design steam engines have intrigued hackers as well as makers for over 100 years. numerous of us have seen old steam engine models up available for sale at garage sales as well as different Web auction sites. The issue with these engines is the truth that numerous of them were sold as rough casting kits. This implies the high quality of the design is only as great as the original owner’s machining as well as fabrication skills.
[Keith Appleton] is something of a steam engine expert. In this pair of videos, he takes us with troubleshooting two engines. Keith goes on to show a few of the typical failures he’s discovered while working on these wonderous little machines.
First off is the paint. If you discover nuts, bolts as well as random parts painted in different colors, the engine is most likely bad. It sounds strange, however [Keith] has discovered this to be a guideline over his years of working with these engines.
Another issue is rattles. [Keith] discovered one of these engines rattled terribly. The culprit was the crankshaft. Not only was it the wrong size, however it was built wrong. These engines utilize built up crankshafts, rather than shafts machined from a single piece of metal. This engine’s crankshaft was threaded into the crank webs rather than pinned. Whoever built it tried to re-engineer the style of the crankshaft, as well as failed miserably.
You can inspect [Keith’s] videos out after the break. want much more displacement? We’ve covered the easiest steam engine, as well as an insanely comprehensive steampunk battleship, which of program is powered by steam.
