Hi Gang
After looking at some of the excellent work shown here, I am reluctant to display my efforts, but will do so anyway.
I just completed a modified version of the scaled up beam engine that Brian adapted. It is exactly what I was looking for as I do not like the "micro miniature" stuff that some of you folks do so well.
The engine is made from mostly aluminum, with a few small pieces of brass and some steel. The large parts (flywheel, beam, cylinder, etc,) were castings I poured in my charcoal foundry. The rest of the materials were scraps I have saved over the years. This was done to cut costs. I would love to build one of these from Brass, but that is beyond my budget.
One of the problems with my homemade castings is that they are very soft, and thus difficult to achieve a smooth finish. In addition, there are some small air bubbles (porosity) from the pour. The paint, however, covers most of the problems, so over all it doesn't look too bad.
With no load, the engine will start easily on less than 10 psi, and continue to run at something like 5 psi. The gauge on my regulator is not too accurate at those pressures.
I am currently working on a boiler to produce steam to run it and thinking of machining a small dynamo to produce electricity. I think it should be able to light a small bulb.
Thanks for looking, and thanks for all the neat ideas and plans from this site,
Keep those machines oiled and turning.
Dave
After looking at some of the excellent work shown here, I am reluctant to display my efforts, but will do so anyway.
I just completed a modified version of the scaled up beam engine that Brian adapted. It is exactly what I was looking for as I do not like the "micro miniature" stuff that some of you folks do so well.
The engine is made from mostly aluminum, with a few small pieces of brass and some steel. The large parts (flywheel, beam, cylinder, etc,) were castings I poured in my charcoal foundry. The rest of the materials were scraps I have saved over the years. This was done to cut costs. I would love to build one of these from Brass, but that is beyond my budget.
One of the problems with my homemade castings is that they are very soft, and thus difficult to achieve a smooth finish. In addition, there are some small air bubbles (porosity) from the pour. The paint, however, covers most of the problems, so over all it doesn't look too bad.
With no load, the engine will start easily on less than 10 psi, and continue to run at something like 5 psi. The gauge on my regulator is not too accurate at those pressures.
I am currently working on a boiler to produce steam to run it and thinking of machining a small dynamo to produce electricity. I think it should be able to light a small bulb.
Thanks for looking, and thanks for all the neat ideas and plans from this site,
Keep those machines oiled and turning.
Dave
