Very nice pics, and a very interesting topic !
Great achievements also from both our mechanical engineers/artists

C U,
Rafael

thanks i think i will buy a kit as you suggest perhaps i can modify it to make it as unique
as the marvelous engines you build , hmmmmm ill build it anyway!


got a link?
thanks

Hi Icon,
I guess that all the hot air engines that I have seen have been high temperature types.
The fact that your engines are small actually means that more attention has to be paid to tolerances, finish etc since not only are the components smaller but the power input to the engines is also so much smaller.
Also the field of hot air engines lends itself very much to innovative design and construction techniques, their have been some very clever engines produced over the years that show great ingenuity on the part of their constructors so keep it up young man, a fascinating hobby to be undertaking.

Barrie

Hey I'm back again and as i promised with another set of pictures of one of my favourite higher temperature engines.
I'm speechless from all these wonderful comments, what can I say. Thankyou!

Thanks for looking Nokiama

BB it's good to know that you allowed your brother to keep his engine in your basement. We don't have basements in Australia, sometimes I wish we did because I'm running out of shelf room.

Auntipode! Well we sure do have some well versed people in this forum, thanks for bringing up 'Stirling Cycle'. Nice old chap he was, Reverend Robert Stirling. He was so saddened by the fact that the men in his parish were slowly being picked out by Massive Boiler explosions that he decided he would invent an engine that didn't need boiler. Better to have a safer engine so his men could live longer and come to church he thought. So back in 1816 he built Stirling engines (or hot air engines) and they were used mainly for pumping water.

f6cValkyrie, I never though myself to be an artist

Cosinaphile, I have a link for thee. This is a gem and will run when put in the sun. I bought it to see how it was made compared to mine.
KONTAX KS80 SOLAR Low Temperature Stirling Engine kit. - eBay, Steam, Toys Games. (end time 19-Jun-10 08:22:05 AEST)

Ok here are the pictures. Can you see the heatsink i pulled out of an old stereo amplifier?

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Very cool ... er... warm! :)

This thread inspired me to buy a kit from Kontax. I was a little intimidated by all the small parts, but taking my time, I put it together in perhaps 45 minutes. Worked perfectly first time!

It's very cute:

YouTube - P1010584.MOV

Thanks icon, for sharing your work with us here... fascinating stuff!

Well done

Brian

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Thanks Auntipode, I'm glad I was able to inspire you to have a go with the kit. I reckon they are the coolest little machines. It feels good to look at something you put together and it runs hey.
And aren't they so quiet?

I guess you'll have some people intrigued in how it runs when you bring it out.

I was thinking the other day wouldn't it be cool to have the displacer rod go through the bottom plate and have a little hook on it. Then we can hook a tea bag onto it and then sit the engine on top of the cup and the engine will dip the bag up and down!!

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In my holidays I've kept myself busy and have made a small little steam engine to add to my engine collection. I finished it yesterday and gave it a run. I had to sort out a few little issues with air flow around the boiler but she runs like a pearler now. I use metho as the fuel and it sits soaked in fibre glass rope acting as a wick.

The whole thing cost me about 10 dollars to make. The little thing chugging along, with steam curling up from the exhaust is very entertaining to watch.

The valve is operated by the steel arm that rides on top of the wobble plate on the crankshaft. As the wobble plate turns the arm moves back and forth sliding the valve back and forth. This in turn allows the steam to enter the cylinder and exhaust at the correct time.

Stroke is 1/2 inch
Bore is 3/8th

Pictures taken with GF1 and 20mm lens.

__________________
If you do not hope, you will not find what is beyond your hopes.

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You are a very talented person. Thank you for sharing!

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Eric