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brucedownunder2
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Joined: 14/09/2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 1548

Posted: 10:48pm 01 Nov 2010

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Hi Crew ,, I've got this itch that wants me to re-build or just play with a steam ,I've heaps of firewood, or diesel/petrol stationary engine.

Now I know they are scarce and heavy ,but if someone wants to part with a reasonable one that is working or at least has all it's parts intack ,, get in touch with me,please..
Oh, any comments on a particular type would be nice.

I'd fit a F&P or LG to it just for fun..

Cheers,
Bruce

Bushboy

Gizmo

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Joined: 05/06/2004
Location: Australia
Posts: 5078

Posted: 12:51am 02 Nov 2010

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Hey Bruce.

Have you considered a 4 stroke lawn mower motor. They are only about 150 to 200cc, nice size to experiment on. You could use a 2 stroke motor, but you would need to bore it and fit a sleeve to cover the ports, and replace the bearings with sealed greased bearings. At least a 4 stroke has the bottom end lubrication taken care of.

Also worth looking into is a hot air engine, like a stirling cycle. I've been a fan of the alpha layout, easy to build and scale up. No dangerous steam, just lite a fire, spin the flywheel and they go. Any fuel can be used, from wood to gas.

Glenn

The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now.
JAQ

Gizmo

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Location: Australia
Posts: 5078

Posted: 01:13am 02 Nov 2010

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This might inspire you to go stirling. Its a gamma type.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LOcyjZthsg

The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now.
JAQ

brucedownunder2
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Joined: 14/09/2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 1548

Posted: 04:56am 02 Nov 2010

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Thanks for the reply ,Glenn.

I'm sort of interested in the big ol chug-a-lugs since I went to a stationary engine meet near Beenleigh. What a big display of all the working old stuff and the guys tinkering with them. They even had a win gennie up .It's on a about 50 acres and has a public weekend every year.

Thanks ,, I was wondering ,just if anybody has a friend on a farm or whatever , might have a "chug-a-lug" stationary machine I could restore.

Bruce

Bushboy

MacGyver

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Joined: 12/05/2009
Location: United States
Posts: 1329

Posted: 05:53am 02 Nov 2010

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Bruce

Just a quick follow-up note on Glen's idea of using a Sterling design: I've built them and if I can find a picture of the one I posted back in the day, I'l drag it into this post on an edit.

Here we go:

Note the square dark area just above the heating cylinder at direct center. There are fins cut
into the cylinder at this point and they use air pushed from the working fan to cool the air,
which was heated directly below that area. It's this cooling, which shrinks the air and "sucks"
the piston creating the power stroke.

Anyway, what you need to remember about a Sterling is that it's a "vacuum" engine. The power stroke comes from the air inside the engine cooling off 90 degrees before it is shuffled off to where it gets heated up again. As such, these engines are limited not so much by how much heat you can throw at them, rather by how efficiently you remove the heat you've added. As they heat up overall, they slow down.

I agree with you. A big ker-thunk, ker-thunk engine would be way more fun.

. . . . . . Mac
Edited by MacGyver 2010-11-03

Nothing difficult is ever easy!
Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman,
"Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!"
Copeville, Texas

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