# A site with a bunch of free plans



## tattoomike68 (Jul 24, 2007)

http://www.john-tom.com/html/SteamPlans.html


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## shred (Jul 25, 2007)

FWIW, the YahooGroup "ElmersEngines" also has the entire PDFs of that book online (the copyright holder ok-ed it) and members who have built most of them.


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## rake60 (Jul 25, 2007)

That is a very good source for Elmer Verburg plans!
There are 5 Yahoo groups that are devoted to Elmers designs.
*Elmers Engines 1*
*Elmers Engines 2*
*Elmers Engines 3*
*Elmers Engines 4*
And *Model Steam Engines 1*
If you join them and look through the submitted pictures you just might 
see a few posted by some character that goes by the screen name rake60 :wink:


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## tattoomike68 (Jul 25, 2007)

this one looks trick.

http://www.john-tom.com/MyPlans/Steam Engines/ElbowEngine.pdf

<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YR3yXVjsKRA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed>


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## rake60 (Jul 25, 2007)

That is a _GOTTA BUILD_ engine!  
It just may be my next project.


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## Bogstandard (Jul 26, 2007)

Hi Mem's,
Just building this one, started last week, got it running last night.
A few pointers while building.
ALL holes in the rotating blocks have to be truly parallel to each other and square to the running faces. No 'that will do's here', if it isn't right it just locks up (believe me, I've got the t-shirt and baseball cap)
The pistons have to be exactly at right angles, I spent hours tweaking to get them exact. You might also find that when bent and set up the are way too long, better to trim to length just before assembly (I took about 0.080" off the length of each end), then recheck the squareness. Also make a couple of spares, they only take a few minutes to turn up.
Can someone explain how to easily post pics, then I can show what has been done.

John


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## tattoomike68 (Jul 26, 2007)

Bogstandard said:
			
		

> Hi Mem's,
> Just building this one, started last week, got it running last night.
> A few pointers while building.
> ALL holes in the rotating blocks have to be truly parallel to each other and square to the running faces. No 'that will do's here', if it isn't right it just locks up (believe me, I've got the t-shirt and baseball cap)
> ...



Thanks for the tips, that will save a builder some headaches.

To post a picture find the url like this http://www.floridaame.org/GalleryPages/IMG2005/Brian Konsela  Elbow 0219.JPG

highlight the url and hit the button that says *Img*, you will end up with a code that looks like this..

```
&#91;img&#93;http&#58;//www.floridaame.org/GalleryPages/IMG2005/Brian%20Konsela%20%20Elbow%200219.JPG&#91;/img&#93;
```

when you post that code it will show as a picture.


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## Bogstandard (Jul 26, 2007)

Mike,
Many thanks about the posting of pics, I will get some uploaded now.
Have finally got the elbow engine running like it should be, four days to build, three days to get it running. What an absolute pig, even though I used very accurate DRO on my miller, found one of the horizontal bearing block holes required moving by 0.010", little would you believe that all the trouble was caused by the flywheel upright support plate being 0.001" thicker on one side than the other, so the flywheel was minutely kicked over. So if you are going to build the elbow engine, make sure everything is bob on, or leave plenty of fine adjustments on the mounting holes. Other than that it is a great engine and fairly easy to build.

John


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## tattoomike68 (Jul 26, 2007)

Thanks John, I will end up building one in the near future. I go up to my brothers shop and get metal, I may just use my brothers tools to machine the critical parts.

I am getting hooked on this stuff, as time goes on I will make a collection of engines. My home shop tools are seeing *way* more use since I started.


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## andpartington (Jul 27, 2007)

thanks for a FANTASTIC link i have been looking of a nice looking mill engine and now i will have something to do Saturday afternoon

the "project"  (gauge 1 loco) will be on stand by

any more plans sites out there?

thanks

andy


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## tattoomike68 (Jul 27, 2007)

andpartington said:
			
		

> thanks for a FANTASTIC link i have been looking of a nice looking mill engine and now i will have something to do Saturday afternoon
> 
> the "project"  (gauge 1 loco) will be on stand by
> 
> ...



We are always on the look out for more sites to share with everyone.

 While some like the PDF format, Im not in love with it. I would rather download a zip file of .jpg prints with a readme.txt or just a bunch of .jpg plans ready to print.

The old book scans in .pdf work but it would be nice if someone could edit and make them better.


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## 1Kenny (Jul 27, 2007)

I can't get this engine off my mind.  Have everything but the drill rod in the shop.


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## JimHs (Jul 28, 2007)

I tried the link above, but do not get any pdf plans for for the rotary (page just locks up and I have to kill IE).  Can someone provide another link or email me the plans?
Thanks,
Jim


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## JimHs (Jul 28, 2007)

Oops.  I meant the Elbow engine pdf.
Thanks,
Jim


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## Cedge (Jul 28, 2007)

Great site!!  I'd missed it somehow, but it's now safely ensconced in my bookmarks.  The geared "epicyclic" steam engine has a lot of gears turning in my own head, now that I've finally have the source and part numbers for the gear sets.  I'm already playing with a couple of fun ideas in my 3D editor. It's the one engine that is likely to take the lead over the elbow engine on my "to do" list.

One more reason to get motivated to finish the "Butt Ugly Radial" project that has been languishing on my work bench for the past few months. 

thanks for sharing, 
Steve


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## Ralph (Jul 29, 2007)

I cant open the pdf file either. Can someone please e-mail it. Sure would like to give it a try. Thanks
                                              Ralph


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## tattoomike68 (Jul 29, 2007)

Maybe somone can find a printer friendly set of plans. that PDF file is 4.6 megabytes and is scanned blueprints. (the real blue type)


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## 1Kenny (Jul 29, 2007)

I down loaded it. It looks good on the screen however when I printed it to paper the whole page was unreadable blue.

The instructions talk about the workings being a "Hobson's Coupling". I did a Google search and can't find the history other than compairing it to a CV joint. Is there a Mr. Hobson that invented this?  :?


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## tattoomike68 (Jul 29, 2007)

try this link to download the plans. Right click the download now after the wait and select *Save target as*.

Download ElbowEngine.pdf


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## rake60 (Jul 30, 2007)

I played with it a little and made it black and white.
It prints OK on my printer.
Here's the link.
*Elbow Engine Plans*


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## Tin Falcon (Jul 30, 2007)

that is a neat site downloaded most of the plans. I built an elbow engine from the photo on the FAME site before I had the plans. it does not run at least the plans show what I did wrong. 
Tin


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## Ralph (Aug 1, 2007)

Thanks guys. Now I at least have a working idea of how this little critter works. I dont know if my skill level is up to it, but i'm definately going to give it a try.
                         Ralph


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## 1Kenny (Aug 9, 2007)

Welcome Johntom.

You have a very nice site and it is kind of you to share it with us here.

Kenny


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## Tin Falcon (Aug 9, 2007)

Johntom :
Your site is an excellence resource  for the model engineer. I have downloaded many of the plans and printed a bunch. Thanks for taking the time to set up and maintain it to help others. . 
   Welcome to the board a great bunch of folks here. lots of experience and creativity lurking in the shadows. LOL.
Tin


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## Canyonman (Aug 10, 2007)

Johntom,

Welcome!

This was the first time I have come across your site. You can bet it's on my favorites now!!!!!

Take Care,

Ken


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