Idea's for a Newbie

[OpenRoad]

Hello Everybody!

I'm looking to get my feet wet in this engine building world.
I am a metal engraver and mechanically inclined (jack of all trades, master of known) and I learn best hands on.

I am looking for a simple engine/build to get me started. Any help/tips would be much appreciated.
Thanks!! I love looking at your folks videos and photos. Extremely inspiring!

 

[Johno1958]

Hello OpenRoad.
I too am a new kid on the block and I would suggest a steam rocker engine.
I just made one and see it spring in to life is quite a buzz when you have never made something like that before.
Lots of plans on the net. In my case I went for metric plans and deviated from them to use what materials I had on hand .
Good luck
John

 

[OpenRoad]

Hey John
Thanks for the tip man! I just found this quickly online. http://www.john-tom.com/MyPlans/SteamPlans3/RockingSteamEngine/ROCKING%20STEAM%20ENGINEs.pdf
Is this what you mean? Looks like a good starter project.

 

[XD351]

Probably the easiest and most forgiving first engine would be a wobbler engine and you can make them without a lathe or mill , i've even seen them made from wood !
It was what i made in high school and teaches basic machining skills and "running fits " as if it is too tight it won't go !
There are literally millions of plans on the internet for these or try youtube - mrpete222 made a few videos on them .

 

[Cogsy]

There's a simple engine designed by members of this forum specifically for beginners available in the downloads section. The download will have both metric and imperial plans plus instructions and build photos, etc. so you can't go wrong. Here's the LINK. I've been thinking about building one (or 4) with/for my kids as they get big enough.

 

[OpenRoad]

There's a simple engine designed by members of this forum specifically for beginners available in the downloads section. The download will have both metric and imperial plans plus instructions and build photos, etc. so you can't go wrong. Here's the LINK. I've been thinking about building one (or 4) with/for my kids as they get big enough.

Amazing!!! Thank you very much! I'm going to check it out.

 

[OpenRoad]

Probably the easiest and most forgiving first engine would be a wobbler engine and you can make them without a lathe or mill , i've even seen them made from wood !
It was what i made in high school and teaches basic machining skills and "running fits " as if it is too tight it won't go !
There are literally millions of plans on the internet for these or try youtube - mrpete222 made a few videos on them .

Thank you!! I'm going to add it to my list. :thumbup:

 

[Piston_Broke]

Pretty inexpensive plan sets here too! http://www.billreichart.com/

 

[IceFyre13th]

Here's one for you......

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/downloads/scraps-and-solder-engine-328.html

Maybe some minor machining needed, but with some creativity could be done on a drill press...............

 

[Johno1958]

Here's the plans I used
http://www.steves-workshop.co.uk/steammodels/simpleoscil/simpleoscil.htm

Cheers
John