Newbie From Florida!

[Vekentin]

Hello!

I've been interested in engines and mechanics since I was a wee lad. When I was about 10 I asked for a Wilesco steam engine for Christmas. I ran it every day multiple times a day for a week until my parents said I probably shouldn't run it as often! This kicked off my obsession with model engines.

I used to fly glow and gas RC airplanes. Sometimes I would go to the flight field and just run the glow engines on a stand and listen to them until someone yells at me to shut that damn thing off! I have a few saito 4 strokes and those are definitely my favorite glow engines to run. Ive ran a few old "diesel" model engines on homemade fuel but I never got to mounting in a plane. Those diesel engines would be my second favorites behind the saito 4 strokes. Such a beautiful sound both of them.

I always wanted to build model engines. Especially steam and Stirling engines, maybe a hit and miss IC when I get access to machine tools! Throughout highschool and some college I was in the engineering tract and had access to school machine shops. Never had the funds or time to make use of the machine shop for personal projects. Now I'm 23 and moved away from where I went to school and don't have access to any machine shops around.

My first project idea may be quite ambitious but I would like to make a steam or Stirling powered model boat or car. I think a Stirling boat would be the easiest thing. I'm not sure if I could make a Stirling engine with any usable power without a drill press and lathe. Anyone here tried and succeeded?

A Steam powered boat would be my dream, but making a steam engine with enough power to push a boat and then a boiler that can fuel that engine seems like quite a challenge without a proper shop.

If anyone has any tips or ideas for an aspiring newbie engineer with limited tooling like me I would appreciate it!

Thanks for having me, and I'm sure I will be around,

Noah.

 

[GreenTwin]

If you don't have access to a lathe and/or milling machine, then your choices are a bit limited.

Assuming you can find or buy a lathe, then I would recommend starting with a simple engine, and then progressing from there.

The first engine for me was an exercise in learning how to machine, as much as it was learning how to design a steam engine.

It does take a while (at least it did for me) to get the hang of machining, and so don't expect to build a perfect scale model of one of the Titanic triple-expansion engines on your first try.

https://www.titanic-titanic.com/titanics-engines/
Good luck.
Keep us posted.

Pat J

 

[Vietti]

Many junior colleges offer evening machine shop courses. I learned a lot and got access to machines I did not have

 

[hanermo3]

You need some way to make the engine cylinders straight and true.
Anything and everything else can be bolted on or glued with special industrial goops.

It might be possible to use industrial brass bushings, in a cylinder block drilled with a drill press, and mount the bushings with industrial high temp glue.
Idk, but I believe industrial sealants go upto above 200C and steam engine cylinders mostly don´t.

I would suggest you start by looking for an old small jig grinder used for small parts.
The watchmaker sizes under 12" can be had for 500$ or free, if you can find one.

It´s much cheaper and easier to work an extra 100 hours at a car wash or mcdonalds at 12$ an hour and buy some minimal good tooling.
A jig grinder aka uber drill press is ideal (sufficient).

A good small lathe is also ideal, - but these do not exist.
A very few small precision lathes were made, and these are uber-expensive.
Medium lathes are well available, at 200kg ++ in mass, and 200$ plus in costs-

Hello!

I've been interested in engines and mechanics since I was a wee lad. When I was about 10 I asked for a Wilesco steam engine for Christmas. I ran it every day multiple times a day for a week until my parents said I probably shouldn't run it as often! This kicked off my obsession with model engines.

I used to fly glow and gas RC airplanes. Sometimes I would go to the flight field and just run the glow engines on a stand and listen to them until someone yells at me to shut that damn thing off! I have a few saito 4 strokes and those are definitely my favorite glow engines to run. Ive ran a few old "diesel" model engines on homemade fuel but I never got to mounting in a plane. Those diesel engines would be my second favorites behind the saito 4 strokes. Such a beautiful sound both of them.

I always wanted to build model engines. Especially steam and Stirling engines, maybe a hit and miss IC when I get access to machine tools! Throughout highschool and some college I was in the engineering tract and had access to school machine shops. Never had the funds or time to make use of the machine shop for personal projects. Now I'm 23 and moved away from where I went to school and don't have access to any machine shops around.

My first project idea may be quite ambitious but I would like to make a steam or Stirling powered model boat or car. I think a Stirling boat would be the easiest thing. I'm not sure if I could make a Stirling engine with any usable power without a drill press and lathe. Anyone here tried and succeeded?

A Steam powered boat would be my dream, but making a steam engine with enough power to push a boat and then a boiler that can fuel that engine seems like quite a challenge without a proper shop.

If anyone has any tips or ideas for an aspiring newbie engineer with limited tooling like me I would appreciate it!

Thanks for having me, and I'm sure I will be around,

Noah.

 

[SmithDoor]

Hello!

I've been interested in engines and mechanics since I was a wee lad. When I was about 10 I asked for a Wilesco steam engine for Christmas. I ran it every day multiple times a day for a week until my parents said I probably shouldn't run it as often! This kicked off my obsession with model engines.

I used to fly glow and gas RC airplanes. Sometimes I would go to the flight field and just run the glow engines on a stand and listen to them until someone yells at me to shut that damn thing off! I have a few saito 4 strokes and those are definitely my favorite glow engines to run. Ive ran a few old "diesel" model engines on homemade fuel but I never got to mounting in a plane. Those diesel engines would be my second favorites behind the saito 4 strokes. Such a beautiful sound both of them.

I always wanted to build model engines. Especially steam and Stirling engines, maybe a hit and miss IC when I get access to machine tools! Throughout highschool and some college I was in the engineering tract and had access to school machine shops. Never had the funds or time to make use of the machine shop for personal projects. Now I'm 23 and moved away from where I went to school and don't have access to any machine shops around.

My first project idea may be quite ambitious but I would like to make a steam or Stirling powered model boat or car. I think a Stirling boat would be the easiest thing. I'm not sure if I could make a Stirling engine with any usable power without a drill press and lathe. Anyone here tried and succeeded?

A Steam powered boat would be my dream, but making a steam engine with enough power to push a boat and then a boiler that can fuel that engine seems like quite a challenge without a proper shop.

If anyone has any tips or ideas for an aspiring newbie engineer with limited tooling like me I would appreciate it!

Thanks for having me, and I'm sure I will be around,

Noah.

Welcome to the group

Dave

 

[CFLBob]

Hi, Noah,


Also from Florida - CFL in my name is for Central Florida.

Making an engine without any tools is going to be tough. You can cut blocks with a hand hacksaw but a little jigsaw helps a lot. Making things like a cylinder that has to be concentric and constant diameter over it's length seems like a really tough job without a lathe. My wife got me a Sherline lathe 20 years ago, and I slowly built a shop over about 10 years. I had never touched a machine tool until that lathe, and never touched a milling machine until the first surplussed out CNC training center - a Sherline milling machine - that I bought a couple of years later. The Sherlines are low power machines, like 1/10HP, and have a small work envelope, but they are very precise out of the box. I don't know what they cost these days, but I'd suggest looking at those first. A similar alternative is the Taig line. I don't have one but have heard enough good about them to know the name.

My first "engine" was a steam powered wobbler kit from LMS, like this one:
https://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=2594&category=1963256891These run on compressed air. Yeah, you could build a boiler and run them on steam but that's a real project.

This is playing around with it putting three different flywheels on it to see how it runs.



Just some food for thought. Good luck!


Bob

 

[RDB61]

Hello!

I've been interested in engines and mechanics since I was a wee lad. When I was about 10 I asked for a Wilesco steam engine for Christmas. I ran it every day multiple times a day for a week until my parents said I probably shouldn't run it as often! This kicked off my obsession with model engines.

I used to fly glow and gas RC airplanes. Sometimes I would go to the flight field and just run the glow engines on a stand and listen to them until someone yells at me to shut that damn thing off! I have a few saito 4 strokes and those are definitely my favorite glow engines to run. Ive ran a few old "diesel" model engines on homemade fuel but I never got to mounting in a plane. Those diesel engines would be my second favorites behind the saito 4 strokes. Such a beautiful sound both of them.

I always wanted to build model engines. Especially steam and Stirling engines, maybe a hit and miss IC when I get access to machine tools! Throughout highschool and some college I was in the engineering tract and had access to school machine shops. Never had the funds or time to make use of the machine shop for personal projects. Now I'm 23 and moved away from where I went to school and don't have access to any machine shops around.

My first project idea may be quite ambitious but I would like to make a steam or Stirling powered model boat or car. I think a Stirling boat would be the easiest thing. I'm not sure if I could make a Stirling engine with any usable power without a drill press and lathe. Anyone here tried and succeeded?

A Steam powered boat would be my dream, but making a steam engine with enough power to push a boat and then a boiler that can fuel that engine seems like quite a challenge without a proper shop.

If anyone has any tips or ideas for an aspiring newbie engineer with limited tooling like me I would appreciate it!

Thanks for having me, and I'm sure I will be around,

Noah.

I must say your bug came a lot like mine. I started as a kid with a cox dune buggy.

Hello!

I've been interested in engines and mechanics since I was a wee lad. When I was about 10 I asked for a Wilesco steam engine for Christmas. I ran it every day multiple times a day for a week until my parents said I probably shouldn't run it as often! This kicked off my obsession with model engines.

I used to fly glow and gas RC airplanes. Sometimes I would go to the flight field and just run the glow engines on a stand and listen to them until someone yells at me to shut that damn thing off! I have a few saito 4 strokes and those are definitely my favorite glow engines to run. Ive ran a few old "diesel" model engines on homemade fuel but I never got to mounting in a plane. Those diesel engines would be my second favorites behind the saito 4 strokes. Such a beautiful sound both of them.

I always wanted to build model engines. Especially steam and Stirling engines, maybe a hit and miss IC when I get access to machine tools! Throughout highschool and some college I was in the engineering tract and had access to school machine shops. Never had the funds or time to make use of the machine shop for personal projects. Now I'm 23 and moved away from where I went to school and don't have access to any machine shops around.

My first project idea may be quite ambitious but I would like to make a steam or Stirling powered model boat or car. I think a Stirling boat would be the easiest thing. I'm not sure if I could make a Stirling engine with any usable power without a drill press and lathe. Anyone here tried and succeeded?

A Steam powered boat would be my dream, but making a steam engine with enough power to push a boat and then a boiler that can fuel that engine seems like quite a challenge without a proper shop.

If anyone has any tips or ideas for an aspiring newbie engineer with limited tooling like me I would appreciate it!

Thanks for having me, and I'm sure I will be around,

Noah.

You need some way to make the engine cylinders straight and true.
Anything and everything else can be bolted on or glued with special industrial goops.

It might be possible to use industrial brass bushings, in a cylinder block drilled with a drill press, and mount the bushings with industrial high temp glue.
Idk, but I believe industrial sealants go upto above 200C and steam engine cylinders mostly don´t.

I would suggest you start by looking for an old small jig grinder used for small parts.
The watchmaker sizes under 12" can be had for 500$ or free, if you can find one.

It´s much cheaper and easier to work an extra 100 hours at a car wash or mcdonalds at 12$ an hour and buy some minimal good tooling.
A jig grinder aka uber drill press is ideal (sufficient).

A good small lathe is also ideal, - but these do not exist.
A very few small precision lathes were made, and these are uber-expensive.
Medium lathes are well available, at 200kg ++ in mass, and 200$ plus in costs-

You need some way to make the engine cylinders straight and true.
Anything and everything else can be bolted on or glued with special industrial goops.

It might be possible to use industrial brass bushings, in a cylinder block drilled with a drill press, and mount the bushings with industrial high temp glue.
Idk, but I believe industrial sealants go upto above 200C and steam engine cylinders mostly don´t.

I would suggest you start by looking for an old small jig grinder used for small parts.
The watchmaker sizes under 12" can be had for 500$ or free, if you can find one.

It´s much cheaper and easier to work an extra 100 hours at a car wash or mcdonalds at 12$ an hour and buy some minimal good tooling.
A jig grinder aka uber drill press is ideal (sufficient).

A good small lathe is also ideal, - but these do not exist.
A very few small precision lathes were made, and these are uber-expensive.
Medium lathes are well available, at 200kg ++ in mass, and 200$ plus in costs-

I would suggest buying the book Shop wisdom of Phillip Duclos. A great collection of plans and illustrations for a beginner. The other thing I have found very helpful is YouTube machinists such as Joe Pie , Andrew Whale, Mr Crispin, Mr Pete222 and Blondehacks. Investing in tooling can get costly. I bought most of my things through auctions. Bidspoter or Proxybid. The both have quite a few auctions near you. I hope this helps. Below is a Duclos engine.

 

[kuhncw]

Noah,

I second what CFL Bob said about Sherline and Taig lathes and mills. These machines can be a good option if you are starting out and want to get a taste of the model engine hobby. The machines are small which is nice if you have limited space. The manufactures sell a good line of tooling for the machines. Both brands will produce parts with the precision needed for model engines and they will go to work right out of the box. I have larger machines, but use my Taig mill and Sherline lathe a lot.

To get an idea of what can be done with Taig and Sherline size machines, read through Ron's current thread on Model Engine Maker.
https://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php/topic,11109.0.html
Chris Rueby is another builder who gets amazing work out of Sherline machines.
https://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php/topic,9748.1200.html
Good luck and have fun. Model engine building is a great hobby.

Regards,

Chuck

 

[Wonk]

Have you checked around for "Making" shops that you can join. Where I live they have one that has machine tools, 3D printing, laser cutting, sewing etc for the hobbyist as well as people making things for sale on ETSY, craft shows or give away at holiday times. You have to join for a fee and pass training classes to establish your competence in the use of the equipment. Different fee schedules determine how much time/use you get on the machines.

 

[Vekentin]

If you don't have access to a lathe and/or milling machine, then your choices are a bit limited.

Assuming you can find or buy a lathe, then I would recommend starting with a simple engine, and then progressing from there.

The first engine for me was an exercise in learning how to machine, as much as it was learning how to design a steam engine.

It does take a while (at least it did for me) to get the hang of machining, and so don't expect to build a perfect scale model of one of the Titanic triple-expansion engines on your first try.

https://www.titanic-titanic.com/titanics-engines/
Good luck.
Keep us posted.

Pat J

Thanks! I started building a soda can Stirling engine today. Had nothing else to do and I never done a Stirling engine before! My original plan was a steam wobbler but wasn't able to make it to the store to get the material while I had everything for the Stirling engine at home

Many junior colleges offer evening machine shop courses. I learned a lot and got access to machines I did not have

I had a after school class throughout highschool that we similar. I had full machine access at both school and my after school program. Too bad I moved away else I probably could get access!

You need some way to make the engine cylinders straight and true.
Anything and everything else can be bolted on or glued with special industrial goops.

It might be possible to use industrial brass bushings, in a cylinder block drilled with a drill press, and mount the bushings with industrial high temp glue.
Idk, but I believe industrial sealants go upto above 200C and steam engine cylinders mostly don´t.

I would suggest you start by looking for an old small jig grinder used for small parts.
The watchmaker sizes under 12" can be had for 500$ or free, if you can find one.

It´s much cheaper and easier to work an extra 100 hours at a car wash or mcdonalds at 12$ an hour and buy some minimal good tooling.
A jig grinder aka uber drill press is ideal (sufficient).

A good small lathe is also ideal, - but these do not exist.
A very few small precision lathes were made, and these are uber-expensive.
Medium lathes are well available, at 200kg ++ in mass, and 200$ plus in costs-

I'm limited in space, time, and money right now. Saving up for a wedding next year as well as the honeymoon and a house! I think I may be able to make a steam wobbler easily without a machine shop and might just have enough power for a small boat! Boiler is a whole other problem though.

Welcome to the group
Dave

Thanks!

I must say your bug came a lot like mine. I started as a kid with a cox dune buggy.



I would suggest buying the book Shop wisdom of Phillip Duclos. A great collection of plans and illustrations for a beginner. The other thing I have found very helpful is YouTube machinists such as Joe Pie , Andrew Whale, Mr Crispin, Mr Pete222 and Blondehacks. Investing in tooling can get costly. I bought most of my things through auctions. Bidspoter or Proxybid. The both have quite a few auctions near you. I hope this helps. Below is a Duclos engine.

I'll check out that book. I do keep up with the YouTubers ! There are some names on there I haven't heard of that I will look at though. I do keep up with the local estate and auction sales. Not that I have the funds or space to fit any tooling anyways!

Noah,

I second what CFL Bob said about Sherline and Taig lathes and mills. These machines can be a good option if you are starting out and want to get a taste of the model engine hobby. The machines are small which is nice if you have limited space. The manufactures sell a good line of tooling for the machines. Both brands will produce parts with the precision needed for model engines and they will go to work right out of the box. I have larger machines, but use my Taig mill and Sherline lathe a lot.

To get an idea of what can be done with Taig and Sherline size machines, read through Ron's current thread on Model Engine Maker.
https://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php/topic,11109.0.html
Chris Rueby is another builder who gets amazing work out of Sherline machines.
https://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php/topic,9748.1200.html
Good luck and have fun. Model engine building is a great hobby.

Regards,

Chuck

Yup been looking out for those Taig and sherline machines. Heard a lot of good about them and they aren't huge! Thank you

Have you checked around for "Making" shops that you can join. Where I live they have one that has machine tools, 3D printing, laser cutting, sewing etc for the hobbyist as well as people making things for sale on ETSY, craft shows or give away at holiday times. You have to join for a fee and pass training classes to establish your competence in the use of the equipment. Different fee schedules determine how much time/use you get on the machines.

There are a few I've looked at. Fees are reasonable for a whole machine shop setup but quite a bit out of budget. Something like $1000 a year if I remember correctly. Maybe in the future but I'd rather save the money and buy my own tooling to be honest.

 

[hmemLHM]

Hello Vekentin,
Sounds like you have your priorities fairly well aligned (wedding, house, etc. -then- model engineering). I'm pretty new to the hobby also, but somewhat at the 'other end' of the race though, since I'm already married, already have a house, recently retired, and had purchased a few machines and tools in latter years of my employment. For me at least, there is so much to learn, but the folks on this site, and others like it, are a huge resource of expertise and experience.
Something you might consider, as you tend to other business, is working on getting as good as you can get with one of the engineering/mechanical drawing software packages. This can be done with little or no cost (QCAD is cheap, Fusion 360 is free) and will almost certainly pay off down the road as you expand into actually implementing your ideas. I am still pretty far down on that learning curve myself, but I'm plugging away it, especially when it's too cold to get out into the shop.
Good luck,
-rgs

 

[Vekentin]

I've been working with CAD software since I was 10. I mostly work with SOLIDWORKS at work and that's the one I'm most proficient with, but I've used quite a few of the different softwares. I also have been 3d printing for about the same amount of time. A 3d printed air engine has been something I meddled with in the past and I've drawn out several designs. Never got past the design stage.

 

[awake]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[minh-thanh]

Hi Noah.

I don't know your ability, skill, experience...and patience, but from my experience : Nothing is impossible ! . But at least you should have a drill , hand grinder and basic tools - a bench drill is better .
It is not easy task, it is a challenge. But with my experience: I can and I'm sure I can.
Welcome to the forum !

 

[oldCB]

Hello!

I've been interested in engines and mechanics since I was a wee lad. When I was about 10 I asked for a Wilesco steam engine for Christmas. I ran it every day multiple times a day for a week until my parents said I probably shouldn't run it as often! This kicked off my obsession with model engines.

I used to fly glow and gas RC airplanes. Sometimes I would go to the flight field and just run the glow engines on a stand and listen to them until someone yells at me to shut that damn thing off! I have a few saito 4 strokes and those are definitely my favorite glow engines to run. Ive ran a few old "diesel" model engines on homemade fuel but I never got to mounting in a plane. Those diesel engines would be my second favorites behind the saito 4 strokes. Such a beautiful sound both of them.

I always wanted to build model engines. Especially steam and Stirling engines, maybe a hit and miss IC when I get access to machine tools! Throughout highschool and some college I was in the engineering tract and had access to school machine shops. Never had the funds or time to make use of the machine shop for personal projects. Now I'm 23 and moved away from where I went to school and don't have access to any machine shops around.

My first project idea may be quite ambitious but I would like to make a steam or Stirling powered model boat or car. I think a Stirling boat would be the easiest thing. I'm not sure if I could make a Stirling engine with any usable power without a drill press and lathe. Anyone here tried and succeeded?

A Steam powered boat would be my dream, but making a steam engine with enough power to push a boat and then a boiler that can fuel that engine seems like quite a challenge without a proper shop.

If anyone has any tips or ideas for an aspiring newbie engineer with limited tooling like me I would appreciate it!

Thanks for having me, and I'm sure I will be around,

Noah.

Welcome Noah, love that name BTW. Glad to see some young blood onboard, as an old cat I'm beginning to notice young guys wanting to do "real stuff" a couple have came to my hangar and have talked with others at gym..........seem to be bored with their phones and facebook LOL!!

On the road trip on my bike, stopped for coffee was reading my map and 4 guys saw me, 1 came over and was blown away because I was navigating with a MAP! I explained a few basics and they were amazed! before I left I urged them to go out in the woods and start a fire with a lens or a bow....they loved it. (I also told them to make sure it was out)

Anyhow steam is cool and if you don't have machinery remember you can cut up anything mechanical and hobble together just about anything you can dream up, Plenty of junk 2 stroke weed wackers around the Burgh out for trash all the time. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Aerostar55]

Hello!

I've been interested in engines and mechanics since I was a wee lad. When I was about 10 I asked for a Wilesco steam engine for Christmas. I ran it every day multiple times a day for a week until my parents said I probably shouldn't run it as often! This kicked off my obsession with model engines.

I used to fly glow and gas RC airplanes. Sometimes I would go to the flight field and just run the glow engines on a stand and listen to them until someone yells at me to shut that damn thing off! I have a few saito 4 strokes and those are definitely my favorite glow engines to run. Ive ran a few old "diesel" model engines on homemade fuel but I never got to mounting in a plane. Those diesel engines would be my second favorites behind the saito 4 strokes. Such a beautiful sound both of them.

I always wanted to build model engines. Especially steam and Stirling engines, maybe a hit and miss IC when I get access to machine tools! Throughout highschool and some college I was in the engineering tract and had access to school machine shops. Never had the funds or time to make use of the machine shop for personal projects. Now I'm 23 and moved away from where I went to school and don't have access to any machine shops around.

My first project idea may be quite ambitious, but I would like to make a steam or Stirling powered model boat or car. I think a Stirling boat would be the easiest thing. I'm not sure if I could make a Stirling engine with any usable power without a drill press and lathe. Anyone here tried and succeeded?

A Steam powered boat would be my dream, but making a steam engine with enough power to push a boat and then a boiler that can fuel that engine seems like quite a challenge without a proper shop.

If anyone has any tips or ideas for an aspiring newbie engineer with limited tooling like me I would appreciate it!

Thanks for having me, and I'm sure I will be around,

Noah.

If you want to build model engines, you really need a lathe. Keep your eyes open for something like a South Bend 9. They are abundant, plenty of parts and tooling around for them. If you visit some of the various steam and gas engine shows, there are usually used lathes for sale. Sherline lathes are a good product, but you are somewhat size limited, as the swing is only 3.5 inches. You can find many of the Sherline lathes used also. Your minimum equipment is going to be a hack saw, a drill press and a good vice.

 

[Aerostar55]

Hello!

I've been interested in engines and mechanics since I was a wee lad. When I was about 10 I asked for a Wilesco steam engine for Christmas. I ran it every day multiple times a day for a week until my parents said I probably shouldn't run it as often! This kicked off my obsession with model engines.

I used to fly glow and gas RC airplanes. Sometimes I would go to the flight field and just run the glow engines on a stand and listen to them until someone yells at me to shut that damn thing off! I have a few saito 4 strokes and those are definitely my favorite glow engines to run. Ive ran a few old "diesel" model engines on homemade fuel but I never got to mounting in a plane. Those diesel engines would be my second favorites behind the saito 4 strokes. Such a beautiful sound both of them.

I always wanted to build model engines. Especially steam and Stirling engines, maybe a hit and miss IC when I get access to machine tools! Throughout highschool and some college I was in the engineering tract and had access to school machine shops. Never had the funds or time to make use of the machine shop for personal projects. Now I'm 23 and moved away from where I went to school and don't have access to any machine shops around.

My first project idea may be quite ambitious but I would like to make a steam or Stirling powered model boat or car. I think a Stirling boat would be the easiest thing. I'm not sure if I could make a Stirling engine with any usable power without a drill press and lathe. Anyone here tried and succeeded?

A Steam powered boat would be my dream, but making a steam engine with enough power to push a boat and then a boiler that can fuel that engine seems like quite a challenge without a proper shop.

If anyone has any tips or ideas for an aspiring newbie engineer with limited tooling like me I would appreciate it!

Thanks for having me, and I'm sure I will be around,

Noah.

 

[Aerostar55]

Sterling engines are harder to get running because the piston fit is critical. Steam would probably be better suited for powering a boat.

 

[Toymaker]

Welcome to the Forum !!

Until you acquire a lathe and perhaps a milling machine too, 4-stroke IC engines from old lawn mowers up to small cars can be converted to steam. Also, many refrigerators and air conditioners use scroll-compressors which can also be converted to run on steam. You can often find these items at your local junk-yard for just a few dollars. You might also look into converting an automotive air conditioner compressor into a steam engine, though such a conversion would require some very tricky alterations of the reed valve assembly.

Finally, SACA (Steam Automobile Club of America) has a forum devoted exclusively to steam boats of all sizes, so you can check them out too.

 

[Aerostar55]

If you have some space, even a 1 car garage and a workbench, the best way to build any engine, and learn is with a small lathe.
You can often pick them up pretty cheap on Facebook Market place or ebay etc. I started with a Sherline lathe, it's a true lathe
although limited in the size of material you can cut it will teach the user all the operations without risking severe injury. Also a South Bend 9c is a pretty good lathe for the money. Either one of these can be purchased for just under $1000.00, sometimes there
are bargain finds for less. Both use 110 "house" power and can fit on a workbench. It's amazing what you can do with a hack saw, drill and a lathe.