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| Elmer's Kimble engine |
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| arnoldb:
Once again thank you Nelson :beer: I enjoyed building this engine very much - but found it to be the most challenging of the 16 engines I've built so far; even more so than Phil Duclos's "Little Blazer" and the Elbow engine. When you build it, pay particular attention to keeping the engine block accurately flat and parallel, and the hole for the main shaft (the one to which the vane is mounted) absolutely square to the engine body. The steam passages are small - at 1.6mm (1/16") - so air supply into the engine is restricted, and with the large "circumference" of the vane, a sloppy fit of the vane will result in a non-runner, as all air would just blow past it's sides; I shot for a 0.01mm (1/2 thou) closeness of fit on the vane, and the engine still needs a fairly thick oil (I use diesel engine oil) to help seal off blow-by. All mating surfaces for the engine components need to be close-fitting and flat as well; it's impractical to use any kind of packing/gaskets as that would throw out tolerances, so all surfaces need to seal as well as possible without any packing at all. Please remember that if you do make a "steam" engine with transparent covers, that it becomes unsafe to run on actual steam - its compressed air only. Just build the engine methodically; this is one that can't be rushed, or else you will end up making a lot of parts more than once. I got lucky on this build; the only part I had to re-make was one of the 2mm screws that I made for fixing the top to the block. If you have any questions about the engine, please feel free to ask; I'm by no means an expert, but seeing as this engine is so rare, at least I'm in a position where I can can try and help where needed. :beer:, Arnold |
| Brass_Machine:
ooooh... just caught up with this thread. Very nice job Arnold! Eric |
| arnoldb:
Thanks very much Eric :beer: :beer:, Arnold |
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