steam engine build

The first assembly Exciting times—the first assembly! With all the pieces connected together, the engine was running. All the pieces together for the first assembly and run. A little flywheel clearance The flywheel was catching the base—oops. I could have…

Matching the holes The holes in the steam chest and cylinder have to line up so the air passages match. Here you can see the hole opening into the cylinder bore. Checking the alignment of the steam-chest and cylinder passages. Brazing the steam chest I had…

I was able to stain the base and try the parts in place to check how everything would fit. It was not ready for assembly yet, but seeing it on the stained base made the engine feel much more real. Checking the fit on the stained base, before assembly. ← Build…

Making the eccentric and checking the fit Making the eccentric with its offset hole was the big job today. There are now a lot of pieces that need to fit together and move, so I could start trying them together during the build to check that they would…

Things are starting to come together. Today I worked on a few more parts, finishing up the steam chest, including its “entry” plate, and cleaning up the eccentric outer races and a few other little pieces. The collection of parts after work on the steam…

I started on the steam chest, which will sit above the piston. This was just a short day in the shop, so I drilled and honed a few holes. Workshop video Download the video. Workshop footage from February 17, 2023. ← Build timeline · Previous diary · Next…

I finished a few more small parts today, including more bearing tops and the “plunger joint”. The plunger joint forms part of the linkage that converts the piston’s back-and-forth motion into rotation of the crankshaft. The growing collection of parts,…

Trying soldering and brazing More parts today, along with trying some different soldering and brazing processes. The engine uses brazed connections in a few places; one of them is the crankshaft. More parts taking shape, including the crankshaft. Making the…

Starting to look like an engine The two holes visible on the right of the cylinder are the ports for steam—or air, in my case. With the valve directing the flow, they let air enter and leave the cylinder to push the piston in and out. I now had the start of…

Milling the cylinder flat The cylinder needed a flat section milled into it to fit the steam chest. Milling the flat on the cylinder for the steam chest. Making the endcaps I also made the cylinder endcaps on the lathe. The endcaps after turning on the lathe.