Beginner making first steam engine

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

There may be more friction from the cylinder and valve when horizontal but one would hope that it has more power than that. Perhaps if there is slop in the valve the timing is helped by its weight acting in that direction. Trying flywheel down might show this up.
One danger with low pressure steam is that when the valve cuts off it may not be able to expand enough to fill the chamber at the end of the stroke and could be retarding the piston.

[Martin CottrellParticipant @martincottrell21329]

Hi Peter

Don't underestimate your achievement! You've taken a few random bits of metal & skilfully worked on them to produce a working steam engine. It doesn't matter that it's not of the same complexity as one of Jason B's masterpieces, the point is you've found somewhere to start, had a bash and cracked it!! I'm sure even Jason started with something simple!

I'd love to see a video of your engine running & look forward to reading about your next challenge!!

Regards Martin.

[V8EngParticipant @v8eng]

Great work there Peter, you must be very proud of your achievement.

As this was your first project I certainly look forward to seeing the next and subsequent ones.

Edited By V8Eng on 13/07/2015 18:09:19

[Nick_GParticipant @nick_g]

.

This is tops.

Nick

[Steven GreenhoughParticipant @stevengreenhough56335]

Awesome stuff.

[Gas_mantle.Participant @gas_mantle]

Hi,

Here's a short video of it running on live steam, it can be seen how it runs better when upright.

I'm inclined to think it's an issue of water in the cylinders rather than friction problems (when not connected to the steam line it spins freely with little friction)

The Kelly kettle I'm using as a temporary boiler throws out a lot of water and think that's a lot of the problem rather than the engine itself but would be interested what others think is the cause.

**LINK**

Peter.

[Brian JohnParticipant @brianjohn93961]

How much water are you putting in the kettle ? Try it with the kettle only half full and see if that helps. I never fill my vertical boilers more than 75% as water gets into the cylinders and stops the engines from running properly for the first few minutes.

Your next project : silver soldering a boiler

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Peter, the aluminium cylinder may cause more condensation than for example bronze, but what ever metal is used this will go away when the engine heats up.

Isn't it great when something you made actually works, and it's great if it's the first thing.

Ian S C

[GarryCParticipant @garryc]

Hi Peter

I've been off for a while and so a bit behind on here, can't believe you've finished already – congratulations..!

Look forward to seeing no 2 project…

Cheers

Garry

[Tony SwanseaParticipant @tonyswansea]

Hi Peter

A simple name change from horizontal to vertical steam engine

and jobs a good un !!

Tony

[Gas_mantle.Participant @gas_mantle]

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies.

The irony of it is, the plans had it as a vertical engine with the flywheel at the bottom, I decided to build it as a horizontal but the engine has decided it is a vertical with the flywheel at the top !

Brian – I think part of the problem is the Kelly kettle has a small surface area of water at the top, it also needs to be reasonably full so I get a lot of water entering the tubing in relation to the steam generated. It's far from ideal as a boiler.

Ian – it does run better when it's hot but still struggles when horizontal, it may even improve on its own after it's been run in a bit

Peter.

[Gas_mantle.Participant @gas_mantle]

Finally finished it !

Many thanks to all those who followed the thread and offered their support

Peter.

[Bob RodgersonParticipant @bobrodgerson97362]

Peter,

that looks nice for a first attempt. What's next? A model loco perhaps, a Stuart double 10 or and I.C. engine? Whatever you choose if you stay with that standard of work it will look great.

[Gas_mantle.Participant @gas_mantle]

Hi Bob,

I want to make a more sophisticated horizontal engine that Jason gave me a link to, before I do that I really need to get a bench drill and one or two other tools so as a stop gap to tackle something a bit easier and get some more experience I've got an idea in my head that I'll try and start tomorrow.

I'm hoping to try and built a V twin upsidedown wobbler with the flywheel at the top and try to incorporate it in a candlestick. Mechanically it ought to be fairly straightforward but the idea is to take a simple engine and build it in a contemporary design.

Well that's the plan anyway

Peter.

Edited By Peter Nichols on 23/07/2015 22:02:34

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Well done, nice job!

Neil

[Gas_mantle.Participant @gas_mantle]

Thanks Neil,

I eventually sorted out the issue of it not running when horizontal.

The power piston conrod was sliding along the crank pin when the engine was laid flat but remained parallel when it was running upright. The travel was probably only about 1mm but in a small engine was enough to affect the timing.

I made a small retaining ring to fit the crank pin, it works perfectly now in the horizontal position and runs a lot faster.

Peter.

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