StirlingEngine. A single piston Stirling Engine.

The single piston Stirling Engine. These model engines were perfected by Ted Warbrooke of Laingholm, New Zealand. He may well have been the first to get a SINGLE piston engine to run. He made these models in various forms and his workmanship was a joy to behold. I got the inspiration from Ted to try and build them. Here is one that worked quite well albeit no show piece! Stirling engines traditionallly have more than one piston. Much care is needed to get a single piston engine to run well. They produce very little power.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Stirling engine
• steam engine
• model engine
• heat engine

[dwardley]

Ted did put out a booklet called Building Stirling One. It was published by Camden Steam Services and may be still available.

The Stirling Engine Society did give much credit to the "first" claim possibility.

Ted is not on the net, has no computer, seeks no publicity. It is a shame his other engines cannot be displayed, they are so beautifully built and run so well.

[pic16F88]

nice engine !! Is the cylinder and piston from airpot ?? does the other single piston engine we can see in the movie also run ?? Is there anny more info on the engine`s this ted has made ?? google doesn`t know him ;)

[dwardley]

There are two of Ted's engines on youtube,  A search will find them.

[dwardley]

Reply at last - yes this time I cheated! The piston/cylinder is an airpot one. I mostly turn them on a M7 lathe. The airpot kit seems to need less attention over time but they still need a polish for good performance!

[simi112]

This is a tharmal lag?

[dwardley]

I am not really familiar with that term but it does sound a credible description!

[mrdexp]

awesome work there..

[mrdexp]

@dwardley Hi Again, sorry to be a pain, but I really want to get this going, found out by putting ice on the piston side, I really got my stainless steel Lamina kicking along, easily over 500rpm, will need to invest in a rpm meter shortly. I have built two versions of Lamina hot air engine, pyrex test tube, and the other stainless steel, will upload these soon. Just wanted to know where you placed the regen stack, cause with my ss, version I place the flame near the piston end.

[mrdexp]

I have tried looking for the booklet that you mentioned but cannot find it anywhere, appreciate your help.

[mrdexp]

example, is it critical for certain amount of length for the pipe? noticed that the piston size section is much larger than the backpipe, Is this what makes it so fast?

Also you have the flame at the back of the unit, do you use steel wool inside the tube, and if so, is it near the piston end? sorry for all the questions, but the lamina engine you built there has got my attention.

[mrdexp]

Hi Dwardley, I,ve made a lamina engine also, out of airpot and pyrex testtube, it's slow maybe 200rpm, but it works well. Leaving that for now, but want to build same as what you have there, using off the shelf stuff from hardware store, example i have bought 19mm diam chrome railing with brass encaps to match, and currently making piston with JB weld epoxy, as I've read that it makes for a good piston. just wanted to know if you could share on anything else that would help in my build?