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According to a "How Its Made" video they make trombone brass tubing bends by annealing the tube, filling it with water, freezing it, and bending in a standard looking tubing bender. If needed, the inside diameter of the bend can be maintained by ball sizing which would require a die to hold the...

Colin, Roy is still in business. However, he has cut it back it a bit. I just got another ignition system from him. Jeff

As Gary said Roy has the correct seals in Viton material. While the original NOK Buna N seals would allow piston rod installation without damage to the seals, the Viton seals require a protective clip-on sleeve to fit the shaft connector relief to prevent seal damage. A simple Delrin sleeve slit...

Hey Chuck, I got my Jensen for Christmas also when I was about 11. A model 35. Had a lot of fun with it and I still have it, and a couple more. Hard to believe Jensen Steam Engine Manufacturing Co. is still in business after 88 years....and still building steam engines. Jeff...

I am another long time fan of Gun Kote 2400 baked on finish and have used it on all my engines. Great procduct especially for close fitting parts. Adhesion to aluminum and brass is excellent. I have always ordered the 8 oz size cans directly from KG Industries. Fast service. I believe they have...

Mike, I have successfully used two set screws per cam lobe with standard cup head set screws. I usually relieve the shaft diameter about .010" under the set screws to allow easy removal and adjustment. Set screws and Small Allen keys often become worn with repeated use when building an engine...

Gordon, This has been an interesting thread. I too have struggled to duplicate prototypical engine operation and speeds in scale model engines. In my opinion the most important factor is a well built engine. Terry Mayhugh has set the standard for this and his work is amply displayed on this...

Luke, The eddy currents I have encountered feel like a steady opposing force when you hand turn the alternator shaft without any load. When you spin the shaft on your plastic model the shaft likely accelerates exibiting only inertial opposing forces and then coasts to a stop with only the...

Luke, Good job on the alternator. I like slow running model engines that do things and alternators are my favorite engine load. If you want to provide a good steady alternator output voltage to smooth out engine input speed fluctuations and electrical load changes these little switch mode...

Hi Jim, "Hot" is a relative term. Hot to your hand is 120F. Just "Warm" to an engine is much closer to 180F. I run my Snow at about 160F return water temp. It runs smoothest at 160F+. Model engines do create a lot of moisture in their exhaust so it doesn't take long to develop cylinder rust in a...

Burn0170 You guys did a great job. That's a good runner. I would keep the operating speed on the slower side. What fuel mix are you using? Jeff

I suggest that you contact the guy who made your ignition for best advice. I'm sure you aren't the first person to have done this. [email protected]

burn0170 Most Snow builders have encountered set screw loosening at the center rod connector and sometimes the pistons. Most of that comes from tired set screws that are worn from assembly and reassembly. The heavy recip masses in the Snow really stress all the piston rod assembly set screws...

John, I happen to have a Maxwell Hemmens built Birmingham Dribbler. Had it for over 35 years. There are lots of photos of Hemmens Dribblers on Youtube under Maxwell Hemmens Birmingham Dribbler. I have never fired mine and it looks exactly like the two illustrations in your post #13 above. The...

Doug, I use std 1 lb Coleman propane cylinders (you can now buy legally refillable 1 lb bottles and filling equipment). A regulator such as the Weber Go Anywhere Grill regulator that reduces bottle pressure to about 4-5" of water column pressure is suitable. The other item needed is a demand...

Skipper, You indicated that you had 25 psi compression. Is it uniform at all four combustion chambers? If so you should be able to see a little bounce back when the flywheel stops provided there is no binding present. Possibilities for compression leaks are valves, piston rings, or damaged...

If your engine is free of binding and compression is relatively uniform, spin it over by hand and note if there is any flywheel bounce back when it stops on compression. If it does, and everything else is good, the engine should run.

Jim, Actually, as built my Nash ran surprisingly well on the first start. I run most of my engines on propane so that might have a little to do with it, but all three of the original engines we built initially ran almost perfectly with little tweaking. It's a very good slow speed engine design...

Cogging can be an issue with PM generators so I am also curious about the stator-coil ratio you are considering. Can you share the source of that information?

Hi Chuck. Looks like diesel, but I have seen few if any open crank mulit-cylinder vintage diesels. Must be real old timers. At first that's what caught my eye. At 43 note the horizontal oil lines behind Santa, at 55 note the governor detail just in front of the flywheel, the cylinder head...