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Ferraccio, with the V type motor, the tube connecting the two cylinders could be utillised as a chamber for a regenerator. True with the Ross Yoke system you can have different strokes on the pistons by using an assymetric yoke, this method can be used on an ordenary GAMA motor. Ian S C

Jim, another one I'v thought of is Pumice (volcanic lava), can be found a chemist shops, in the bathroom section, or in volcanic regions, lying around in places like the edge of lakes, well here in NZ any way. Its easy to carve, and holds its shape. I'v yet to try it. Ian S C

Ferraccio, for an ALPHA motor with a 1:1 ratio between the hot and cold pistons, would you not be better with just a single cold cylinder. There would also be an advantage in reduced friction, and mechanical complexity. You can use a two crank crankshaft, or with a Ross Yoke, only a single crank is ...

Carnot, I suspected that would be the case with candles, I might get away with my motor, the base is 1/4" aluminium, that should conduct the heat away so that a hot spot does not occur, not that I'll try anyway. You could do similar damage with a magnifying glass, esspecially if the displacer p...

Hi davMecha, your materials list seams good. Bore the cylinder then make the piston to fit that(its easier to turn the piston to size) ,make it tight, then polish down to size. Its best to lap the bore with something like Brasso, or even toothpaste. The piston should have shallow narrow grooves, 4 o...

You might get mili watts, its considered quite good to get 1 watt per cc from a high temp atmospheric stirling engine. The alternator/ generator at these small sizes will be 50% or less efficient, and the smaller you go the worse it gets, sorry theres not much you can do about it, modelers have had ...

I have my doubts about generating any usable power with one of these motors, not to say that its not worth trying. If you heat the top side, and cool the bottom the motor goes in reverse, or in the sun shine you can turn the motor upside down on some sort of frame, I tried last summer but it didn't ...

I have two books by James G. Rizzo, first a paper back "Modelling STIRLING and HOT AIR ENGINES", the second is"The Stirling Engine Manual". I also have the free down load of Andy Ross's book "Making Stirling Engines". I also collect articals, and keep them in folders. T...

To run mine I either sit it on a small bowl of boiling water, or(and more often)I sit it on top of a pot while cooking my lunch. Boiling water is as hot as I have tried, any hotter endangers the foam displacer, I suppose one of those little tea candles would be OK, but if you don't need fire,why use...

The turbine is a Francis inward flow type, unlike a pelton wheel that uses the velocity of the water through a nozzle, these turbines utilise the weight of water at low velocity, and large amounts(in the 19th century it was the high tech replacement for a waterwheel). We just have problems with a sh...

Cutting the foam with a hot wire worked Ok for me. First I had to cut the foam to the right thickness, so I rigged up a wire at the required hight above a board, hooked it up to my workshop low voltage DC supply and slid the foam across the board. I then put a hole in the middle, using a vertical wi...

I see that of the engines on the GENOASTIRLING site the first three are for saleranging upward from 8,000E. the power outputfor the five sizes is .35Kw, 1Kw, 3Kw, 5Kw, 7Kw, the last two will be available over the next two years. They appear to be BETTA type motors, the little one is single cylinder,...

You could cut it in five 1 3/8" lenghts, if you mark it carefully, and work your way around carefully with a saw, then lay a large sheat of sand paper on a flat surface, and smooth the cut edge. with the 1" foam this would only give 1/4" stroke, it would be better if it was 3/4" ...

The only thing I can think of against that system is the seal rubbing on the seat and causing wear, I imagine its possible to lubricate the rubber. Ian S C

Look at GENOASTIRLING. Modern materials, modern bearings proberbly double the power of the equivalent 19th century motor. Not really related, I do some work at a local museum where we have an old water turbine, the rotor is about 30" in diameter,producing about 3hp with a 16ft head. I'v been to...