Stirlingengineforum.com

The boyds tin can engine is fairly easy to construct and runs very well. This site is part of the forums, but I don't know if you have seen it. I will post the link, check out the whole site and maybe you can find the information you need to help you get a running engine. Here it is, https://stirlin...

It was stated that it ran at 8 to 10 rpm, so yes very slow.
Tom, have you looked into air gun oil ? If the oil ignights in the gun, it will cause 'dieseling' which blows out the seals. So maybe it has a high flash point compared to normal oils? Just a thought.

I do not know if the company is still operating, but I found them at www.heatpower.se Their engine looks good, what you would expect from the Swedish.

You could grease up the cylinder tubing, place it on a flat surface and pour a epoxy piston. I have a epoxy piston in one of my engines and it works great! Before it set up I put a small piece of balsa wood in the middle which I picked out, after it set up, to make a hollow area for the connecting r...

Even if the PVC pipe is plugged, there is a lot of dead air space in this design.

I disagree. On my solar engine, which has a diaphragm power piston, when the displacer moves the air to the cold side you can see a strong negative pressure pulling the diaphragm in. If I stop it with my hand I can feel the negative pressure for a few seconds till the vacuum equalizes. The engine se...

Could it be that with a load the engine is running slower and can absorb more heat and cold.
They don't state the rpm, do they?
Yes very interesting.

TK motors has built a couple of them. He uses a diaphragm power piston with a displacer on each side, very ingenious, I think.
Look for TK motors on u-tube or this site.

Tom, what if you put a piece of fiberglass or carbon fiber cloth in the mix to act as a reinforcement, to keep it from cracking? Sort of like wire mesh they put in concrete slabs. It looks like it held up to the heat, as setting on the coals possibly got up to 1500 degrees or more. To help with the ...

And yes , this isn't a sterling engine, but interesting any way. Also connected in a way as many early commercial sterling's were used to pump water.

You have no doubt heard of a ram pump that uses a head of water and the water hammer principle to pump water uphill. They were invented in the 1800's and many were produced and used on farms and such. I wonder if this unit with the barrel is using the same principle, only with vacuum instead of pres...

Good idea Tom ! I used a single wall stainless water bottle for a displacer cylinder and it works great. I think it has a soup can piston. Using the inner for a piston is even better. It gives me a "why didn't I think of that", moment.
Let us know how it works after you cut it open.

The trick will be to get a smooth coating of wax. Try buffing the wax. Warm up the glass and it should lift off easy.

You can use the TLAR method ! If it is too close then the connecting rod angle will cause excessive side thrust on the piston, meaning too much friction. If it is too far away, then the connecting rod will be very long and weigh too much. It depends on the stroke, a long stroke needs a longer connec...

I found this on youtube thought it was interesting how they run the displacer from the other end. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7uxlMJNgNo