Inside-Out steam engine - Finished

[cfellows]

After a few trials and tribulations I'm considering this engine finished. The final piece was the birds eye maple base. Went down to my local Woodcraft store and found a little piece 24" long x 4" wide by 7/8" thick (small in size, big in price - $22.00).

Here's the glamour shot...

Here's the remainder of the pictures, the video is at the bottom...

And the video...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2Ku5yF4EsM&list=UUZB8pRNp9Plbd0-T9RmyR9g&index=1&feature=plcp]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2Ku5yF4EsM&list=UUZB8pRNp9Plbd0-T9RmyR9g&index=1&feature=plcp[/ame]

Chuck

 

[hdwrench1]

Very nice work Chuck. I am envious of your work.

Cheers
Wayne

 

[Foozer]

Like the sound, sorta like a teletype. Hypnotic

Robert

 

[doubletop]

Nice one Chuck

Is the flywheel really running in the opposite direction of the crank or is that just camera strobe effect?

Pete

 

[larry1]

Great Job, Chuck. larry

 

[SBWHART]

Very nice engine chuck and that base realy set it off.

:bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:

Stew

 

[Blogwitch]

Chuck,

You never cease to amaze me with the innovative engine designs you come up with, and they all run perfectly.

Very nice indeed.


John

 

[Ken I]

Chuck, that is just lovely and a nice looker too.

I'm guessing the tapping sounds are the piston/shaft assemblies deadlengthing and being spooled from inlet to exhaust in the chambers at the end.
Presuming my thinking is correct that design will simply stall at the ends at slow speed apart from the inertia and the other cylinder "pushing" - I'm guessing further that the exhaust timing was fiddly and needs to be more effective than the inlet.

'Fess up - how did you do it ?

Neat trick.

Ken

 

[vcutajar]

Unusual but nice.

Vince

 

[cfellows]

Very nice work Chuck. I am envious of your work.

Cheers
Wayne

Thanks, Wayne, it did give me a few bad moments.

Like the sound, sorta like a teletype. Hypnotic

Robert

Thanks, Robert, the clicking sound isn't nearly as loud in real life... more of a thumpety-thump.

Nice one Chuck

Is the flywheel really running in the opposite direction of the crank or is that just camera strobe effect?

Pete

Thanks, Pete, that's just the strobe effect, the cranks and flywheel are all solidly connected.

Great Job, Chuck. larry

Thanks, Larry.

Very nice engine chuck and that base realy set it off.

:bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:

Stew

Thanks, Stew, I took a little more time on this base than I usually do. Also bought a special piece of wood... usually I just try to find whatever is laying around that is right size.

Chuck,

You never cease to amaze me with the innovative engine designs you come up with, and they all run perfectly.

Very nice indeed.


John

Thank you kindly, John. It definitely had me going in circles for a while, but once I sealed up all the air leaks, it came together nicely.

Chuck, that is just lovely and a nice looker too.

I'm guessing the tapping sounds are the piston/shaft assemblies deadlengthing and being spooled from inlet to exhaust in the chambers at the end.
Presuming my thinking is correct that design will simply stall at the ends at slow speed apart from the inertia and the other cylinder "pushing" - I'm guessing further that the exhaust timing was fiddly and needs to be more effective than the inlet.

'Fess up - how did you do it ?

Neat trick.

Ken

Thanks, Ken. Yes, the tapping sounds are the cylinders running into the pistons and pushing the support rod about 1/4" to reverse the inlet and exhaust ends. I installed o-rings on each side of the piston to soften the sound. Flywheel and cylinder inertia carry the rotation through the dead spot at the end of each stroke. Actually, I never had any problem with exhaust timing. That part seemed to work fine right out of the chute.

Chuck

 

[cfellows]

Here's a drawing of how the engine works.

On the actual engine, I had to make the end support blocks thicker so I could attach a piece at the end of each support rod to stop it's motion. I drilled exhaust holes down from the top of the block.

Chuck

 

[IronHorse]

Nice job on a very interesting engine design.


IronHorse

 

[b.lindsey]

Chuck, that is just totally ingenious...and beautifully executed too. This one definitely deserved that "special" piece of birds eye maple and the sound is simply mesmerizing also!!!

Bill

 

[crab]

I really like this one Chuck,I think it's one of your best yet. Thm:
Crab

 

[doubletop]

Thanks, Pete, that's just the strobe effect, the cranks and flywheel are all solidly connected.

It with the inside out cylinders it would be a neat and complimentary effect if the flywheel did go in reverse of the crank. Some epicyclic arrangement maybe.

Its still a great job

Pete

 

[Troutsqueezer]

I can see why you picked Bird's Eye Maple for the base, Chuck.

Thinking outside the box, isn't that what they try to teach young people these days? It seems to come naturally for you. Nice, very nice.

 

[ShopShoe]

The more I look at this the better I like it. The video really shows it running well and it sounds great.

I think the look of the metals you used and the choice of wood really makes this a stand-out.

--ShopShoe

 

[AussieJimG]

That's a great sounding and good looking engine Chuck and a worthy addition to your collection of ingenious machines. It is sure to be a real conversation piece.

Congratulations and thanks for sharing.

Jim

 

[cfellows]

Thanks to everyone for the gracious comments. I usually gravitate toward darker woods like Walnut and some of the exotic woods like Wenge, Cocabola, etc. But I do have a soft spot for naturally finished birds eye maple. It has a very clean and uncluttered look to it.

Already thinking about my next engine. You can see from the picture below I may have a hard time finding a place to put it!

Chuck

 

[Path]

Nice job ...

Looks like you are going to have to make some furniture to house your next engine. :big:

Thanks for sharing.


Pat H.