|
Walking Beam |
Table top |
Twin Deck |
Rose yoke |
| |
|
|
|
|
Horizontal |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Posted 2006
This is my first attempt at building a
Stirling Engine
Main points:
Displacer piston is made from a cut down bear
can; displacer cylinder a bean can; fire box a treacle can and the water tank is
a sponge pudding can.
Length 48cm; Height 36cm.
Power cylinder is 1cm aluminium pipe from
B&Q
Power piston is made of Polyester Laminating
Resin.
Connecting rods are coat hanger wire, apart from
the piston rod which is copper wire.
Connecting eyelets are all male electrical
terminals crimped then soldered to the rods.
Main bearing and fly wheel is from a floppy disk
drive with a CD riveted on to it.
Specs.
Turns at 110 RPM on a homes made spirit heater.
How to make the Power Piston:
I got a length of the 1cm aluminium pipe and
blocked one end with a peace of wood with a tiny hole in the centre and threaded
a length of copper wire through it and out the top of the pipe this is
used to connect the piston to the piston rod.
Next mix the hardener with the resin and pore it
into the pipe. When the resin as gone head, ease the piston out of the pipe and
clean up the edges with glass paper. Slide the piston through the cylinder a few
times and then it will be ready for assembly.
You can get the Polyester Laminating Resin and
hardener from car accessory shops
Should you be thinking of building one of these
engines, then take a look at this site: http://www.boydhouse.com/stirling/
Top of Page
Posted 2006
Table Top Stirling Movie
WMV Format 2.3MB
I wanted to make a small engine
that could be placed on a table, so that I could
show visitors.
The displacer cylinder for this engine is a toffee tin. 10cm (4 inch) diameter and
11cm (4 and a half inch) deep. The displacer piston is made from, crumpled up, tin foil. The running
gear is mounted on top of the displacer lid, (fig 1), (fig 1a), (fig 1b).
The fly wheel arm is 15mm plumbers copper pipe, and so is the power cylinder. I made the power piston with Polyester Laminating Resin as described in my fist engine,
(fig 2), (fig 2a).
The engine uses a crank set at 90 degrees, (fig 3), (fig 3a). The displacer piston is lifted with a small chain, and
the power piston connecting rod is constructed out of copper wire, (fig 4).
I constructed the fly wheel from a jar lid and attached a CD disk to it with double sided tap. A
magnet, from a cupboard catch, was used for the counter weight, (fig 1a), (fig 3a), (fig 5).
A wooden base with steel supports was made to hold the machine and house the three candles for the heat
source, (fig 6).
The engine will turn at around 100 rpm for about 10 minute until the temperature difference between the top and bottom of the engine becomes too small and the machine comes to a stop. Putting ice on top of the engine solves the
problem - until it melts and runs off!
Other things I tried, to keep the top of the engine cool, was putting short lengths of copper and aluminium
pipes on top of the displacer. Putting the heat sink for a CPU on top of the displacer. Nether of these ides worked.
Top of Page
Posted 2006
Walking Beam Stirling Movie
WMV Format 2.7MB
This is my second walking beam
Stirling Engine that I’ve built. It differs from my
first in that it has two decks (fig 1)
, with the, 15mm, power cylinder mounted vertically below the top deck. (fig 2).
The displacer cylinder is slim at only 7cm (two and three quarter inches) high,
making for a compact machine.
(Fig 3) shows the power
piston which is made from Polyester Laminating Resin in the same way I made the
power piston for my first engine. The displacer piston is made from a sardine
can, which is a close fit in the displacer cylinder made from a sponge pudding
can; and the water tank is a wax polish can (fig 4).
(Fig 4a) shows them
assembled.
The fly wheel and bearing have been salvaged from an hard
drive (fig 5)
with the crank assembly arranged so that the engine turns
clock wise. (fig 6)
and (fig 6a).
The counter weight is a golf ball and the walking beam assembly is
constructed from a nylon curtain rod. All the connecting rods
are copper wire with a small chain being used to lift the
displacer piston.
The frame is sprayed silver. The displacer cylinder, water tank and the walking
beam assembly are sprayed in black. I left the fly wheel assembly as it was in
aluminium and chrome (fig 7),
(fig 7a)
The width of the machine is 33cm (thirteen inches); and the height is
32cm (twelve and a half inches);
and the depth is 16cm (6 and a half inches).
Depending on the height of the
spirit burner, the engine will turn at between one and three times a second.
Should you be thinking of building one of these
engines, then take a look at this site: http://www.boydhouse.com/stirling/
Top of Page
Posted 2006
Rose Yoke Stirling Movie
WMV Format 5MB
I have cut the frame work for my Rose Yoke Stirling engine out of plywood, with steal supports separating the two decks,
(fig 1), (fig 1a), (fig 1b). The Rose Yoke is made from three pieces of hardboard,
(fig 2), (fig 2a), (fig 2b). The
13cm (5 inch) fly wheel is also cut from a piece of plywood,
(fig 8).
A 7cm (two and three quarter inches) high, sponge pudding tin was used for the displacer cylinder
(fig 3), (fig 3a). A toffee tin made a good water tank
(fig 4), (fig 4a). The displacer piston is made from cardboard and then covered with aluminium tape, the type used for repairing car exhausts. This is a close fit in the displacer cylinder and is two thirds the
height, (fig 5), (fig 5a).
I made the power cylinder from a length of 20mm plumbing copper pipe. I found an old socket, that was part of a cheap socket set for repairing cars, and after cleaning it with wire wool I found it was an excellent fit in the power cylinder,
(fig 6), (fig 6a), (fig 6b), (fig 6c). A length of plastic pipe connects the displacer cylinder to the
power cylinder.
The displacer cylinder is lifted with a small chain (fig 13), and all the other connecting rods are copper wire. For maximum rpm, the Rose Yoke can be fine tuned, with the engine running, using the small silver knob to the right of
it, (fig 7).
The various parts were sprayed, and then the engine was assembled. The overall size of the machine is
26cm (10 inch) wide, 13cm (5 inch) deep and 32cm (12 and a half inches) high,
(fig 7), (fig 7a), (fig 7b).
Depending on the height of the spirit burner, the engine will spin at between 60 and 240 rpm.
Top of Page
Posted 2006
Horizontal Stirling Movie
WMV Format 6.8MB
I
thought it would be a bit different to build a horizontal tin can Stirling
Engine, as all the ones, I have seen, on the web seem to be of a vertical design.
The tin can I used for the water tank, was a fruit tin 11 x 8cm (4inch x 3 and
three quarter inch). The displacer cylinder was a car bumper shine can 25 x 6cm
(10 inch x 2 and a half inch). The displacer piston was a dairy cream can 16x
5cm (6 and a quarter inch x 2 and a quarter). These cans are shown in (fig 1). Part of the fire box was also made from the same fruit tin as the water
tank, but cut down to 10cm (4 inch).
The water tank was cut and fitted with inlet and outlet pipes, and a fill hole.
Then it was soldered 2cm from the front of the displacer cylinder. (fig 2), (fig 2a), (fig 2b), (fig 2c),
(fig 2d), (fig 2e).
The fire box was
made from a steel plate taken from an old PC keyboard and the fruit tin
mentioned above. I used a jig saw to cut the steel plate and finished it off
with a file. The various pieces where riveted together, and long threaded bars
with nuts were used to secure the fruit tin The only part of the fire box
assembly to be soldered was the chrome exhaust stack. To see how the fire box
was put together take a look at, (fig 3), (fig 3a), (fig 3b), (fig 3c), (fig 3d), (fig 3e), (fig 3f), (fig 3g), (fig 3h), (fig 3i)
The displacer piston
(dairy cream can) is around two thirds the height of the displacer cylinder, and
a close fit in the displacer cylinder. The
nylon spraying mechanism was pushed into the can (this meant the can did not
need to be cut open).
A bolt with a hole
drilled through it, big enough to take the push pull rod (coat hanger wirer),
was soldered in the top. (fig 4). The same was done to the bottom of the can (fig 4a). Then the push pull rod
was soldered in place with a 10cm overhanging at each side, which would be cut
the the correct length later. A cable connecter was
screwed to each side of the connecting rod, just in case the solder melted. (fig 4b), (fig 4c), (fig 4d).
For the displacer
cylinder top, a small pea tin was found to be a tight fit on the front of the
displacer cylinder (fig 5), and was cut 2cm from the bottom. Two extra lids
where used to strengthen the tin bottom (fig 5a), (fig 5b). A hole was drilled
through the centre of the can, and a nut and bolt with a hole drilled down the
centre, big enough to take the push pull rod, was bolted in place (fig 5c).
A hole was drilled in the side of the displacer top and a copper pipe
soldered in it. This is to provide power to the power piston.
A hole was drilled
through the centre of the bottom of the displacer cylinder, and a nut and bolt
with a hole drilled through it, big enough to take the push pull rod, was bolted
in place. The displacer piston was placed in the displacer cylinder, and the top
of the displacer was soldered in place (fig 6), (fig 6a).
The power cylinder
was made from a 9cm length of 20m plumbers copper pipe. A hole was drilled near
the bottom of the power cylinder and a copper pipe soldered in. The
bottom of the power cylinder was sealed with a
two pence piece soldered to it (fig 7), (fig 7a), (fig 7b). For details of how to make the power piston, see Hints
and Tips. Make a Power Piston for Three Pence.
The flywheel bearing,
started life in a food mixer (fig 8), (fig 8a). This was fitted into a wooden
frame (fig 8b). The flywheel is a 9cm biscuit tin lid (fig 9), riveted to a 22
calibre pellet tin (fig 9a).
I made the base
from wood and gave it a laminated floorboard top (fig 10), (fig 10a), (fig 10b).
The power cylinder was mounted two thirds below the top deck. (fig 11).
For the spirit burner, I
used a bicycle puncher repair tin (an old one – the new ones are made of
plastic!) . The lid was removed and the tin was packed with cotton wool. A piece
of tin, with a slot cut in it, was fitted in the top and then the burner was
covered with aluminium tape. The sort used to repair car exhaust (fig 12), (fig 12a), (fig 12b).
All the various
parts where sprayed, and then the engine was assembled on the base. The push
pull rod was cut to size, front and back. Copper wire was used for the
connecting rods. Copper pipes and plastic tubing was used to connect the
displacer cylinder to the power piston. A small tap, for empting the water tank,
was fitted to the base and connected to the bottom of the water tank with a
plastic tube. (fig 13), (fig 13a), (fig 13b), (fig 13c), (fig 13d), (fig 13e), (fig 13f), (fig 13g), (fig 13h),
(fig 13i), (fig 13j), (fig 13k), (fig 13l).
The inlet and outlet
pipes on the water tank, were to allow water to flow into a cooler, with the aid
of a pump and then back into the water tank - this as not yet transpired. This engines is 61cm (24
inch) long, 18.5cm (7 and a quarter inch) wide and 32cm (12 and a half inch)
high. This engine takes a little while to warm up, and then runs well, spinning
up to 200 RPM.
Top of Page
