Scrap box flame licker

[myrickman]

Always wanted one of these engines so I built one from my scrap box(es). The cylinder is an overrun from the foundry I frequent. The flywheels are bronze ~6” gears with tin rims cast onto them. The piston is a cast iron sleeve with a top silver soldered on. The intake valve is a piece of 12 mil shim stock with a 3/8 hole in it sliding in a 14 mil slot. The stack is a ball check to allow any pressure within the cylinder to be relieved and IMO, makes for an easier to run engine. I’ll show the finished product here and then show some of the build photos.

 

[myrickman]

Casting the tin rims on the gears.

 

[myrickman]

Connecting rod using thin brass tubing with ends silver soldered on.

 

[myrickman]

First run without all the pretty bits.

 

[ShopShoe]

Very Nice.

As the price of materials gets higher, the attractiveness of making things out of scrap-boxium goes up.

I will happily read more posts on projects like this.

Thank You for posting.

--ShopShoe

 

[Richard Hed]

Connecting rod using thin brass tubing with ends silver soldered on.

That is a very clever set-up. Must remember that if I need to silverrsolder something.

 

[a41capt]

This is poetry in motion pard!!!

I love the simplicity of the valve design, and it’s right up my alley as far as scrap box stuff goes. I love the tin “streamers” coming off your lathe turned flywheels too

Can you explain your ball check idea a bit? Seems like a great add-on for a future flame eater build.

Once again, great engine, thanks for sharing!

John W

 

[myrickman]

The ball check ensures all the pressure in the cylinder is relieved before it need to draw in the flame. When running, you can feel small puffs of hot gas coming from the stack. The ball is 5/16 on a quarter inch hole. A cotter pin limits the travel upward.

 

[a41capt]

The ball check ensures all the pressure in the cylinder is relieved before it need to draw in the flame. When running, you can feel small puffs of hot gas coming from the stack. The ball is 5/16 on a quarter inch hole. A cotter pin limits the travel upward.

I thought it might be something like that, I hadn’t seen one used before and it looked like a great improvement. Is this your original concept?

Thanks again
John W

 

[myrickman]

No, not my idea. This was an optional item on the prints of my friends engine. When I installed it on his it started much easier so I included it on mine.

 

[myrickman]

Finished result with base and better alcohol lamp

 

[Steamchick]

Just to clarify - English and "American English" are NOT the same:
A cotter is a pin or wedge with a flat bearing surface passing through a hole to fix parts tightly together. In British usage cotter pin has the same meaning,[1] but in the U.S. it means a split pin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotte...ng_rod_end,_strapped_(Heat_Engines,_1913).jpg
We say "pot A tow" and Toe MAR tow, not "Pod ate her" and To-Mate-Her. But it all tastes the same...

I guess you use a spilt-pin as the ball retention back-stop? A tapered cotter pin would jam the ball.
Cheers!
K2

 

[Richard Hed]

Just to clarify - English and "American English" are NOT the same:
A cotter is a pin or wedge with a flat bearing surface passing through a hole to fix parts tightly together. In British usage cotter pin has the same meaning,[1] but in the U.S. it means a split pin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotte...ng_rod_end,_strapped_(Heat_Engines,_1913).jpg
We say "pot A tow" and Toe MAR tow, not "Pod ate her" and To-Mate-Her. But it all tastes the same...

I guess you use a spilt-pin as the ball retention back-stop? A tapered cotter pin would jam the ball.
Cheers!
K2

You baited me, I just can't resist a reply. It's really too bad you Brits don't know how to speak English (LOL). And Am not sure about the origins of the tomahtoe, but the potahtoe came from the new world so how ever we pronounce that is correct. Do you believe Ither or Nither? HOwever, thanx for that info on the cotters.

 

[Vietti]

Tomatoes, beans, corn and chili peppers also came from the new world.

 

[Richard Hed]

Tomatoes, beans, corn and chili peppers also came from the new world.

And squash, amaranth, and so many other staples for today's world. Incredible really.

 

[Steamchick]

I though Beans and Tomatos came in a tin marked Heinz? (Tomatos do not have toes, at least not the ones I grow).
Did the Spanish get their peppers from the North of South Americas?
Language is really just a bit of fun, until you lose technical accuracy because the new kids on the block mis-use something until it becomes a part of their language. - Hence a lot of modern idioms I don't understand, having been taught English in the 1950s and 1960s... When Fabulous became "Fab" - as in the Beatles - and other "New speak" that my Father complained wasn't correct....
K2

 

[Richard Hed]

I though Beans and Tomatos came in a tin marked Heinz? (Tomatos do not have toes, at least not the ones I grow).
Did the Spanish get their peppers from the North of South Americas?
Language is really just a bit of fun, until you lose technical accuracy because the new kids on the block mis-use something until it becomes a part of their language. - Hence a lot of modern idioms I don't understand, having been taught English in the 1950s and 1960s... When Fabulous became "Fab" - as in the Beatles - and other "New speak" that my Father complained wasn't correct....
K2

I only use canned foods for emergency stuff. canned stuff is REALLY not good for you over the long run, also, fresh foods are generally cheaper--not always . canned toms are cheaper and maybe even beans, but dry beans, pound for pound when cookt, are almost certainly cheaper. Plus, dry goods keep for a long time as long as they don't get damp. what you have to say is really rad.

 

[Steamchick]

Thanks Richard, the hidden joke was that Heinz - although their products are also canned in the UK for us - came from the New World, I think?
Anyway, I would not know where to buy dried beans here... our tinned beans come in Tomato sauce, our fresh tomatos from Holland, tinned tomatos from Italy, etc.
K2

 

[Richard Hed]

Thanks Richard, the hidden joke was that Heinz - although their products are also canned in the UK for us - came from the New World, I think?
Anyway, I would not know where to buy dried beans here... our tinned beans come in Tomato sauce, our fresh tomatos from Holland, tinned tomatos from Italy, etc.
K2

Wait a minute. Are you serious? No dried beans? peas? Chickpeas? Whoa! That's incredible. what an incredible opportunity for some entrepreneur (except if you are French who have no word for entrepreneur?!) We have millions of tons of various types of beans: Human Beans, black, pinto, white (of like 10 varieties), green, yellow, and scores if not hundreds of other. When I make bean salad, I make 10+ beans in it.

And you say you don't know where to buy dry beans Or is it that you can't?

Ohh the woes of mankind! I lament for Britain--no beans! Well, what about rice? You must have dried rice. what about wheat, barley, oats, rye? My son is always looking for other types of grains, particularly types that were grown before 200 years ago. He has found several. His reason is that the modern grains (and in general all "grocery" food products) are groan for specific purposes--in the case of lettuce, it has two purposes: to be green and attractivd and to last long on the shelf (that is, not to be nutritious), in the case of modern grains, particularly wheat, they are grown to have a lot of starch which, by itself and for prolonged periods, is quite unhealthy. The starch by itself is quite stable (that is it doesn't deteriorate or mold--BTW if you food doesn't mold, you shouldn't be eating it). Notice that in order for the wheat to keep on the shelf, the "germ" is taken out. The germ is really the first leaf of the sprout--it has all the good stuff in it--the only purpose of the starch in a seed is to give the leaf temporary energy until it can collect and use sunlight.

Most fruits and vegetables, particulaqrly th eones on the grocery shelf, groan in giant corporate farms are of this monstrous nature.

Let me know if you like my preaching. I have many sermons (all extemporaneious)

 

[Steamchick]

I love it Richard. Keep preaching! I may not always agree with preachers, but I preach my version and (lack of?) Engineering knowledge. So I enjoy learning from the experts who correct me (frequently!).
But "heath food " shops probably sell many beans.. dried etc. But as I suffer from gout I almost never eat them. Too much protein! I have to stick to beef, chicken, and fish. But I love all of it! Pork, Lamb, Turkey are all too rich (protein) for me.
But everything else is on the supermarket shelves, or greengrocers'...
I even enjoy lettuce! And many other greens. But hate the taste of celery.
Each to his own.
K2