Hello from Alaska (for now)

[walnotr]

I have put the proverbial cart before the horse in that my first posts were questions rather than an introduction.

Just to let others know, my interests are generally all things mechanical, although as I have aged, the cleaner machines have become more of a preference. After retiring from 32 years of aircraft repair, I set myself up with a CNC'd Taig mill and have been happily turning chunks of metal into little tiny pieces. My first and only engine so far is a stirling engine based on the Terry Coss design published a few years back in HSM.

After spending almost 40 years in Alaska, it is now time to keep out of the snow and cold. The next six months will be spent exploring some of the warmer winter places on this continent. The bad side of that is the machines will be left behind. The up side is my CAD program is quite portable. Although not making chips, I will be able to build some virtual engines in the next few months and hopefully will have at least a pretty good idea of how to turn the pictures into metal by the time the chips are ready to start flying again.

The plan is to keep following this forum and occasionally comment while trying to avoid putting my foot in my mouth.

Greetings all, see you around the forum.

Steve C.

 

[Quickj]

Welcome to the Forum Steve.
Now a question for you.
Why two displacer cylinders on the Hot Air engine in your avitar?

Jim From Minnesota. Colder then Alaska.

 

[rake60]

Welcome to HMEM Steve.

Rick

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Welcome to the forum Steve.
And so long as it's your foot and your mouth...I don't think anyone will mind.
You'd think I'd have developed a taste for mine by now. :big:

 

[Artie]

G'day mate.... "it is now time to keep out of the snow and cold"..... snow? Thats frozen water isnt it? Wow.... must have a look at that at some point.... 8)

Welcome, as a hint, I would (do!) alternate between feet, this stops one thinking the other is the favoured foot (they can be as bad as little children at times..).\

Seriously mate welcome to the site, I hope you find it as inspirational and as educational as I have.

Cheers Rob

 

[walnotr]

Thanks for all the welcomes. I have been following several of the builds and have enjoyed every one of them. There certainly some talented and creative people around here.

Quickj - The displaced displacer cylinder is the first one made for the engine. It seemed like it took an awful lot of heat to get the little bugger running so the one on it now is a redesign to improve things. More fins were added to the cold end as well as making it shorter. The hot end was lengthened by a reciprocal amount and also had the wall thickness reduced to 0.015" to try stopping some of the heat flow to the cold end. I don't have any hard data to show it made an improvement but it does seem to run on less heat. No argument on who gets colder, at least where I live.

Zee - I have been watching your horizontal mill engine build and have enjoyed seeing your progress. Both on the engine and skills. Keep up the good work!

Atrie - Snow is sort of like the stuff on the outside of a frosty mug. You do have those down there, don't you?

Again, thanks for the warm welcome.

Steve C.

 

[Artie]

Atrie - Snow is sort of like the stuff on the outside of a frosty mug. You do have those down there, don't you?


nope..... :

 

[cfellows]

Hello Steve, welcome to HMEM.

Chuck

 

[Krown Kustoms]

Hello and welcome to the forum.
-B-
As for snow, its about that time isnt it.
I had to scrape windows the other day.

 

[Cliff]

Welcome to HMEM Steve I live in Pueblo Co. ( south east part of the state ) where it is snowing right now you know that white stuff that falls out of the sky for those who don't know what it is. Cliff

 

[walnotr]

We have been having an unusually warm fall this year. Almost all rain and no snow but we did see a few flakes flying around today. We head to the "lower 48" on Monday where we will probably find some real snow! We live at sea level at the base of a mountain range. About 1000' up it is looking pretty white!

Steve C.

 

[GailInNM]

Welcome to HMEM, Steve.
I grew up in Anchorage in the late 40's and the 50's. Then spent some time in Fairbanks area and later a couple of years in interior Alaska near McGrath. Have not been back for a long time now.

Had a foot of snow about 120 miles north of me the day before yesterday, and I might get a little bit of snow here today (Thursday), so don't believe everything you read about the sunny southwest.

Where ever you end up, keep in touch with HMEM and build lots of toys.

Gail in NM

 

[Stan]

Don't give up on the idea of 12 months in the shop. I know all about snow in Alberta and started going to the US South for the winter. After settling on a more or less fixed winter location, I bought a lathe. For the next winter, I carried measuring tools and tooling with me. Over a few years, I had an equipped shop at both locations. Areas with a lot of retirees have men with shops. At some point, their shop ends up in a yard sale or at a flea market, so there is a great selection of good tools to pick from.

 

[Deanofid]

You're a heartier soul than I am, Steve, if you're leaving your machines behind for six months at a stretch!

You know, just one more piece of luggage will let you take a Taig lathe with a milling attachment and some tooling wherever you roam. At least it would make things more bearable. What's another 30 lbs of carry-on?


Dean

 

[walnotr]

Nice try Dean! You haven't seen the truckload of things that are accompanying us on this trip . . . Four large check-ins and all the law will allow in carry-on. Fortunately we are leaving most of it behind when we return. ;D

If we swing through Phoenix, I'll make a stop at Taig and see what I can work out with them. The SO has encouraged me to do something like that to keep me busy while she is soaking up the sun.

Steve C.

 

[Maryak]

Steve,

Welcome to our forum.

Best Regards
Bob