Free Plans

Hi All can anyone advise me of free plans available for a basic horizontal mill engine from bar stock.Due to vision problems I would maybe have to scale up in order to avoid small fiddly items.

Thank you B Reilly Glasgow.

Hi Bernard, have a look at this one at the link below. Nice simple engine, many other free steam engine plans at the jon-tom site. Easy to scale up as well. JD

http://www.john-tom.com/ElmersEngines/43_horizontal.pdf

Edited By Jeff Dayman on 30/08/2017 22:54:35

Hi Bernard

I've sent you a personal message

Stew

I recommend the Elmers Beam Engine as a good beginners engine, I have made two so far 1 1/2 scale 1 / 20 scale and now making one on scale. They run on about 5 lb air pressure when made correct, look good when working and can be made out of all sorts of metal laying around.

I see Stewart Hart has already sent a PM but I'm going to recommend his Pottymill engine, plans for which can be found on the web.

I've just started making a second. The first ran fine, but this time I'm going to be fussy about accuracy and finish. I'm also using the design to improve my Fusion360 skills.

How difficult you find making a Pottymill will depend where you are on your learning curve and what equipment you have. Much easier if you have a milling machine, but not essential. I think all the lathe work could be done on a mini-lathe, the largest part being the 100mm diameter flywheel.

I'm far from talented in the workshop and found building the engine to be a sensible challenge rather than a difficult slog. Making some parts, like the conrod, will have you thinking but mostly the build is straightforward. A very good thing for the beginner is there are few errors in the plan and none that matter.

Dave

+1 for Stew's designs. They are designed with beginners in mind but they also make for good well-proportioned engines.

Neil

Neil/Dave

Thanks for your positive comments about the engine designs.

Stew

Edited By Stewart Hart on 01/09/2017 08:09:25

And thank you Stewart for designing it and making the plans available. Must have been hard work.

In the spirit of a 'Spot the Mistakes' Competition, a real one followed by a Fusion360 model in progress:

In both examples, the errors are all mine! Once you get the hang of it creating the parts in Fusion is quite easy. So is assembling them. What I'm struggling with is getting the various joints to work together so that the engine will animate. The crank and flywheel spin, the piston slides, the conrod rotates, but connecting the conrod to the flywheel causes an error.

Cheers,

Dave

PS Another designer worth a google is Mogens Kilde