Thread: my steam engine

Wot Steam????

ok so its running on compressed air at the moment but i dont feel like making a boiler right now.

Is that the basis for your new random orbital sander or tablesaw?

Nope , it's for his new chainsaw

Here was me thinking he was building a replacement for the lucas.

Compressed air, eh? How many PSI?

If 'tis low enough to run from a low pressure boiler...

im not sure what pressure it will run on. as i don't have a pressure gauge on the line when i connect it.

i can adjust the speed by changing the volume it gets.

It needs a pretty high volume cos there are a lot of leaks and the single action valve i have used.

bolts and gal watter pipe are not precision ground it turns out.

now i got this one working i can make one with a bit more care and from better materials. copper, brass and aluminum i was thinking.

I think Craig ( Exador ) has got Carl worried and he is gearing up for the big shoot out.

I bet Craig and Sigdi cannot top that.

Be worth the price of admission alone to see Young Einstein at work.

A great little chuffer, I just love steam engines.

I have build several over the years. All of mine have be osculating
cylinder type. They are very simple as the valve is self operating.
They can be build any size without design changes. They will run
either direction by changing the feed line.

Here are some links:

http://npmccabe.tripod.com/steam_30.html

http://npmccabe.tripod.com/3sisters.htm

http://npmccabe.tripod.com/v4.htm

http://npmccabe.tripod.com/45engine.htm

My uncle had a 35' shrimp boat with a twin cylinder
engine of this type that got me interested in them.

these are some shots of one of my engines I did about twenty
years ago, it still runs like new. Burns Sterno.

All this talk of steam reminds me of my chalky days when I was taking a class doing an experiment with small steam engines. The heat supply was a small glass metho burner and the idea was the students had to work out the efficiency of the engine which required the engine run for some time and measure the amount of metho burnt. I had pre warned the students not to run the engines too fast for too long because the engines would not like it too much.

One of the students, (we could call him . . . . but lets call him Johnny) turned up with no shoes on so I made him sit down the back of the class. This really gave him the pips because he loved the idea of playing with a steam engine. Anyway the experiment is running with all the engines cranking away and I'm up the front with the other students explaining something on the black board.

Johnny obviously can't stand all the other students having fun and creeps up to the nearest running engine and cranks the burner on full and goes back to his seat. Within a minute the engine is bouncing and rattling around on the desk and Johnny is a bit concerned so he creeps back to the engine but as he arrives the engine falls off the desk and the burner shatters and he is now standing in a burning pool of metho! To make matters worse he attempts to put the fire out by stamping on the flames with his bare feet.

The kids laughed their heads off - I leap across the room with the fire blanket but fortunately there was not much metho left and so he only suffered 2nd degree burns.

Great effort, Hey Carl, any offers from Bunnings yet?

Carl

Steam is a great way to power most mechanical devices but a word or WARNING.

when choosing your components please buy the highest pressure resistant components you can and take special precausions when assembling. The system is guarenteed to fail at its week point so dont just use any old components. Its OK to have compressed air fail at high pressure the injuries wont be too bad but steam and in particular high pressure steam will just melt your flesh off.

The great advantage of steam is the torque and stored energy. You dont need much in the way of horsepower. I have helped build miniature steam (10") railway system in the UK and a 5hp steam engine could tow 60 people around the track with little effort and that was using lessthan 100 bar.

High pressure systems these days can reach in excess of 400bar. You might want to look at hydraulic components for you next one as they are similar and can resist the pressures.

High pressure boilers are another problem altogether and unless your a qualified boiler maker I would recommend just buying a ready made one.

There is a company in SA who make 5hp boilers, woodfired and weight just 1/2 ton

I have lots of books here if you need some extra info.

arthur

if the admins create a "steampunk" section, this would be the item to go in there