Being a serious steam train nut, and familiar with tractor hydraulics and rams, watching this project is a real joy! It really brings all sorts of passions together, and in a relatable way! I can't wait to see the process of building some sort of regulating valve... a Walschaerts valve gear perhaps? something of your own invention? On to the next thrilling installment!
A simple push button valve will do fine. You should be able to set it from the crank via a rod or bar. This'll work fine with air but not so good with steam as steam will expand in working but air just pushes. Also, you have to find some way of exhausting the air in the cylinder while the piston goes back down. Good luck
It’s designed for steam power so I will never be esp efficient, but never mind, it is pretty easy to make something go round & even get some usable horsepower out of it if fuel economy isn’t a concern. I think the biggest limiting factor is probably port size. I would simply add a fixed valve (rotary?) and use hydraulic hoses to pipe the steam to the cyld.
If you guys have some old broken down agricultural equipment laying around, hydrostatic transmissions are a great source for homemade engine parts. Most of them utilize a squash plate against six cylinders with pistons actuated by oil. These systems work bathed in oil so they are often in very good shape even if the overall machine is not. There are some surprisingly tight tolerances in there, I have made several Sterling radial engines out of smaller ones, from riding mowers
I'm a mechanical engineer in germany for agricultural machines. My biggest mistake I ever made was accidentally blocking a hydraulic cylinder from pivoting (in a prototype). So basically the piston moved out, tried to follow the thing it was pushing, but the bottom part couldn't move. So the rod had to bend. It bend roughly 30-40°! It was bent like a banana! No oil leak, it still moved in and back out again and I had the shock and laugh of my life all at once. Pretty damn sturdy those things. Not all of them come with 2 holes; often the rod is threaded and sometimes the cylinder has a bolts welded on the sides to move the pivot point closer to the seal (i.e. dumper do that quite often). By the way, I almost always like the shapes of your plasma cut sheetmetal parts. I recon they must look "natural" (rounded shapes) and yours always do. Structually it usually complies with stresses if the part looks like it "grew" (like a tree).
Hey, ich bin momentan im 5. Semester Maschinenbau und würde später auch gerne in Richtung Landmaschinen / Sondermaschinenbau gehen. Hast du vlt ein paar gute Tipps? Wie zufrieden bist du mit deiner Richtung, gibt es Firmen die empfehlenswert sind oder welche die man eher meiden sollte? Bin für jeden Ratschlag dankbar!
Yeah that'll work pretty well! - taking a leaf out ot the steam engine book, now you need some sort of eccentric connected to some sort of shuttle valve. Careful with oil lubrication though, you might end up with an impromptu diesel engine if your valve timing fails and the flywheel compresses the air in the cylinder. Some sort of silicone oil may be the answer there.
Literally just discovered your two channels a few days ago. What a marvelous couple & loyal friends pursuing the true joy of making do with very little yet doing amazing things with brains and hands. A rusty hydraulic piston as a motor for 15€?! Great fun and new experiences you can put in your back pocket for future adventures. Rock on friends.
More videos to go on the "extra credit" list for my students! Real engineering! Solving a problem step-by-step! Outstanding!! Thank you so much! Cheers from Guam! 🇬🇺
From what I know this is the basis for a tiny live steam engine called a cracker, running off of an oscillating cylinder without any valve gear (ya gotta push it to make it go!) Great job! I love every step of your fun projects.
this is great! kinda reminds me a game called scrap mechanic, you can make engines using a block called a piston, its basically a high powered double acting linear thing usually to get good performance you attatch a timing setup to the crank but a cheap method is to use buttons and manually time it
I love the fact that you get as much enjoyement out of the experiment as the original inventor probably did, take no notice of the armcair exspurts youtube is littered with them, you could tap into them as they are full of hot air LMAO
What a wonderful project! And ingenius too to use a hydraulic ram! I really would suggest sealing the other side of that ram and making it double-acting. It would be much more powerful and I'm not too certain of consistent running with a dead spot for more than 180 degrees of the rotation. But I can appreciate your goal for simplicity too. Have fun, and I look forward to seeing your next video! Happy Tuesday from Canada! Caleb
A very simple valve is to have the flywheel shaft running through a long(er) bearing, with two adjacent air ports and a flat spot on the shaft. When the flat spot lines up with the air ports, the air passes through. Timing is adjusted by turning this bearing to different alignments. It can also be aligned for reversing. Thanks for the video. Jon
It's 1:30am here in Oregon on Feb 22, 2022 and I am just paused at the start of this new video. I have been wanting to say that I love your life and the family living it. I have been holding back but I will also be truthful and say that I feel so much better after watching these because it makes ALL of my tools, hand and powered, to appear to be brand new - just out of the box. Ya can't beat that. Thanks and keep up the great intertainment. OH, accept the cnc plasma and I will probably never be able to afford one of those......//John in Oregon
@@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299 Indeed. You guys got the world by the tail. Best of times to your family and we will always be watchig. //John in Oregon
wow you work quickly!, you might want to look into working the steam expansively, small bore/long stroke cylinders make for horrifically inefficient steam engines with very little power! Big thumbs up, excited to see what happens next!
@@pieters286 I hadn't actually considered a turbine, I meant in terms of the cylinders proportions since with a larger bore you only have to inject a little steam at the start of the stroke, then as the steam expands into the cylinder it pushes the piston through its travel. Given how crude yet successful early steam engines were I don't think leather piston rings in a plain steel tube for the cylinder is out of the question or since tim's so handy with the laser cutter maybe even laser cut rings?
No, long bore worked expansively is the most efficient way to use steam. Look at stern wheel engine design, 8-12”(?) bore & 6’ stroke or something to that effect. The stroke limits the RPM. Bore & Stroke trade off torque & horse power. To answer your question, no, plasma cut parts are way too rough to seal & the slag produced on the cut edges would score the cylinder instantly.
I suggest you look at steam loco pistons, there are many different kinds of valves. Of particular note are Caprotti, Walshaerts, and Stephenson type valves and valve gear.
This makes me think of a place where they made the break point on the coast have channels that the waves could hit and blow air through with the waves crashing into them. They were meant to produce musical notes, but I think the combination of the principle of that with this would prove to be an interesting project at least.
What a wonderful machine. Maybe mount a lever or three on the flywheel that would press on the air valve as they go by giving a shot of air to the piston? You might need to figure out the speed you wanted the flywheel to turn at...I think. You would have to start the flywheel turning by hand but that should not be an issue.
Has all the makings of an interesting project bro. I have no idea where a magic valve could be found though but I bet you come up with something. Safe travels
Perhaps you could make the rim of the cutter wheel in to a cam, to lift valves to power the ram. As the the diameter is large the rotation would be slow and it would be easy to tune up the timing by moving ‘ramps’ around the rim. They could be clamped on to start with. Just a thought . Carry on the great work. Thanks.
I must say Tim you are a lesson in positivity and rescourcefulness! Bravo as always! Could you not have a non return valve and vent to atmosphere on the two inlets/outlets so that you could use both strokes? I.e on each inlet/outlet on the ram have a manifold with 3 routes, one to the ram, one to atompshere and one to the air source, a non return valve on the air source side would allow the ram to vent to atmosphere on the outstroke and allow air in for the power stroke? an unneccsary complication maybe but it could be achieved with some standard plumbing/air fittings? Just a musing more than anything else!
I would suggest a cam on the main shaft. If you attach it with a set screw you can adjust the timing until you get it right. Then all you would need is a little bracket to hold the valve in the right spot.
yabbut. How do you plan to pipe the hot air all the way from Parliament to your farm? Tim, I do like the way you do your videos; that "one second glimpse" of a flexible tube blowing out air, two glimpses of different torches; and sometimes, just a two-second shot of a file being wielded by hand reminds me of how much work there is going on, not to make the video, but just for each step in the job at hand. Thanks, Chris
that is pretty cool. I have used rams like that with air for things that did not require massive amount of force. My neighbor used one for a door. I can not recall what exactly what he did.
Could you use the sxhaust near the top of the piston to activate some sort of valve at the bottom? maybe using a membrane and a pin like on a turbo blow off valve.
More Locomotion/Synchronicity study. A smaller hyd piston located on the smaller centralized eccentric that you have yet to design. CCHHEERRSSSSS But you know this already... he he he. Cant wait to see it in ACTION. ! ! ! !
I want to refer you to a guy named Corey Little. He created a very simple pneumatic valve design for bikes, and I think it would work nicely for your needs.
*@Way Out West - Workshop Stuff* MAGIC VALVE-ish: The timing is directly tied to the rotational position of the flywheel, you could add a kind if ramp & similar to the flywheel (add counter balancing weights too) for the length=duration that the steam needs to be added, then have some kind of button-like thing that gets pressed in when the ramp is in the right position which lets in more steam.
Ah finally an area I do have knowledge, lol - I was a hydraulic engineer in my early years, I use to design pumps, cylinders and valves. a simple valve you can make would be a spool valve. You can make simply like this: Steel rod, say 100mm long, and turn down the middle, say for a width of 30m, so you would have something that looks like ===---=== , then take a piece of square stock and tap 3 holes in a row on the side and run a hole through the middle. the idea is the spool moves back and forth and only connects 2 of the 3 holes at a time, so the center hole goes to the cylinder, the other air pressure and the last one is exhaust. hope this helps some. if it doesnt makes sense, check google images for "simple spool valve"
I'm really just waiting for Tim to casually release a video about an antigrav vehicle or teleporter he accidentally built between feeding the donkeys and breakfast.
@@IndustrialParrot2816 you need a pretty big boiler to produce enough steam for a 6inch piston. I think even this piston may be too big for his small boiler...
I can say yes I don’t even have to watch the video to see why and now that I’m watching the video you can power the piston in bolth cycles like a steam engine further into the video i think that what you did was the beast option
As an ex hardware control software engineer (in a former life) I would add a circular encoder strip to the end of the axel, or even a linear encoder strip along the rim of the flywheel, and then connect a detector to a PC / laptop / PLC which would trigger a series of solenoid controlled air valves at the correct times. Overkill? Well, yes. But if you programmed it correctly then it could very quickly 'learn' the optimum timings and be as efficient as possible
I like this answer but I don't think a computer is getting a job at this fella's shop. Though there is the cutting machine that he's fine programming, maybe I'm wrong.
A little magnet with a reed switch would do quite nicely here, to fire off a solenoid valve :) I suppose an old leaf-switch contact like they had in the rotary phone days would work but I can't imagine that having any sort of really meaningful lifetime to it. But maybe that's me!
You’re going to need a 3/2 valve, that is 3 port, 2 position as you need to be able to apply pressure on the extend stroke and vent as it retracts with flywheel rotation. Simplest way is going to using a cam arrangement on the shaft which actuates a 3/2 valve
Maybe something like this? I don't know if this specific one is heat resistant but when I was a younger man I serviced natural gas well sites. They had heat trace lines with switches that were similar. They would switch on and off roughly 2 times a second. It's difficult to explain how the whole pump worked but they ran off these gas pressure from the well sites.
Yep, you need a shuttle valve, something that will open fully to vent the reverse stroke air. Since it is already expanded in the cylinder, you want as large a port as possible so it vents compressing the air inside as little as possible so it doesn’t impose so much drag. It being a double acting cylinder, you could put one on each end port, actuated by the same rod and get 2 power strokes…
Valve gear! That's what your going to need to look into on making it timed correctly, The same kind used on steam locomotives, and compressed gas locomotives. They were commonly the exact same or very similar between the two. I cant wait to see how it turns out
2:48 No, they don't always have holes at both ends. This is a "double acting piston" meaning that it can pull as well as push. My International 340 tractor had a manure bucket with single-acting pistons, meaning that it could pick up the bucket but not push it down. That relied on gravity.
I think he meant the mounting holes. One being on the end of the piston and one at the bottom of the case. Thanks to this the piston can move making the cranking of the flywheel possible. Usually hydraulic pistons are built to allow the movement to make buckets or really anything needing hydraulic lifting arms possible. They do more then just "push out" and "pull in" for most tasks. They have to move up and down in there mounting points to make them useful. But there are pistons that only push in and out without the mounting to allow the movement up and down. But really they are kind of rare since the applications that requires only a pull and push movement are few. The extra mounting length of the piston is barely anything so even if you do not need the up and down moment, well. To make a piston with the mounting being on the rounded cylinder is just not needed in so many cases. Better to stick with this kind of hydraulic cylinder so you can find replacements easier when needing to repair it. Rarely do you see any other pistons design outside of small air driven ones or special use cases. If the space constrains are REAL, Like having a locking pin pushed into a door or gate whatever you barely find anything but pistons with a single cylinder or extendable multi cylinder pistons. (telescoping piston) With basically the same mounting and movement possibilities outside of special use cases that are really not worth talking about. Yea double acting and singles are a thing too. But really outside of telescoping or single cylinder pistons the differences are sizes. Basically. Mounting points are as they are for a really good reason.
you could add a drip oiler to the upper end of the chamber that you dont have hooked up to the air or even drill a weep hole up there as the oil with coat the hole length of the ram that way (could use a mineral oil or canola not a fancy as modern oils but far safer for any critters)
@@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299 as a side note i always enjoy your approach to projects and your general good nature and i thank you for sharing it with us
I'm curious as what you intend to use the steam engine on once it is complete? I have a hunch it might be to move your rolling stock around your railway?
th-cam.com/video/UC3GtQjUpII/w-d-xo.html that’s the video link Tom does some very interesting experiments and having now fully watched the video I think you’ll find it even more helpful for where I think this is going ☺️ as I suspect that either, a) hydraulic or b) steam
Counterweight on the wheel? Something like a steam locomotive valve gear to admit air at the right time? Then maybe add a second wheel, add flanges....
About the problem of making a piston without a lathe I can highly recommend the videos of The DIY Science guy who built nice pistons for his steam engine using only basic tools
How about making a clamped on lobe ( like a camshaft lobe ) and slipping it on the flywheel shaft and mounting the compressor blower valve under it. Then its a matter of adjusting the timing to blow air in when needed. Just like when you did your first run and opened the blow pipe using your thumb. 😄
@@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299 🖌Mmmm. So you need a second exhaust port at the bottom of the stroke and a second lobe with a second valve. This is starting to loo🎨k like a two stroke engine to me! Love the videos Tim. They're so good at explaining the problems faced by inventors past and present with a make do and mend approach.
Next time you want to get something like that undone and you're not too bothered about heat damage try welding a block of steel to it so you have something to hit with the flogging hammer.
Tim, you need to position the crank much closer to the flywheel, there will be far too much bending moment on the shaft and wear on the bearings in its current state. As others have said, a valve activated by the axle or the rocking motion of the ram (as in a simple oscillating steam engine) could work the air/steam inlet. But you need to consider how to exhaust the driving air/steam as well...
You're right, Tony - but I need to leave space for the drive sprocket, as well as the valve gear, so I thought I wouldn't cut anything off just yet. Any ideas for the exhaust? I was thinking a sliding plate over a hole in the cylinder, but I don't want to mess up anything
@@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299 Tim, I'm thinking a simple shuttle valve operated by an adjustable cam on the axle (or the edge of the flywheel?) or a rotary valve, much like a faucet but with a 3-way hole, to both cut off the air and let the exhaust out.
Take a look at the mechanism they used to keep a propeller airplane from shooting off its own propeller in WWI. Should be 'easy' to do the same on this engine, and have the air valve open and close based on the position of the shaft. Same cam should be able to work 2 valves, one for supply air, and a second for an exhaust port. You can make 2 cam rings that can be turned slightly to have adjustable timing for each. Make it 4 rings, and you can have adjustable timing for input and exhaust for forward and reverse. Supply air control valve will act as your throttle.
You know, have you considered an air-powered locomotive for the railway? Look up "Hissing Sid" which is a 2ft gauge loco, which is basically a large pressurised air tank which drives a couple of cylinders. You might also try a fireless type loco, but I think that if you want to go with steam, you should look for a 2-cylinder steam launch engine which can be chain-driven to the axles and perhaps a small vertical firetube boiler.
Being a serious steam train nut, and familiar with tractor hydraulics and rams, watching this project is a real joy! It really brings all sorts of passions together, and in a relatable way! I can't wait to see the process of building some sort of regulating valve... a Walschaerts valve gear perhaps? something of your own invention? On to the next thrilling installment!
Well said, I too can't wait either. Like your surname aswell
Well walschearts valve gear is like really hard to make Stevenson's would be easier
A simple push button valve will do fine. You should be able to set it from the crank via a rod or bar. This'll work fine with air but not so good with steam as steam will expand in working but air just pushes.
Also, you have to find some way of exhausting the air in the cylinder while the piston goes back down.
Good luck
It’s designed for steam power so I will never be esp efficient, but never mind, it is pretty easy to make something go round & even get some usable horsepower out of it if fuel economy isn’t a concern.
I think the biggest limiting factor is probably port size.
I would simply add a fixed valve (rotary?) and use hydraulic hoses to pipe the steam to the cyld.
I enjoy the way you pace your storytelling.
If you guys have some old broken down agricultural equipment laying around, hydrostatic transmissions are a great source for homemade engine parts. Most of them utilize a squash plate against six cylinders with pistons actuated by oil. These systems work bathed in oil so they are often in very good shape even if the overall machine is not. There are some surprisingly tight tolerances in there, I have made several Sterling radial engines out of smaller ones, from riding mowers
I'm a mechanical engineer in germany for agricultural machines.
My biggest mistake I ever made was accidentally blocking a hydraulic cylinder from pivoting (in a prototype). So basically the piston moved out, tried to follow the thing it was pushing, but the bottom part couldn't move. So the rod had to bend. It bend roughly 30-40°! It was bent like a banana!
No oil leak, it still moved in and back out again and I had the shock and laugh of my life all at once.
Pretty damn sturdy those things.
Not all of them come with 2 holes; often the rod is threaded and sometimes the cylinder has a bolts welded on the sides to move the pivot point closer to the seal (i.e. dumper do that quite often).
By the way, I almost always like the shapes of your plasma cut sheetmetal parts. I recon they must look "natural" (rounded shapes) and yours always do. Structually it usually complies with stresses if the part looks like it "grew" (like a tree).
Hey, ich bin momentan im 5. Semester Maschinenbau und würde später auch gerne in Richtung Landmaschinen / Sondermaschinenbau gehen. Hast du vlt ein paar gute Tipps? Wie zufrieden bist du mit deiner Richtung, gibt es Firmen die empfehlenswert sind oder welche die man eher meiden sollte? Bin für jeden Ratschlag dankbar!
@@clypeum5063 habe dir eine Email geschickt :-)
@@RubyRhod danke, habe dir geantwortet (Spam?)
Yeah that'll work pretty well! - taking a leaf out ot the steam engine book, now you need some sort of eccentric connected to some sort of shuttle valve. Careful with oil lubrication though, you might end up with an impromptu diesel engine if your valve timing fails and the flywheel compresses the air in the cylinder. Some sort of silicone oil may be the answer there.
Great comment!
Ha! Brilliant : - )
I love how your always so surprised when something works
*@Way Out West - Workshop Stuff*
1:29 You could use a bit of wood between the hammer & target, to not damage the target thingy.
Literally just discovered your two channels a few days ago. What a marvelous couple & loyal friends pursuing the true joy of making do with very little yet doing amazing things with brains and hands. A rusty hydraulic piston as a motor for 15€?! Great fun and new experiences you can put in your back pocket for future adventures. Rock on friends.
FUN! I love when you use the phrase '...using my usual method...' and cut to you clobbering the bejesus out of it. LOL!
Sir you are an OUSTANDING ENGINEER 👍😇 Cheers 🍻
More videos to go on the "extra credit" list for my students! Real engineering! Solving a problem step-by-step! Outstanding!!
Thank you so much!
Cheers from Guam! 🇬🇺
Beautiful. I could watch this all day!
I've built a few air engines myself, it's quite challenge and from the looks of it, you're doing great so far! :)
From what I know this is the basis for a tiny live steam engine called a cracker, running off of an oscillating cylinder without any valve gear (ya gotta push it to make it go!)
Great job! I love every step of your fun projects.
what fun....enjoy the built
Well yet another incredible Caractacus Potts type invention.... good work Tim.
this is great!
kinda reminds me
a game called scrap mechanic, you can make engines using a block called a piston, its basically a high powered double acting linear thing
usually to get good performance you attatch a timing setup to the crank but a cheap method is to use buttons and manually time it
Don’t worry about what people comment! I love your videos and enjoy everyone! You are a smart man keep up the good work
Great fun! I'm enjoying this build, particularly the simplicity. Best wishes from Key West, Conch Republic.
Capt. Blackheart Charlie
The process is marvellous to watch!
Always a joy to discover your latest idea Tim. Your ingenuity never ceases to amaze me. Thanks.
I love the fact that you get as much enjoyement out of the experiment as the original inventor probably did, take no notice of the armcair exspurts youtube is littered with them, you could tap into them as they are full of hot air LMAO
What a wonderful project! And ingenius too to use a hydraulic ram! I really would suggest sealing the other side of that ram and making it double-acting. It would be much more powerful and I'm not too certain of consistent running with a dead spot for more than 180 degrees of the rotation. But I can appreciate your goal for simplicity too.
Have fun, and I look forward to seeing your next video! Happy Tuesday from Canada!
Caleb
And another adventurous project has been launched.
Really enjoying this build. Bonkers in the best sense of the word!
I'd bet you could use the side-to-side movement of the ram-body against the frame to work the valve.
Man, in every video of yours I learn something new about mechanics and new ways of powering something.. amazing ♥️
you could use a air compressor pump as an steam engine if you reverse the exhaust to the input and the intake as exhaust
That's a really good start on an air engine!
A very simple valve is to have the flywheel shaft running through a long(er) bearing, with two adjacent air ports and a flat spot on the shaft. When the flat spot lines up with the air ports, the air passes through. Timing is adjusted by turning this bearing to different alignments. It can also be aligned for reversing. Thanks for the video. Jon
Yes, there are a few types to choose from
The bird song was my favourite part :)
It's 1:30am here in Oregon on Feb 22, 2022 and I am just paused at the start of this new video.
I have been wanting to say that I love your life and the family living it. I have been holding back but I will also
be truthful and say that I feel so much better after watching these because it makes ALL of my tools, hand and powered, to appear to be brand new - just out of the box.
Ya can't beat that. Thanks and keep up the great intertainment.
OH, accept the cnc plasma and I will probably never be able to afford one of those......//John in Oregon
Thanks, John. Always nice to get kind words of encouragement. It's amazing how TH-cam can connect people all around the world, isn't it?
@@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299 Indeed. You guys got the world by the tail. Best of times to your family and we will always be watchig. //John in Oregon
wow you work quickly!, you might want to look into working the steam expansively, small bore/long stroke cylinders make for horrifically inefficient steam engines with very little power!
Big thumbs up, excited to see what happens next!
you mean something like turbine?
@@pieters286 I hadn't actually considered a turbine, I meant in terms of the cylinders proportions since with a larger bore you only have to inject a little steam at the start of the stroke, then as the steam expands into the cylinder it pushes the piston through its travel.
Given how crude yet successful early steam engines were I don't think leather piston rings in a plain steel tube for the cylinder is out of the question or since tim's so handy with the laser cutter maybe even laser cut rings?
No, long bore worked expansively is the most efficient way to use steam. Look at stern wheel engine design, 8-12”(?) bore & 6’ stroke or something to that effect.
The stroke limits the RPM.
Bore & Stroke trade off torque & horse power.
To answer your question, no, plasma cut parts are way too rough to seal & the slag produced on the cut edges would score the cylinder instantly.
I suggest you look at steam loco pistons, there are many different kinds of valves. Of particular note are Caprotti, Walshaerts, and Stephenson type valves and valve gear.
Brilliant stuff. Ok I'm looking forward to seeing your progress on this project.
This makes me think of a place where they made the break point on the coast have channels that the waves could hit and blow air through with the waves crashing into them. They were meant to produce musical notes, but I think the combination of the principle of that with this would prove to be an interesting project at least.
What a wonderful machine. Maybe mount a lever or three on the flywheel that would press on the air valve as they go by giving a shot of air to the piston? You might need to figure out the speed you wanted the flywheel to turn at...I think. You would have to start the flywheel turning by hand but that should not be an issue.
Has all the makings of an interesting project bro. I have no idea where a magic valve could be found though but I bet you come up with something. Safe travels
Perhaps you could make the rim of the cutter wheel in to a cam, to lift valves to power the ram. As the the diameter is large the rotation would be slow and it would be easy to tune up the timing by moving ‘ramps’ around the rim. They could be clamped on to start with. Just a thought . Carry on the great work. Thanks.
Lovely to watch!
I must say Tim you are a lesson in positivity and rescourcefulness! Bravo as always! Could you not have a non return valve and vent to atmosphere on the two inlets/outlets so that you could use both strokes? I.e on each inlet/outlet on the ram have a manifold with 3 routes, one to the ram, one to atompshere and one to the air source, a non return valve on the air source side would allow the ram to vent to atmosphere on the outstroke and allow air in for the power stroke? an unneccsary complication maybe but it could be achieved with some standard plumbing/air fittings? Just a musing more than anything else!
Your a magician Tim!
I would suggest a cam on the main shaft. If you attach it with a set screw you can adjust the timing until you get it right. Then all you would need is a little bracket to hold the valve in the right spot.
Good stuff Tim
If it’s remotely fesable, you should try to use pressure for both the in and out stroke, just to get more power out
yabbut. How do you plan to pipe the hot air all the way from Parliament to your farm?
Tim, I do like the way you do your videos; that "one second glimpse" of a flexible tube blowing out air, two glimpses of different torches; and sometimes, just a two-second shot of a file being wielded by hand reminds me of how much work there is going on, not to make the video, but just for each step in the job at hand. Thanks, Chris
I often think - Oops! I should have filmed that bit. I really need a fulltime cameraperson so I can concentrate on the project. I might get more done.
2 Position 3 Way Roller valve might cost you another 15 euro . Thank you for sharing your adventures, it is always fun to watch
I hope to find a way that would work for steam too - do you think these would?
@@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299 I don't know, but I don't see a problem. I believe you can make anything works
I don’t know why but I’m very invested in this project.
that is pretty cool.
I have used rams like that with air for things that did not require massive amount of force. My neighbor used one for a door. I can not recall what exactly what he did.
Could you use the sxhaust near the top of the piston to activate some sort of valve at the bottom? maybe using a membrane and a pin like on a turbo blow off valve.
More Locomotion/Synchronicity study. A smaller hyd piston located on the smaller centralized eccentric that you have yet to design. CCHHEERRSSSSS But you know this already... he he he. Cant wait to see it in ACTION. ! ! ! !
I want to refer you to a guy named Corey Little. He created a very simple pneumatic valve design for bikes, and I think it would work nicely for your needs.
Thanks, Andrew. I need it to be steam proof too, and that's proving a challenge.
*@Way Out West - Workshop Stuff*
MAGIC VALVE-ish:
The timing is directly tied to the rotational position of the flywheel, you could add a kind if ramp & similar to the flywheel (add counter balancing weights too) for the length=duration that the steam needs to be added, then have some kind of button-like thing that gets pressed in when the ramp is in the right position which lets in more steam.
Yes, but what about the exhaust air?
@@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299 Another timing ramp on the opposite left/right side on the wheel?
You could set up a simpel cam with roller to push down on the air nozzle trigger, easy simple solution and uses stuff you already got
Ah finally an area I do have knowledge, lol - I was a hydraulic engineer in my early years, I use to design pumps, cylinders and valves. a simple valve you can make would be a spool valve. You can make simply like this:
Steel rod, say 100mm long, and turn down the middle, say for a width of 30m, so you would have something that looks like ===---=== , then take a piece of square stock and tap 3 holes in a row on the side and run a hole through the middle. the idea is the spool moves back and forth and only connects 2 of the 3 holes at a time, so the center hole goes to the cylinder, the other air pressure and the last one is exhaust. hope this helps some. if it doesnt makes sense, check google images for "simple spool valve"
Eureka!!! It works! :)
This is amazing and brilliant! You never cease to amaze me!
I like where this is going!!
I'm really just waiting for Tim to casually release a video about an antigrav vehicle or teleporter he accidentally built between feeding the donkeys and breakfast.
Don't forget, compressed air is probably the most expensive form of energy in your shop. Unless of course you intend to run it with steam.
if its going to run on steam then it will need a massive cylinder a least 6 inches in diameter
@@IndustrialParrot2816 you need a pretty big boiler to produce enough steam for a 6inch piston.
I think even this piston may be too big for his small boiler...
That's it, it works. Job done :)
I can say yes I don’t even have to watch the video to see why and now that I’m watching the video you can power the piston in bolth cycles like a steam engine further into the video i think that what you did was the beast option
I’d suggest using an eccentric on the flywheel to control the valve but many, many others have already said so haha
As an ex hardware control software engineer (in a former life) I would add a circular encoder strip to the end of the axel, or even a linear encoder strip along the rim of the flywheel, and then connect a detector to a PC / laptop / PLC which would trigger a series of solenoid controlled air valves at the correct times. Overkill? Well, yes. But if you programmed it correctly then it could very quickly 'learn' the optimum timings and be as efficient as possible
I like this answer but I don't think a computer is getting a job at this fella's shop. Though there is the cutting machine that he's fine programming, maybe I'm wrong.
Thanks
A little magnet with a reed switch would do quite nicely here, to fire off a solenoid valve :) I suppose an old leaf-switch contact like they had in the rotary phone days would work but I can't imagine that having any sort of really meaningful lifetime to it. But maybe that's me!
Thanks - yes, perhaps that could work
Cool I enjoy watching your workshop videos especially your steam engine and railway track ones because I a bit of a steam train nut.
Take a look at plug valves as used on very early locos such as Trevithick's, the principles still hold good for a very basic valve gear.
Will do, Colin - thanks
thats fantastic! so exciting!
What a great idea!
Have a look at an oscillating cylinder engine (wobbler engine) for ideas.
You’re going to need a 3/2 valve, that is 3 port, 2 position as you need to be able to apply pressure on the extend stroke and vent as it retracts with flywheel rotation.
Simplest way is going to using a cam arrangement on the shaft which actuates a 3/2 valve
I knew one of the comments must mention using a cam th-cam.com/video/kxqmsaaDfdE/w-d-xo.html
I think the good old Evaporust would make your battel with rust go a lot easier. Not selling. Just recommending.
I'm getting some mad scientist vibes from this video 🤓
Great job buddy
a cam lobe on the flywheel shaft to push on air squeeze handle. also a bracket to hold it in place?
but I'd still need something to allow the exhaust air/steam out
Maybe something like this? I don't know if this specific one is heat resistant but when I was a younger man I serviced natural gas well sites. They had heat trace lines with switches that were similar. They would switch on and off roughly 2 times a second. It's difficult to explain how the whole pump worked but they ran off these gas pressure from the well sites.
@@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299 th-cam.com/video/qX7XNM4X2Rc/w-d-xo.html
Yep, you need a shuttle valve, something that will open fully to vent the reverse stroke air. Since it is already expanded in the cylinder, you want as large a port as possible so it vents compressing the air inside as little as possible so it doesn’t impose so much drag. It being a double acting cylinder, you could put one on each end port, actuated by the same rod and get 2 power strokes…
Valve gear! That's what your going to need to look into on making it timed correctly, The same kind used on steam locomotives, and compressed gas locomotives. They were commonly the exact same or very similar between the two. I cant wait to see how it turns out
2:48 No, they don't always have holes at both ends. This is a "double acting piston" meaning that it can pull as well as push. My International 340 tractor had a manure bucket with single-acting pistons, meaning that it could pick up the bucket but not push it down. That relied on gravity.
I think by holes at both ends he means the anchor points.
I think he meant the mounting holes. One being on the end of the piston and one at the bottom of the case. Thanks to this the piston can move making the cranking of the flywheel possible. Usually hydraulic pistons are built to allow the movement to make buckets or really anything needing hydraulic lifting arms possible. They do more then just "push out" and "pull in" for most tasks. They have to move up and down in there mounting points to make them useful.
But there are pistons that only push in and out without the mounting to allow the movement up and down. But really they are kind of rare since the applications that requires only a pull and push movement are few. The extra mounting length of the piston is barely anything so even if you do not need the up and down moment, well. To make a piston with the mounting being on the rounded cylinder is just not needed in so many cases. Better to stick with this kind of hydraulic cylinder so you can find replacements easier when needing to repair it.
Rarely do you see any other pistons design outside of small air driven ones or special use cases. If the space constrains are REAL, Like having a locking pin pushed into a door or gate whatever you barely find anything but pistons with a single cylinder or extendable multi cylinder pistons. (telescoping piston) With basically the same mounting and movement possibilities outside of special use cases that are really not worth talking about.
Yea double acting and singles are a thing too. But really outside of telescoping or single cylinder pistons the differences are sizes. Basically. Mounting points are as they are for a really good reason.
you could add a drip oiler to the upper end of the chamber that you dont have hooked up to the air or even drill a weep hole up there as the oil with coat the hole length of the ram that way (could use a mineral oil or canola not a fancy as modern oils but far safer for any critters)
Good idea - thanks.
@@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299 as a side note i always enjoy your approach to projects and your general good nature and i thank you for sharing it with us
I'm curious as what you intend to use the steam engine on once it is complete? I have a hunch it might be to move your rolling stock around your railway?
TOP sharing 👍
I could give you a very good video someone did on the air sort on a bike
Yes please, Aaron
th-cam.com/video/UC3GtQjUpII/w-d-xo.html that’s the video link Tom does some very interesting experiments and having now fully watched the video I think you’ll find it even more helpful for where I think this is going ☺️ as I suspect that either, a) hydraulic or b) steam
Counterweight on the wheel? Something like a steam locomotive valve gear to admit air at the right time? Then maybe add a second wheel, add flanges....
About the problem of making a piston without a lathe I can highly recommend the videos of The DIY Science guy who built nice pistons for his steam engine using only basic tools
Ok, thanks. Will do
The rising of the locomotive!
How about making a clamped on lobe ( like a camshaft lobe ) and slipping it on the flywheel shaft and mounting the compressor blower valve under it. Then its a matter of adjusting the timing to blow air in when needed. Just like when you did your first run and opened the blow pipe using your thumb. 😄
Yes, that would work - but the problem is really the exhaust gas
@@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299 🖌Mmmm. So you need a second exhaust port at the bottom of the stroke and a second lobe with a second valve. This is starting to loo🎨k like a two stroke engine to me! Love the videos Tim. They're so good at explaining the problems faced by inventors past and present with a make do and mend approach.
Next time you want to get something like that undone and you're not too bothered about heat damage try welding a block of steel to it so you have something to hit with the flogging hammer.
Great Experiment, for the price.
Tim, you need to position the crank much closer to the flywheel, there will be far too much bending moment on the shaft and wear on the bearings in its current state. As others have said, a valve activated by the axle or the rocking motion of the ram (as in a simple oscillating steam engine) could work the air/steam inlet. But you need to consider how to exhaust the driving air/steam as well...
You're right, Tony - but I need to leave space for the drive sprocket, as well as the valve gear, so I thought I wouldn't cut anything off just yet. Any ideas for the exhaust? I was thinking a sliding plate over a hole in the cylinder, but I don't want to mess up anything
@@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299 Tim, I'm thinking a simple shuttle valve operated by an adjustable cam on the axle (or the edge of the flywheel?) or a rotary valve, much like a faucet but with a 3-way hole, to both cut off the air and let the exhaust out.
put a lobe on the crankshaft to open the ir valve
Just love it!!
Very cool!
Greetings . I ask: cylinder used for whole days. Not being lubricated by oil; do the seals wear out?
Take a look at the mechanism they used to keep a propeller airplane from shooting off its own propeller in WWI. Should be 'easy' to do the same on this engine, and have the air valve open and close based on the position of the shaft. Same cam should be able to work 2 valves, one for supply air, and a second for an exhaust port. You can make 2 cam rings that can be turned slightly to have adjustable timing for each. Make it 4 rings, and you can have adjustable timing for input and exhaust for forward and reverse. Supply air control valve will act as your throttle.
Yes, that's pretty much what I'm going for now (though I tried something else first!)
You could limit the flow rate going into the piston and somehow let the air out when it's fully extended. That way you don't need a complicated valve.
You know, have you considered an air-powered locomotive for the railway? Look up "Hissing Sid" which is a 2ft gauge loco, which is basically a large pressurised air tank which drives a couple of cylinders. You might also try a fireless type loco, but I think that if you want to go with steam, you should look for a 2-cylinder steam launch engine which can be chain-driven to the axles and perhaps a small vertical firetube boiler.
That's brilliant 😁😁😁
I’m still waiting for a video on your snow fence maker. You said you made one?
One day!
Now you're getting there Tim,you're on the way to a steam engine also.