Stirlingengineforum.com

I have another crackpot idea. Suppose we use conical springs to increase heater and cooler efficiency and maybe help the displacer move along, too.? The springs would be attached to the displacer, and they would contact the cylinder housing at all times due to very low tension. When the piston reach...

Ok. The water-borax solution just doesn't stick to the metal properly or evenly. It foams up and walks around sputtering when heated. What we need is a better coat. I may try anhydrous borax to coat the steel brake lines with. I am thinking using something tacky to coat the line with and rolling it ...

This is probably old news to many, but I have been looking at Theo Jansen's kinetic art walkers. I think using solar stiring engines to drive it would be fun. The geometry has already been figured out. There is a small kit that is sold that you see in the 1st video. He calls it a strandbeest ....dut...

Good torque output on the motor. The fly approves. How upset does it get when you short the generator leads together?

Thanks for the confirmation of what I had suspected, ferraccio. Most of my ideas are impractical, but usually don't betray the laws of physics. The laws of practicality, on the other hand, tend to put up quite a fight.

Ok. Been digging into this a bit further. Lots of blacksmiths use "20 mule team borax" for fluxing their pieces of metal before they weld them together on the forge. The technique of soaking the metal in a cooled supersaturated water solution of borax and setting it aside was surprising. T...

That was a very impressive link to that steam engine you mentioned. Cool engine design. However, I guess this is a "yes" that an additional orifice would work? or not? It's the temperature drop I am interested in, so that I may understand physics a little better. The stirling engine has li...

I had an idea today. I recall that borax is used as a flux for welding and heat treating. It could very well be used as a coating to prevent oxidation and flaking of metal components without reacting or burning in air-charged stirling engines. The melting point is 743 deg. C and the boiling point is...

Oh the propane tank arrangement would be easier, that is if you intend to use a compressed gaseous fuel. I will be using cheap fuel with a high BTU content like wood, oil, animal fat, parafin wax, etc. The oxidation mechanism for such will probably be catalytic in nature. If it works best, the miste...

Hi Batt. Well, I am working on the V-twin compressor design stirling engine. Many people are following along, but I admit I don't have as much free time to develop it quickly. Burning oil would be most economical as a good heat source, and I have considered it for my engine, but will not be able to ...

I read about the joule-thompson cooling effect used to liquify air and was wondering if anyone used this to cool a stirling engine's cold side. Here's a diagram of the process. http://www.ustudy.in/node/2031 It does not favor ideal gasses, but real gasses. So hydrogen and helium and argon are out, b...

Oh, the mini-lathe I am using is a 12" long 5" unit from harbor freight, and I have made some modifications per many fan websites. I have bought 2 chucks for it, one a 4-jaw adjustable 5", the other a 3-jaw 5" centered chuck. I have begun to switch to HSS steel tooling, but most ...

BAH! More delays! My chinese mini-lathe has blunted alot of my cutting tools because I overworked it a bit. Basically, it loosened up on me. Now, I have to take it all apart and re-zero every adjustment there is so that I can have my sanity back. I will probably take the time to improve a few things...

One section for parts and supplies would be useful. Basically, a place where we scrounge for parts. Pictures of various mass-produced sealing devices, tools, and other things that only a stirling engine builder would love. It might be necessary to categorize this by location so that everyone won't h...

My only idea is to have a "files" section where we can upload all the documents we find that are public domain, so we don't have to follow dead links and removed websites. A central database would be nice on this site. Most of what we find are already public domain, anyways. I doubt copyri...