

I worked with the gentleman who had the original engine/model engine to draw up the plans. Although I worked with him for maybe 6 to 8 months, I can not remember his name, but he was very detailed oriented in translating his engine to my drawings. 

Concerning the ports all I remember is the following:

1. He took the dimensions from the original

2. I remember asking a question concerning this, and he stated a reason for the “unusual” configuration, but I do not remember exactly what he stated.


So basically, I am no help at all. Lol

Ernie Daniel


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## GreenTwin (Jul 6, 2022)

It has been a while since I worked on this engine, and I have moved all of my videos to Vimeo.
Perhaps this new link will work:


			https://vimeo.com/user82094693
		


The story behind this engine is that my Dad saw some information on a Dake engine in an old Audel's book in about 2000, and built a barstock version of a Dake (photo below).

Dad was a free-lance builder, and never built any model engine in an exact fashion.

Dad died in 2006, and so I was able to perserve about 18 of his engines, including his Dake.


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## GreenTwin (Jul 6, 2022)

I had visions of building a Dake one day, but I wanted a build that was more true to the original Dake design, so I studied the Audel's information, and created 2D drawings for a fairly exact scale Dake engine.

The format is large (ARCH-D which is 24"x36").  These days I generally use an 11"x17" format, which is much easier to plot and handle in the shop.

The Dake drawings I created are below:
(part 1 of 2)

.


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## GreenTwin (Jul 6, 2022)

The Dake drawings I created are below:
(part 2 of 2) 

.


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## GreenTwin (Jul 6, 2022)

I was trying to get my Dake build published, but the editor of the magazine wanted the drawings done in 3D.

The editor found a fellow named Ernie Daniels, who took the information from my "P.Jorgensen copyrighted 2010" drawings above and made 3D drawings.
The copyright that Ernie added to his drawings is not something I consider valid, since all of Ernie's information was derived directly from my copyrighted drawings, and Ernie had nothing to do with the design of this Dake engine.

So the drawings you see in this post by Ernie Daniels is my drawing information changed in layout a bit, with some nice 3D renderings, but the copyright on this Dake design is mine.

I have posted these drawings on the open internet as free, open-source, for personal non-commercial use only, and so as long as they are used for personal builds, then there is no copyright problem.

.


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## GreenTwin (Jul 6, 2022)

SBWHART said:


> Ernie's drawings are very well detailed along the lines of an original:- for my model I very much simplified the design if any one would like a copy of my drawing just drop me a PM with your email address and I'll mail you them.
> 
> Stew



I posted my Dake drawings on an old website in about 2011, and a fellow named Stu Hart saw them, and asked if he could build a Dake model from the drawings. I told him that one day I would build and perhaps publish a Dake myself, and so I told him he could use my drawings, but that he should morph his build into something a bit different, and not just outright copy my design.

I have never seen the article, but I am told that Stu published the "Potty Dake" in Model Engineer.

No doubt it was an excellent build, given the engines I have seen that Stu has built.

My "P.Jorgensen copyright 2010" Dake drawings above (posts #27 and #28) are the drawings that Stu downloaded from my site, and these were the genesis for the Potty Dake build that Stu published in Model Engineer.  Not really a non-commercial use of my drawings, but it is what it is.

.


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## GreenTwin (Jul 6, 2022)

As time progressed, I realized that 2D CAD was a very poor design tool for engine work, and so I started to learn 3D modeling (Solidworks).

Since I had my Dake 2D drawings completed, I used them to create a Dake in 3D.

Here are a few screencaps.


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## GreenTwin (Jul 6, 2022)

I am moving my Dake build to here, since it is I who am building a Dake engine, not Earni.






						Dake Engine - by Pat J
					

I am starting a new thread for the Dake Steam Engine build in 3D, because the other thread title is misleading about who is actually designed this Dake (me), and who is actually building this Dake (me).  .




					www.homemodelenginemachinist.com
				




.


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## GreenTwin (Jul 6, 2022)

And so that is the story of the Dake drawings have been passed along between several folks, and the story behind how I made the original Dake drawings (Posts #27 and #28) that others have used.

Pat J.


I am moving my Dake build to this tread, since it is I who am building a Dake, not Earnie.






						Dake Engine - by Pat J
					

I am starting a new thread for the Dake Steam Engine build in 3D, because the other thread title is misleading about who is actually designed this Dake (me), and who is actually building this Dake (me).  .




					www.homemodelenginemachinist.com
				




.


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## a41capt (Jul 8, 2022)

Love it!  Have you tried assembling your 3D printed parts for running on air?  In another thread, I’ve proposed building Elmer Verburgh’s #5 “Geared Engine” via 3D print. You’ve already printed most of a very unique engine, and I for one, would love to see it run!

nice work,
John W


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## GreenTwin (Jul 8, 2022)

I am moving my Dake build to this tread, since it is I who am building a Dake, not Earnie.






						Dake Engine - by Pat J
					

I am starting a new thread for the Dake Steam Engine build in 3D, because the other thread title is misleading about who is actually designed this Dake (me), and who is actually building this Dake (me).  .




					www.homemodelenginemachinist.com


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## GreenTwin (Jul 8, 2022)

I am moving my Dake build to this tread, since it is I who am building a Dake, not Earnie. 






						Dake Engine - by Pat J
					

I am starting a new thread for the Dake Steam Engine build in 3D, because the other thread title is misleading about who is actually designed this Dake (me), and who is actually building this Dake (me).  .




					www.homemodelenginemachinist.com


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## a41capt (Jul 8, 2022)

GreenTwin said:


> I think the printed patterns would be a bit rough to run.
> I did not print them on the finest setting.
> I have seen some folks run 3D models.
> 
> ...


Well I can’t wait to see your castings, and eventually, the completed engine.

John W


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## GreenTwin (Jul 8, 2022)

I am moving my Dake build to this tread, since it is I who am building a Dake, not Earnie.






						Dake Engine - by Pat J
					

I am starting a new thread for the Dake Steam Engine build in 3D, because the other thread title is misleading about who is actually designed this Dake (me), and who is actually building this Dake (me).  .




					www.homemodelenginemachinist.com
				



.


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## joshsapp (Jul 9, 2022)

@GreenTwin
Please forgive my ignorance. What is the valving system on the left side of steam chest in the photo of post #26?


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## GreenTwin (Jul 9, 2022)

I have moved all my Dake posts to this thread:





						Dake Engine - by Pat J
					

The first thing I need to do is open each part in Solidworks, and figure out the mass of each part.  I scaled my original drawings up by a factor of 1.5238 (don't ask me where I got that number, I am sure I had some logic reason for choosing it). So my flywheel went from 4.3" to 6.55" diameter...




					www.homemodelenginemachinist.com
				




Earnie was a person who was brought in by an editor to make a 3D model for a Dake using my 2D drawings.
I have started a new Dake thread because Earnie has nothing to do with my the Dake build, and he ended up here through an odd situation where he worked for a week or so for an editor doing some freelance 3D modeling work.

Please follow along with my new Dake engine build link above.
I will post a response there.
Thanks

.


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