As others have said, Tim, make that piston double-acting, then add the same contraption to the other side of the flywheel, but 90deg out of phase, so it would be self-starting (power available at any point in the cycle.) And roller bearings on the push rod ends to bear on the cam faces would save a lot of friction and potential wear. But it's looking good - very satisfying to see it in action!
I doubt that he can make the piston double acting, considering he made his from hydraulic ram. Edit: apparently there *are* double acting hydraulic rams, my bad
Most of those hydraulic cylinders are double-acting... so you could probably get power on the "backstroke" too, with more plasma-cutting, and timing, I'm pretty sure that's what they did with the old steam engines. I imagine it's possible, and that you've already thought of it, but I don't think it's a crazy idea anyway ;) So impressed with your skills on this project- from a seized cylinder and flywheel to a real, working air engine! Fabulous!
The problem is that it requires almost twice as much air. So energy is spent compressing air to put through a double acting cylinder to do what? On a four cycle engine, there are three idle strokes.
This engine looks really good!!I do think the comment about a fatter piston might be right, as although it'll take more air, more pressure can be put into the engine and give it more power! Another good idea might be to add a second piston 25-30 or so degrees offset, so there's no big gap in power, and the engine will run much smoother. I'm no expert in engineering or engines, but I think these might help. Either way, keep up the good work and have a nice day!
I would recommend adding a second piston and set of valves on the other side, as well as using both sides of the pistons. You might be able to use 1 valve per piston if you use something like the Stephenson's valve gear. it's a bit more complicated than what you have here, but you could get much more torque and speed out of your piston and use both sides instead of just one side!
Yesterday i thought: "Hmm.. i wonder when Way Out West - Workshop Stuff is gonna post another video..." Then suddenly today, i saw the notification to this video, and i watched the video from start to end. Also great video, i like it. 👍
This looks great Tim! Excellent work! You know, I think you could make that piston double-acting without adding any extra cams at all! You might be able to make a clever spool valve that exhausts the one side of the cylinder and pressurizes the other side, all in one motion? Then, you'd still only need the same number of components as you have now, but you could provide power on that pesky backstroke as well!
2:43 Your sealing issue could be handled with O-rings, if you make the ports offset along the length of the shaft, with an O-ring sealing against the shaft between them. (So you would have an O-ring above the valve section, one port, another ring, the second port and the third ring at the bottom.) Then you'd grind a much longer bit on your rod, as airflow would only occur when the narrow section was bridging the gap across that central ring.
Brilliant work Tim, You are working with High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP) and not High Pressure Low Volume (HPLV) - in such situations pipe diameter is key, larger bore is your friend - less pipe is always positive. The entrance to the cyclinder as large as possible within reason! Your valve set up, a lot of work, but maybe a cylinder head and "4 stroke Valve" set up would suit better, remeber your steam supply on the other side of the side of the valve must also release quickly through the valve. I'd suggest a small tank slightly larger than the stroke of the piston - which the valve opens into. Love the work and look forward to the next set up :) :)
That's so amazing!!! The way you break it down and just make it seem like something you built, rather than a cool invention, it makes me feel like even I could build one!!
That reminds me of some of the designs for early naval steam boilers. I think we are seeing why most locomotives had multiple compression phases and multiple cylinders. Not sure if you can add a powered backstroke with the cylinder you have there though
A counterweight on the flywheel would help smooth things out a bit. But the issue with power is the surface area on the piston is too small, power will be higher with steam than air but still not going to be great for much work. Maybe its time to make your own cylinder 🤔 same stroke but larger surface for the pressure to push against.
Richard Trevithick would be proud. Could you add another cylinder on the other side of the frame offset at about 60 degrees, this would give you a longer duration on the power stroke. Its a lot more 'plumbing' though. Cracking effort all the same 👍👍
Remember you need some sort of liquid to lubricate the piston seals, the water in steam would normally do this. I recall a museum using air to drive an old steam engine motion but it ran dry and seized.
@@stevelowndes5803 Nah not always. High pressure Diesel pumps for common rails do use the Diesel as lubricant, but they won´t work with anything else. Thats why you can´t pour petrol into the tank of your modern diesel car in order to keep the diesel from becoming a gel in winter. Even a small amount of petrol will destroy the pump because there´s not enough lubrication. I´m a fireman/stoker ("Heizer" in German) at a railway museum in Germany. They´d f***ing kill me if i ever tried to run the engine without oil. ;D
If you haven't already, you should look into how a steam chest works. It actually uses the steam itself to seal things up. Take a look at this explanation th-cam.com/video/kJRUXvV4IQs/w-d-xo.html All the best, Jay
Love the elegant oval shapes on the pushrods as well as the shape of the cam-follower heads. Not only functional, but beautiful! This is sculpture in motion and so much fun to watch. :-)
I would first like to say is well done on the design and setup of your air powered engine. I wonder though, if you make it a double-acting cylinder, if it would help with maintaining speed and not solely relying on the momentum of the flywheel? Maybe add a second cylinder and have the cranks to be 90 degrees offset, possibly a little bit more- so that every rotation of the cranks shaft is a power stroke? Love the content you have. ❤
All I can say is: your progress is DEEPLY inspiring. I wish I lived in a place (and had the resources) where I could tinker like you can! Ironically, it's easier in the middle of nowhere in Ireland, than in the middle of almost nowhere on the East Coast of the USA...
*@Way Out West - Workshop Stuff* Hi again, One thing I think of (but I don't think can be done in the current configuration), is to push out the piston in the top of the wheel, instead of bottom, in that way the weight of the piston would help in the un-powered part, but that would probably add like +1 rpm or something. Another idea, is to hook up another piston in the same way, but rotated to along the opposite leg of the support triangle, I don't think the timings needs to be adjusted at all, as long as the cams relative position to the piston & wheel center is unchanged (remember to think of the rotation direction). I really like the cam design, it's exactly what I imagined from the previous videos.
Hi Tim! I really enjoy watching your projects evolve as you make something, and then try to improve it. I see many suggestions in the comments to make this engine double acting, but I have a Very simple suggestion to try before you modify your engine further. Use a Ball Valve on your air hose instead of the little air nozzle you are using. The air nozzle is rather restrictive internally and throttles the air a lot. On my air engine, made from an old lawnmower engine, switching to a ball valve made a very noticeable difference. Cheers M8.
I would have to say that this design is ready for a second cylinder to balance the power cycle. A lot of work I agree, but it should be enough to get a much more constant power stream going. Very impressive stuff Sir!
I notice that there are holes in the cast flywheel ‘spokes’ - It might be worth experimenting by bolting on weights to smooth out the rotational action using those holes. It’s certainly a lovely bit of engineering - quite beautiful really! 👍
Great work! If I may suggest as I do have experience in this area. When the pressure valve opens it requires X amount of volume to fill the cylinder, where does it come from? it must come from the source at the end of the hose (compressor tank), so to aid this gulp of air, you can put a small air tank at the pressure inlet of the valve. A larger volume that what the cylider requires. What will happen is a volume of air can be taken rapidly without draining this tank, during the return stroke the supply line will finish off filling this volume of air. - in pneumatics/hydraulics we call this tank a remote accumulator. I also design this air tank system into CNC machine shops to install portable 30gal air tanks next to each machine thus easing the burden on the supply lines and having to have a greater CFM main compressor.. Another thing you could do is add a second outlet on the pressure spool to pressurize the return stroke - google 3 way spool. Well at the very least, I hope this just inspires thought.
So a lot of other people have suggested powering the backstroke as well because the piston is double acting, but before you do that I would also suggest that you make both the intake and exhaust activate and deactivate later. This gives you less powered time and less exhaust time BUT the piston wont be traveling at such a high velocity right at the end of the powered stroke. This will make the engine run smoother. also, if you are going to power the backstroke, it needs to be 180 degrees out of phase NOT the 90 degrees mentioned in other comments. you can also achieve the same thing by placing another piston on the engine as well. just make sure that they are 180 degrees out of phase. if you decide to go the extra mile and power both pistons on their backstroke as well then each stroke needs to be 90 degrees out of phase. this insures that at least one piston is on every quarter of a rotation. This allows for a smoother rotation. Before any of these modifications you're going to need more air, in fact, having more air will also make this engine more powerful and faster in its current configuration. I hope this helps a bit, and I look forward to seeing your next video!
Thanks. Yes, I've considered all those options and decided against double-acting these cylinders because the rod takes up so much space - I'm going to try adding the other cylinder. if I can..
Hey Tim, love your vids I've got a few thought about your project as follows, The flywheel you are using is too light especially near the perimeter and doesn't store enough energy to carry the rotation back to its starting point, it needs more mass. The cylinder, being designed for hydraulic use has small ports that restrict the flow of air to in and out there would be a definite advantage in creating large ports all around. Rapid filling is essential A larger diameter cylinder would be also help and wouldn't necessarily use more air if the stroke was shorter proportionately. A double acting cylinder is a must, the efficiency loss on the back stroke is way to costly. These are just a few thoughts which I hope don't appear too abrupt, I have other ideas but have tried to keep it short keep up the good work.
Tim if you still going down the steam engine route you going to need a bigger boiler then the one you had that went bang but don't forget that steam is a gas and it volume is 4x the amount of air so some pressure gauges are a must. now if your going to keep topping the water tank your going to need to take that with you and a pump to pump it in to the boiler and don't pump in cold water as the shock of the difference will make that bang sound again so you will need a pre heater for the water just like your super heater but water going in . And for heating instead of wood or goal that you will have to carry as well Why not use a gas burner and a gas bottle like you would use on your BBQ as you can control the amount of heat and you can shut if of if things get too hot and the pressure is rising too much hope this helps and don't be afraid to contact me if you would like more help
I wouldn't have thought a chaff cutter wheel would be effective as a flywheel....it just doesn't really have the weight to slightly overtake the piston..i'd be hesitant to add weights to it too....it is only cast....looks good though!...very clever!
On my first day with a hydraulic engineer, he taught me: Pressure gives you power Flow gives you ‘go’ (speed) I think this means that it will be hard to get meaningful work could be done with pressurised ambient air unless you can eliminate a far greater proportion of the losses. Perhaps it would be more successful to use the wheel to compress the air in an air tank, then run the compressor pump in reverse to drive the electric motor as a generator….
Could shorten the power stroke. You have roughly 50%on 50% off. You were right that timing could help, but probably the biggest fixes will be to increase the input and the output sizes, as if I had a hole the size of a needle tip, it would take days to get that pressure up. (Widen the hole, widen your cuts, super big on your exhaust.) Bigger hoses/pneumatics could help a ton as well. Same as above, pin hole means less than helpful, bigger hole, faster pressurisation. If you increase the power of your power stroke , you can afford to only use the first 75-90% of the travel, which gives your exhaust a chance to drain Before the return stroke is trying to compress it. Lastly, I would argue that double action would possibly help, but if 80% of your limitation is already not enough pressure quickly enough, I expect it to equate to minimal help. If your pressure is fine, then my whole comment boils down to 'let your exhaust stroke kick in a tad earlier, so you have less resistance. Otherwise, bugger pipes, bigger holes,etc.
A 3rd cam at a shorter interval, just as an added thrust as the the power stroke peaks may help. Also, remember how well a weighted flywheel helped your previous wood chopper? Might work to maintain momentum without a 3rd cam at all.
I'd say a short fatter piston may be able to provide the same torque. If you take the lever arm at the crank, the area of the current piston, and the pressure you're running at you should be able to find the amount of torque (without losses) the engine can produce. Then if you run a squater fatter piston of the equivilant stroked volume you may find that, with the lever arm that then has, the torque figure is the same. As essentially the increased force on the piston (due to the larger area), and the smaller lever arm due to the shorter stroke cancel out mathematically.
As his marvelous contraption takes shape shalst we debate amongst ourselves what the final wheel arrangement will be? I think given the need for mechanical simplicity and ride durability (thanks to those narrow turns on the charcoal route so far) it may end up being a 2-2-2, or maybe a 4-2-2? I can't see any wheel arrangement bigger then 4 being able to handle that radius of curve while still making good torque but hey, what do I know?
I don't know if they're relevant, but I have two concepts that are coming to mind: First: There exist flywheel driven log splitters. The flywheel spins and gains momentum, and the energy from the flywheel is engaged to drive the piston of the splitter. Second: Could the piston be connected to something like a bicycle gear system that allows the wheel to keep spinning even though there's a gap in energy input.
Super cool, impressive speeds! I was thinking about 2 thing while watching was a hydrulic motor I once had to where I just blew air in to it and turned it over. Then I remember that I once found a air starter in a scrap pile and I hooked air to it as well. It was pretty cool. Though I wish I still had it. Either way could a geared motor of this sort work? I also has a brass air ram that came off of something. I am pretty sure it was a one way only unit so that you applied air and then the weight of the unit would bring the ram back in. I am not sure if it would work, yet it worth a try? To unhook the one side and see if the wheel can spin by itself with only an out stoke or in stoke. It may not work yet I just wonder if it would?.
A larger diameter air hose, also a short as possible, will help. I ran a construction gang using air nailers for a few years and quickly learned that those cheap shop air hoses really restrict air flow!
Is that a two sided ram if so why don’t you have a valve to let her into the other side of the piston to help it keep talk Or if not get another one eventually and put it at a 45° angle
I think adding more weight to the flywheel could help. Think of the flywheel as a battery. You can increase the energy storage of a flywheel by making it rotate faster and/or by adding more weight to the flywheel. A heavier flywheel will take longer to spin up to full speed, but it will also take longer to slow down when under a load.
The required timing for steam will probably be different from that for air - especially on the intake side. Steam expands a lot more than air so you can close the intake earlier, which means less steam to push out of the exhaust, and freer running.
You need a counter weight on the wheel, locomotive wheels have a cast in counter weight to get a steady speed as the counter weight helps the wheel spin uniformally ot the drive of the pistons crankshaft
i think it needs more weight on the flywheel more specifically offset weights so when it goes around it offsets the dead air of the strokes therefore increasing its RPM because it returns quicker
Yes make the piston double acting with a power stroke on both the push and the pull stroke and I believe it would be quicker as you would have no dead stroke
What steam train wheels do that I don't think you are doing is counter weighting. On a train wheels you should be able to see a big block of ballast opposite the camshaft, which means when the wheel is being powered the weight helps push it downwards, then loses the energy it gained by helping push the wheel upwards and letting the piston retract. Something like that may work wonders for your flywheel.
one big problem with some big air tools is the air line chocking air flow. one way to fix you have done with opening the in and out let valves but; if you have a small air tank been feed from the compressor over your air line then fed right in to the inlet valve then this may give you high flow on the in let open stroke and the tank can charge on the exit stroke
Timing valve could definetly be bigger, as on steam engines the steam valve box is almost half the size of the cylinder. Also, you might have already though about it, but you can already make this contraption double acting by adding holes to each valve.
I think it is possible to push it further with modifications in different areas. I think it really just depends on how much more power you want and what you are willing to put into it.
Sounds like it might be time to consider a higher air flow rate. Air volume being analogous to fuel flow of course. Also a (relatively) minor thing, but rollers on the cam followers might benefit too. Regards Mark in the UK
Maybe you could try to cut off the inlet a bit sooner. The crank is at a disadvantageous angle at the end of its power stroke, so the last degrees contributes less to the power output, but could rather build more backpressure as it has more air pressure to exhaust later on.
What about a rotating spindle valve? as the rod rotates the cross sectional holes in it line up with the air inlet hoses its somewhat like a rotating disc valve but it uses less friction. i have a toy steam engine that uses one and they dont seem to leak too badly.
@@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299 No not at all, its just a shaft that fits in a holder like the valves you allready made, the shaft inside has a hole drilled perpendicular to the valve. As the shaft spins the hole lines up with the air inlet and the outlet to piston, admits air to the piston and moves it, I know they use them in small toy steam engines were a low friction valve is needed. The valve rod would need to rotate at the same speed the engine does so the timing doesnt get out of sync.
As others have said, Tim, make that piston double-acting, then add the same contraption to the other side of the flywheel, but 90deg out of phase, so it would be self-starting (power available at any point in the cycle.) And roller bearings on the push rod ends to bear on the cam faces would save a lot of friction and potential wear. But it's looking good - very satisfying to see it in action!
Mini railway
@@happiestcamel5064 Dampfklienbahn
I doubt that he can make the piston double acting, considering he made his from hydraulic ram.
Edit: apparently there *are* double acting hydraulic rams, my bad
Most of those hydraulic cylinders are double-acting... so you could probably get power on the "backstroke" too, with more plasma-cutting, and timing, I'm pretty sure that's what they did with the old steam engines. I imagine it's possible, and that you've already thought of it, but I don't think it's a crazy idea anyway ;) So impressed with your skills on this project- from a seized cylinder and flywheel to a real, working air engine! Fabulous!
Exactly what I was thinking. It doesn't have to produve a lot of power, just enough to overcome some of the friction.
Steam engines did have a return power stroke. It was controlled by the valve chest above the cylinder.
just as i thought !!!
The problem is that it requires almost twice as much air. So energy is spent compressing air to put through a double acting cylinder to do what? On a four cycle engine, there are three idle strokes.
@@yt650 i wouldn't call them idle strokes, they all have an important purpose.
This engine looks really good!!I do think the comment about a fatter piston might be right, as although it'll take more air, more pressure can be put into the engine and give it more power! Another good idea might be to add a second piston 25-30 or so degrees offset, so there's no big gap in power, and the engine will run much smoother. I'm no expert in engineering or engines, but I think these might help. Either way, keep up the good work and have a nice day!
I love this engine. Keep trying for more , it's awsome.
Earl
Connecticut , USA
I would recommend adding a second piston and set of valves on the other side, as well as using both sides of the pistons. You might be able to use 1 valve per piston if you use something like the Stephenson's valve gear. it's a bit more complicated than what you have here, but you could get much more torque and speed out of your piston and use both sides instead of just one side!
Mini railway
Yesterday i thought: "Hmm.. i wonder when Way Out West - Workshop Stuff is gonna post another video..." Then suddenly today, i saw the notification to this video, and i watched the video from start to end. Also great video, i like it. 👍
This looks great Tim! Excellent work! You know, I think you could make that piston double-acting without adding any extra cams at all! You might be able to make a clever spool valve that exhausts the one side of the cylinder and pressurizes the other side, all in one motion? Then, you'd still only need the same number of components as you have now, but you could provide power on that pesky backstroke as well!
You're right, Caleb. I'll have a think...
@@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299 it's just an idea. I hope you and your family are doing well! It's always a pleasure to see your videos.
2:43 Your sealing issue could be handled with O-rings, if you make the ports offset along the length of the shaft, with an O-ring sealing against the shaft between them. (So you would have an O-ring above the valve section, one port, another ring, the second port and the third ring at the bottom.)
Then you'd grind a much longer bit on your rod, as airflow would only occur when the narrow section was bridging the gap across that central ring.
It's a wonderful world when things still go round and round with a hiss and pop bro. Enjoying your videos on this. Safe travels
Absolutely incredible - at 55rpm it's starting to sound a little "healthier" ;)
Mini railway
I noticed that you use a very light oil would a slighty heavier oil help. Keep up the excellent work. We are all with you in this.
Brilliant work Tim, You are working with High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP) and not High Pressure Low Volume (HPLV) - in such situations pipe diameter is key, larger bore is your friend - less pipe is always positive. The entrance to the cyclinder as large as possible within reason! Your valve set up, a lot of work, but maybe a cylinder head and "4 stroke Valve" set up would suit better, remeber your steam supply on the other side of the side of the valve must also release quickly through the valve. I'd suggest a small tank slightly larger than the stroke of the piston - which the valve opens into. Love the work and look forward to the next set up :) :)
I should have realised that earlier on. The valves wont allow for bigger fittings. But still, I'm sure something can be done...
That's so amazing!!! The way you break it down and just make it seem like something you built, rather than a cool invention, it makes me feel like even I could build one!!
That reminds me of some of the designs for early naval steam boilers. I think we are seeing why most locomotives had multiple compression phases and multiple cylinders. Not sure if you can add a powered backstroke with the cylinder you have there though
A counterweight on the flywheel would help smooth things out a bit. But the issue with power is the surface area on the piston is too small, power will be higher with steam than air but still not going to be great for much work. Maybe its time to make your own cylinder 🤔 same stroke but larger surface for the pressure to push against.
Frankly I am just loving watching the valves moving in and out and the sound it's making.
Richard Trevithick would be proud. Could you add another cylinder on the other side of the frame offset at about 60 degrees, this would give you a longer duration on the power stroke. Its a lot more 'plumbing' though. Cracking effort all the same 👍👍
Remember you need some sort of liquid to lubricate the piston seals, the water in steam would normally do this. I recall a museum using air to drive an old steam engine motion but it ran dry and seized.
That's why I put oil in it in the video
Water doesn´t lubricate (enough). You *need* oil.
@@vornamenachname727 In any liquid pump, the media being pumped is the lubricant and often the coolant.
@@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299 I am thinking of on going use, your flash boiler would provide water condensate that an air compressor won't.
@@stevelowndes5803 Nah not always. High pressure Diesel pumps for common rails do use the Diesel as lubricant, but they won´t work with anything else. Thats why you can´t pour petrol into the tank of your modern diesel car in order to keep the diesel from becoming a gel in winter. Even a small amount of petrol will destroy the pump because there´s not enough lubrication.
I´m a fireman/stoker ("Heizer" in German) at a railway museum in Germany. They´d f***ing kill me if i ever tried to run the engine without oil. ;D
If you haven't already, you should look into how a steam chest works. It actually uses the steam itself to seal things up. Take a look at this explanation th-cam.com/video/kJRUXvV4IQs/w-d-xo.html
All the best,
Jay
No matter the project, I love every video you post
Love the elegant oval shapes on the pushrods as well as the shape of the cam-follower heads. Not only functional, but beautiful! This is sculpture in motion and so much fun to watch. :-)
I would first like to say is well done on the design and setup of your air powered engine. I wonder though, if you make it a double-acting cylinder, if it would help with maintaining speed and not solely relying on the momentum of the flywheel? Maybe add a second cylinder and have the cranks to be 90 degrees offset, possibly a little bit more- so that every rotation of the cranks shaft is a power stroke? Love the content you have. ❤
All I can say is: your progress is DEEPLY inspiring. I wish I lived in a place (and had the resources) where I could tinker like you can! Ironically, it's easier in the middle of nowhere in Ireland, than in the middle of almost nowhere on the East Coast of the USA...
*@Way Out West - Workshop Stuff*
Hi again, One thing I think of (but I don't think can be done in the current configuration), is to push out the piston in the top of the wheel, instead of bottom, in that way the weight of the piston would help in the un-powered part, but that would probably add like +1 rpm or something.
Another idea, is to hook up another piston in the same way, but rotated to along the opposite leg of the support triangle, I don't think the timings needs to be adjusted at all, as long as the cams relative position to the piston & wheel center is unchanged (remember to think of the rotation direction).
I really like the cam design, it's exactly what I imagined from the previous videos.
Brilliant. A master of Heath-Robinson. I can’t wait to see your steam engine!
Could you put an inlet into the top of the piston to power the return stroke too?
WOW I enjoy wacthing your vedios on this channel and seeing the progress of your air engine and the railway
You could add the other piston to power parts of the unpowered bit of the rotation.
Have you tried stiffening the valve springs? Put some bearing grease on those cam lobes as well.
Hi Tim! I really enjoy watching your projects evolve as you make something, and then try to improve it. I see many suggestions in the comments to make this engine double acting, but I have a Very simple suggestion to try before you modify your engine further.
Use a Ball Valve on your air hose instead of the little air nozzle you are using. The air nozzle is rather restrictive internally and throttles the air a lot. On my air engine, made from an old lawnmower engine, switching to a ball valve made a very noticeable difference. Cheers M8.
Good idea. Thanks!
I would have to say that this design is ready for a second cylinder to balance the power cycle. A lot of work I agree, but it should be enough to get a much more constant power stream going.
Very impressive stuff Sir!
I notice that there are holes in the cast flywheel ‘spokes’ - It might be worth experimenting by bolting on weights to smooth out the rotational action using those holes.
It’s certainly a lovely bit of engineering - quite beautiful really! 👍
Thank you very much indeed for showing us. Its a fine piece of work.
Great work! If I may suggest as I do have experience in this area. When the pressure valve opens it requires X amount of volume to fill the cylinder, where does it come from? it must come from the source at the end of the hose (compressor tank), so to aid this gulp of air, you can put a small air tank at the pressure inlet of the valve. A larger volume that what the cylider requires. What will happen is a volume of air can be taken rapidly without draining this tank, during the return stroke the supply line will finish off filling this volume of air. - in pneumatics/hydraulics we call this tank a remote accumulator. I also design this air tank system into CNC machine shops to install portable 30gal air tanks next to each machine thus easing the burden on the supply lines and having to have a greater CFM main compressor.. Another thing you could do is add a second outlet on the pressure spool to pressurize the return stroke - google 3 way spool. Well at the very least, I hope this just inspires thought.
Thanks, Michael. Interesting!
So a lot of other people have suggested powering the backstroke as well because the piston is double acting, but before you do that I would also suggest that you make both the intake and exhaust activate and deactivate later. This gives you less powered time and less exhaust time BUT the piston wont be traveling at such a high velocity right at the end of the powered stroke. This will make the engine run smoother. also, if you are going to power the backstroke, it needs to be 180 degrees out of phase NOT the 90 degrees mentioned in other comments. you can also achieve the same thing by placing another piston on the engine as well. just make sure that they are 180 degrees out of phase. if you decide to go the extra mile and power both pistons on their backstroke as well then each stroke needs to be 90 degrees out of phase. this insures that at least one piston is on every quarter of a rotation. This allows for a smoother rotation. Before any of these modifications you're going to need more air, in fact, having more air will also make this engine more powerful and faster in its current configuration. I hope this helps a bit, and I look forward to seeing your next video!
Thanks. Yes, I've considered all those options and decided against double-acting these cylinders because the rod takes up so much space - I'm going to try adding the other cylinder. if I can..
Hey Tim, love your vids I've got a few thought about your project as follows,
The flywheel you are using is too light especially near the perimeter and doesn't store enough energy to carry the rotation back to its starting point, it needs more mass.
The cylinder, being designed for hydraulic use has small ports that restrict the flow of air to in and out there would be a definite advantage in creating large ports all around. Rapid filling is essential
A larger diameter cylinder would be also help and wouldn't necessarily use more air if the stroke was shorter proportionately.
A double acting cylinder is a must, the efficiency loss on the back stroke is way to costly.
These are just a few thoughts which I hope don't appear too abrupt, I have other ideas but have tried to keep it short keep up the good work.
thanks, Chris. Yep, all good points. (But I'll keep trying with what I have for now..)
I love the clicking of the mechanism.
Hello from Detroit Michigan USA Great video Brother
Bravo, Tim! Fascinating project, and I've learned a lot from watching you tinker with it
thank you : - )
There's a little bit of Leonardo in you Tim. 👍
Tim if you still going down the steam engine route you going to need a bigger boiler then the one you had that went bang but don't forget that steam is a gas and it volume is 4x the amount of air so some pressure gauges are a must. now if your going to keep topping the water tank your going to need to take that with you and a pump to pump it in to the boiler and don't pump in cold water as the shock of the difference will make that bang sound again so you will need a pre heater for the water just like your super heater but water going in . And for heating instead of wood or goal that you will have to carry as well Why not use a gas burner and a gas bottle like you would use on your BBQ as you can control the amount of heat and you can shut if of if things get too hot and the pressure is rising too much hope this helps and don't be afraid to contact me if you would like more help
I wouldn't have thought a chaff cutter wheel would be effective as a flywheel....it just doesn't really have the weight to slightly overtake the piston..i'd be hesitant to add weights to it too....it is only cast....looks good though!...very clever!
Well done Tim, very impressive progress
Thank you, James
On my first day with a hydraulic engineer, he taught me:
Pressure gives you power
Flow gives you ‘go’ (speed)
I think this means that it will be hard to get meaningful work could be done with pressurised ambient air unless you can eliminate a far greater proportion of the losses.
Perhaps it would be more successful to use the wheel to compress the air in an air tank, then run the compressor pump in reverse to drive the electric motor as a generator….
Could shorten the power stroke.
You have roughly 50%on 50% off. You were right that timing could help, but probably the biggest fixes will be to increase the input and the output sizes, as if I had a hole the size of a needle tip, it would take days to get that pressure up. (Widen the hole, widen your cuts, super big on your exhaust.)
Bigger hoses/pneumatics could help a ton as well. Same as above, pin hole means less than helpful, bigger hole, faster pressurisation.
If you increase the power of your power stroke , you can afford to only use the first 75-90% of the travel, which gives your exhaust a chance to drain Before the return stroke is trying to compress it.
Lastly, I would argue that double action would possibly help, but if 80% of your limitation is already not enough pressure quickly enough, I expect it to equate to minimal help.
If your pressure is fine, then my whole comment boils down to 'let your exhaust stroke kick in a tad earlier, so you have less resistance.
Otherwise, bugger pipes, bigger holes,etc.
Unfortunately the valves are too small for bigger fittings but you're right about the air flow so I will have to find other ways to improve things
loving the videos the laid back style and information is fantastic
I'm really enjoying these videos. Thanks for taking the time to share.
My pleasure!
A 3rd cam at a shorter interval, just as an added thrust as the the power stroke peaks may help. Also, remember how well a weighted flywheel helped your previous wood chopper? Might work to maintain momentum without a 3rd cam at all.
Fascinating
I don’t follow all of it , but it is enthralling.
I'd say a short fatter piston may be able to provide the same torque. If you take the lever arm at the crank, the area of the current piston, and the pressure you're running at you should be able to find the amount of torque (without losses) the engine can produce. Then if you run a squater fatter piston of the equivilant stroked volume you may find that, with the lever arm that then has, the torque figure is the same. As essentially the increased force on the piston (due to the larger area), and the smaller lever arm due to the shorter stroke cancel out mathematically.
That's a lovely bit of engineering.
Love the sound it makes.
Hey Tim. Have a great weekend! :) Ingenius work; I hardly have a thing for that kind of stuff, so I love seeing you doing it. ;)
Great job! Love the narration 😃
As his marvelous contraption takes shape shalst we debate amongst ourselves what the final wheel arrangement will be? I think given the need for mechanical simplicity and ride durability (thanks to those narrow turns on the charcoal route so far) it may end up being a 2-2-2, or maybe a 4-2-2? I can't see any wheel arrangement bigger then 4 being able to handle that radius of curve while still making good torque but hey, what do I know?
Great work Tim! It’s looking real good.
Great video again! I love these projects you are working on. Its like the science class i never got to have.
I don't know if they're relevant, but I have two concepts that are coming to mind:
First: There exist flywheel driven log splitters. The flywheel spins and gains momentum, and the energy from the flywheel is engaged to drive the piston of the splitter. Second: Could the piston be connected to something like a bicycle gear system that allows the wheel to keep spinning even though there's a gap in energy input.
Ah, but I bet there are many good things about where you are too?
This is a fantastic build! Well done! And for all the “experts” in the comments. You all could never build anything this well made. 😄
i could
Super cool, impressive speeds!
I was thinking about 2 thing while watching was a hydrulic motor I once had to where I just blew air in to it and turned it over. Then I remember that I once found a air starter in a scrap pile and I hooked air to it as well. It was pretty cool. Though I wish I still had it. Either way could a geared motor of this sort work?
I also has a brass air ram that came off of something. I am pretty sure it was a one way only unit so that you applied air and then the weight of the unit would bring the ram back in.
I am not sure if it would work, yet it worth a try? To unhook the one side and see if the wheel can spin by itself with only an out stoke or in stoke. It may not work yet I just wonder if it would?.
Hoorah! Loving these videos Tim!
Its great watching the progress on this project. Can't wait to see it all together!
the big flywheel reminded me of the pen-y-darren/coalbrookedale locomotive.
A larger diameter air hose, also a short as possible, will help. I ran a construction gang using air nailers for a few years and quickly learned that those cheap shop air hoses really restrict air flow!
Yes, I think you're right..
You make really interesting videos
That is insanely brilliant!
Is that a two sided ram if so why don’t you have a valve to let her into the other side of the piston to help it keep talk Or if not get another one eventually and put it at a 45° angle
Blazing fast Tim!
Well exactly!
I think adding more weight to the flywheel could help.
Think of the flywheel as a battery. You can increase the energy storage of a flywheel by making it rotate faster and/or by adding more weight to the flywheel.
A heavier flywheel will take longer to spin up to full speed, but it will also take longer to slow down when under a load.
Yes, but this is what I have
The required timing for steam will probably be different from that for air - especially on the intake side. Steam expands a lot more than air so you can close the intake earlier, which means less steam to push out of the exhaust, and freer running.
Thanks. Yes, I had worked that out, but for now it has to work for air
You need a counter weight on the wheel, locomotive wheels have a cast in counter weight to get a steady speed as the counter weight helps the wheel spin uniformally ot the drive of the pistons crankshaft
did no-one suggest plumbers tape? seriously? It's a rubbery ribbon you wrap around screw-on fittings when using connecting water hoses
Great work.
i think it needs more weight on the flywheel more specifically offset weights so when it goes around it offsets the dead air of the strokes therefore increasing its RPM because it returns quicker
Yes make the piston double acting with a power stroke on both the push and the pull stroke and I believe it would be quicker as you would have no dead stroke
What steam train wheels do that I don't think you are doing is counter weighting. On a train wheels you should be able to see a big block of ballast opposite the camshaft, which means when the wheel is being powered the weight helps push it downwards, then loses the energy it gained by helping push the wheel upwards and letting the piston retract. Something like that may work wonders for your flywheel.
Has somebody already mentioned maybe using regular ball valves?
Ellerinize emeklerinize yüreğinize sağlık Süper 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯
one big problem with some big air tools is the air line chocking air flow. one way to fix you have done with opening the in and out let valves but; if you have a small air tank been feed from the compressor over your air line then fed right in to the inlet valve then this may give you high flow on the in let open stroke and the tank can charge on the exit stroke
Thanks - you're right.
The spring holder bar on the right of the exhaust valve is hitting the piston mounting bolt. You can see the bolt jumping...
Nice to see the Explosion didn’t put you off building a steam engine
A wider piston also generates more torque because the air or steam has more material to push on so you have more power at the same pressure
i think that greas can help the valve seale or if you use steam the water can seal it
I am thinking about making my own railway, and im wondering how much two meters of flat bar costs from a scrap yard.
great progress 😮
Beatiful Engine !
you could also try a powered backstroke, like tom stanton did on his air powered bike
Timing valve could definetly be bigger, as on steam engines the steam valve box is almost half the size of the cylinder.
Also, you might have already though about it, but you can already make this contraption double acting by adding holes to each valve.
Might be worth taking the fitting out the top side of the cylinder to let air in and out slightly easier
If you were to vent the cylinder at the top end it will stop any air in there being compressed slowing down the piston. On the power stroke
I think it is possible to push it further with modifications in different areas. I think it really just depends on how much more power you want and what you are willing to put into it.
Have you had a close look at the throttle valve you are using? It might be more restrictive than your engine's valves.
I DON'T SUGGEST ANOTHER WHY, BUT I NEED THIS ENGINE
Sounds like it might be time to consider a higher air flow rate. Air volume being analogous to fuel flow of course.
Also a (relatively) minor thing, but rollers on the cam followers might benefit too.
Regards Mark in the UK
Cam rollers? Posh!
Thanks for the video
Add weights to the flywheel to help the unpowered stroke using gravity
Maybe you could try to cut off the inlet a bit sooner. The crank is at a disadvantageous angle at the end of its power stroke, so the last degrees contributes less to the power output, but could rather build more backpressure as it has more air pressure to exhaust later on.
I think you're right
What about a rotating spindle valve? as the rod rotates the cross sectional holes in it line up with the air inlet hoses its somewhat like a rotating disc valve but it uses less friction. i have a toy steam engine that uses one and they dont seem to leak too badly.
hard to make though?
@@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299 No not at all, its just a shaft that fits in a holder like the valves you allready made, the shaft inside has a hole drilled perpendicular to the valve. As the shaft spins the hole lines up with the air inlet and the outlet to piston, admits air to the piston and moves it, I know they use them in small toy steam engines were a low friction valve is needed. The valve rod would need to rotate at the same speed the engine does so the timing doesnt get out of sync.
Add a counterweight to the fly wheel
Don't forget when you use steam the metals will expands with the hot steam