eBay Item
Chatting with my brother yesterday and we got talking about miniature engines. He has always wanted one of the those mini steam engines since he was a
kid - he is 34 now!!!
did a bit of googling and found these - linky
Would make a great christmas / birthday gift but they are pricy.
Anyone know of something similar but not as costly - Dont think one of the tin can stirling engines will quite have the same appeal!!!
cheers
Paul
model stirlings are getting something of a revival. They're actually quite hard to get working properly if you make them from scratch so to be
honest that's not a bad price.
Cheaper ones are all over the internet but they generally don't work so well.
BTW it's not a steam engine.
Similar design from China, but not as shiny. Video shows at least one has worked
eBay Item
yep I know that's not a steam engine but I think the stirling engines would be more useable than a steam engine.
The Bohm engines look well made, I have seen a few Chinese copies on ebay but they don't look like they would last very long.
Dont think I would try to make one from scratch, for one I dont have the resources or tools to make one.
A good kit so my brother could build one up easily would be the thing. The Bohm engine fits the bill so far
how long do you think the glass tube would last with a fire burning under it???
[Edited on 22/10/13 by skydivepaul]
My dad and I have been involved in model engineering for 20+ years.....and between us we've built 1/3scale traction engines, 5" gauge and
10.25" gauge steam locos and tons of different steam stationary engines.
The Stuart turner models are good "desk top" stationary engine, but you have to machine the castings and build them yourself. You can buy
them complete from stuart turner but very expensive! They also come up on ebay quite a lot.
Becuase of this hobby, I was given one of those hot air engines similar to that in your link as a xmas prezzy (mine had a glass tube and a dyno
powering some leds)....and I must say it works a treat and looks really nice!
The glass tube seems to last...but it does go brown.
[Edited on 23/10/13 by richardm6994]
[Edited on 23/10/13 by richardm6994]
buy him a small lathe. making sterling engines and steam engine models is where i learnt most of my machining skills, there are some really
excellent books out there for model engineering. i have a whole series of these books
Amazon Link
maidstone engineering do some beautiful models that i have personally had the pleasure of building. have a look here
http://www.maidstone-engineering.com/
A friend of mine bought himself a Mamod steam engine last week, reliving his childhood I think 
quote:
Originally posted by Peteff
A friend of mine bought himself a Mamod steam engine last week, reliving his childhood I think
A bit of showing off now....
This is my dad driving a 5" gauge midland compound that I built. I started it when I was 18 and it was finally finished 8 years later...(the
video is one I stumbled across on YouTube)
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cj4cO1JG__8&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dcj4cO1JG__8
If you can show off, so can I...
This is a 5" gauge model of a narrow-gauge loco - capable of hauling a dozen adults without a struggle. Probably wouldn't go well on a
desk, as it weighed well over 100lbs (a difficult 2-man lift as there was only the buffer bar to put your fingers under).
Sadly I decided to sell it recently - it had been sitting unused in the garage for 6 or 7 years and was showing signs of deterioration. The money is
paying for a lot of new toys for the workshop though!
As for a desktop model - I've seen sterling engine models that run using a night-light under the hot end. They're quite impressive as they
run really slowly.
[Edited on 23/10/13 by David Jenkins]
cracking idea getting him a lathe but he lives in a two story apartment so doesn't have workshop space.
something he can assemble from a kit with little finishing is what I am after
the ebay chinese stirling engine may be worth a punt
quote:
how long do you think the glass tube would last with a fire burning under it???
quote:
Originally posted by skydivepaul
cracking idea getting him a lathe but he lives in a two story apartment so doesn't have workshop space.
something he can assemble from a kit with little finishing is what I am after
the ebay chinese stirling engine may be worth a punt
quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
If you can show off, so can I...
This is a 5" gauge model of a narrow-gauge loco - capable of hauling a dozen adults without a struggle. Probably wouldn't go well on a desk, as it weighed well over 100lbs (a difficult 2-man lift as there was only the buffer bar to put your fingers under).
Sadly I decided to sell it recently - it had been sitting unused in the garage for 6 or 7 years and was showing signs of deterioration. The money is paying for a lot of new toys for the workshop though!
As for a desktop model - I've seen sterling engine models that run using a night-light under the hot end. They're quite impressive as they run really slowly.
[Edited on 23/10/13 by David Jenkins]
Now I know its not of the steampowered variety, but if I could put a toy on the list for Santa it would be one of these!!
Conley precision engines
One of my colleagues got into building solenoid engines from scratch, never even heard of them before he turned up at work with one.
He started with a single, then V-twin, a very clever 'rotary' looking engine with a prop on it and finally a V8.... a bit like this:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhYEdD94vH0
His wasn't quite as elegant (but pretty close) but importantly he'd constructed all the pushrods for timing the solenoid switching to run
off a chain driven camshaft so it even looked like it was opening/closing the valves! The really amazing part was that it sounded like a V8 and it did
use a lot of current!!
quote:
Originally posted by martinq357
One of my colleagues got into building solenoid engines from scratch, never even heard of them before he turned up at work with one.
He started with a single, then V-twin, a very clever 'rotary' looking engine with a prop on it and finally a V8.... a bit like this:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhYEdD94vH0
His wasn't quite as elegant (but pretty close) but importantly he'd constructed all the pushrods for timing the solenoid switching to run off a chain driven camshaft so it even looked like it was opening/closing the valves! The really amazing part was that it sounded like a V8 and it did use a lot of current!!