Steam engine from scrap metal

[Turbine GuyParticipant @turbineguy]

I wouldn't hesitate to use carbon steel parts. If you wipe them over with a oily cloth like Nigel suggested or spray them with WD40 like I do after each run, they can be rust free for quite a long time. The following photo is my Chiltern steam engine that hasn't been run for months. The base plate, crankshaft, bottom cover plates, columns, slider tube, and fasteners are all unpainted carbon steel. The plate the engine is mounted on is stainless steel. I originally planned on painting most of the carbon steel parts, but Chiltern did such a nice job on the finish, I liked the appearance of them unpainted.

[Evan LewisParticipant @evanlewis60038]

Does that look better? I tapped the steam passage and redialed it, reducing the size from 8 to 4 mm and thus reducing area and volume by a factor of 4. I hope it works better.

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