G'day All,
There seemed to be a bit of interest in my little engine and boiler, so I thought it'd be worthwhile starting a new thread. I got the engine design from the Sept-Oct 1995 issue of "Australian Model Engineering" magazine. This magazine is well worth the read, btw. I've been subscribing since about then. Lots of good stuff
Here is the setup. I'd like to be able to say that I made the boiler, but I can't! It was purchased from Model Components, a small operation based in Redcliffe, QLD. Lots of good stuff on his website: http://www.modelcomponents.com.au
The boiler is a 4" Centre Flue design, fired on butane gas canisters. You can see the canister in one of the photos. It gets up steam in a bit over 5 minutes with the safety valve blowing around 35psi. I've yet to run it longer than about 15 minutes. Running the little engine, I can turn off the gas and I have steam for about another ten minutes of running
Another view of the engine. Yes, I need to learn how to solder! After seeing all the beautiful engines on here, one of the jobs on my (ever increasing) list is to try to polish it up a bit. The Engine itself is mostly out of Brass, except for the piston and valve which are bronze, and the steel eccentric and silver steel shaft. It has a bore of 12mm with the stroke a bit less...I forget! The block started as a chunk of round about 1 3/4" dia. Lots of work with the hacksaw and then the four-jaw got that sorted! The second attempt was a much better job than the first
This is the distribution manifold I made to allow for future expansion... Converts the single 5/16x32 ME thread off the main valve into two 5/16x32 ME and one 1/4x40 ME. It'll be a simple case of adding additional valves into these threads to run the other engines as they become operational. The Valves are another product from Model Components (I've tried making them over the years, but they always seem to let more steam through when they're shut than when they are open ;D)
Another couple of pics of the setup. It is all setup up on a temporary bit of chipboard at the moment... Simple, but it works (like me, really ;D)
I tried the flash on this one... Seemed to work ok.
Of course I had to include a Video! I think the pressure was a bit too much, combined with the valving being slightly out of whack. It wasn't running very well, but I've tuned it since then.
Finally, here is a pic of the Lathe. It is a Russian "Stankoimport" Universal - 3 Bench Machine Tool. Dad purchased it new back in the early '90's, and I've been using it since about 1995. It's a great little machine, and includes nearly every accessory you could ever think of! The vertical slide comes in useful sometimes If there is anything that exceeds it's capacity, Dad has a Taiwanese 9"x20". The best thing about the lathe is that I can lift it on my own... try THAT with some of your lathes!
Well, I hope that has answered some questions. Sing out if there are any questions!
Gordon
There seemed to be a bit of interest in my little engine and boiler, so I thought it'd be worthwhile starting a new thread. I got the engine design from the Sept-Oct 1995 issue of "Australian Model Engineering" magazine. This magazine is well worth the read, btw. I've been subscribing since about then. Lots of good stuff
Here is the setup. I'd like to be able to say that I made the boiler, but I can't! It was purchased from Model Components, a small operation based in Redcliffe, QLD. Lots of good stuff on his website: http://www.modelcomponents.com.au
The boiler is a 4" Centre Flue design, fired on butane gas canisters. You can see the canister in one of the photos. It gets up steam in a bit over 5 minutes with the safety valve blowing around 35psi. I've yet to run it longer than about 15 minutes. Running the little engine, I can turn off the gas and I have steam for about another ten minutes of running
Another view of the engine. Yes, I need to learn how to solder! After seeing all the beautiful engines on here, one of the jobs on my (ever increasing) list is to try to polish it up a bit. The Engine itself is mostly out of Brass, except for the piston and valve which are bronze, and the steel eccentric and silver steel shaft. It has a bore of 12mm with the stroke a bit less...I forget! The block started as a chunk of round about 1 3/4" dia. Lots of work with the hacksaw and then the four-jaw got that sorted! The second attempt was a much better job than the first
This is the distribution manifold I made to allow for future expansion... Converts the single 5/16x32 ME thread off the main valve into two 5/16x32 ME and one 1/4x40 ME. It'll be a simple case of adding additional valves into these threads to run the other engines as they become operational. The Valves are another product from Model Components (I've tried making them over the years, but they always seem to let more steam through when they're shut than when they are open ;D)
Another couple of pics of the setup. It is all setup up on a temporary bit of chipboard at the moment... Simple, but it works (like me, really ;D)
I tried the flash on this one... Seemed to work ok.
Of course I had to include a Video! I think the pressure was a bit too much, combined with the valving being slightly out of whack. It wasn't running very well, but I've tuned it since then.
Finally, here is a pic of the Lathe. It is a Russian "Stankoimport" Universal - 3 Bench Machine Tool. Dad purchased it new back in the early '90's, and I've been using it since about 1995. It's a great little machine, and includes nearly every accessory you could ever think of! The vertical slide comes in useful sometimes
If there is anything that exceeds it's capacity, Dad has a Taiwanese 9"x20". The best thing about the lathe is that I can lift it on my own... try THAT with some of your lathes!Well, I hope that has answered some questions. Sing out if there are any questions!
Gordon
