Mini Stirling- JB weld piston
I made this engine using a JB weld piston in a 1/4″ brass tube cylinder. All bushings are 1/16″ brass tubing glued with JB weld onto the wires. The wires are all .032″ music wire, except the displacer rod. It was taken from a Otona no kagaku engine, as well as the displacer gland. The regenerator is just some foam from a watch case. The bearing for the prop is very small short pieces of 1/16″ tubing. This was a fun project and is probably my favorite LTD engine. The video is cut short because the engine unceremoniously toppled off of the jar after shaking itself too much…but nothing broke(thankfully). I plan on making a stand out of a computer heat sink that the cold side will sit on upside down, and then a dome over the hot side to run on solar energy. The dome will act like a small greenhouse/insulation, so it will get hotter than just sitting in the sun alone. I’ll post it if I ever get it done.
@IronGoober alright ,, thanks very much
@IronGoober thank you, ill consider that
@tahboobi If you geared it down enough, then yes, you could move a small toy car. It would be a slow car though
@tahboobi I doubt it, unless you geared it down A LOT. Then it could work.
@bassonmyolmonster I bought it at a hobby store, I’m not sure what it was intended for.
exuse me sir, can this engine produce enough power to move a small toy car by connecting the wheel to a shaft?
@IronGoober i like the use of jb weld, what kind of propeller is that?
@technology49 Yes, the displacer piston needs enough clearance for the air to be displaced from the hot side to the cold side and vice versa.
The big piston mustnt be tight,right?
it’s incredible, if I don’t see, I don’t believe,,,, it’s so small !!!! congratulations.
Become a member of INSTRUCTABLES and put this project on to it would be very helpful!
Thanks
@flowerman2705 I never actually checked, I should of only had a few thousands clearance. If you put the piston in the cylinder and plug the other end (like with your finger or hand), the piston should slide slowly down into the cylinder, not fall, if it does, then you should be fine.
Hey,
Nice video and a sweet stirling engine but i have a question. When you casted the power piston with jb weld, when you got the piston running freely inside the cylinder could you see tiny air gaps around the piston inside the cylinder? Thats what I got and im wondering in my stirling engine will still work?
Thanks
That would be good to use on a wood stove in a small cabin to encourage circulation.
can u make a vid on how ot make it
@rostlaur Yeah, that might work, however, JB weld or even JB Kwik take a LOOOONG time to cure when the temperature is lower. Might take few days to cure. Worth a shot though if you have an extra spot in your fridge.
To make the piston with J-B Weld:
I wonder if refrigerating or freezing the brass tube (out from the freezer with ice around, cubes or frozen in the center of a simple block of ice, etc…) would shrink it just enough (or too much) so that you pour the J-B Weld into it, let it cure in the fridge.
Take it out of the fridge when the J-B is rock solid, heat the brass tube in boiling water; that will expand the copper tube slightly and maybe free the piston and make easier to extract?
yo that is awesome dude!
@donpag89 JB Weld is a 2 part epoxy that you can find at about any hardware store and sometimes,grocery stores to. It is very easy to use because there is two tubes of goo and you just mix even parts of each on cardboard or something and viola…there’s your super awesome epoxy!!
does the foam displacer create a seal…is it solid? Also is the displacer rod tube (in the top plate) airtight with the displacer rod? A response would be much appreciated,Thanks!-Taylor King
Very nice you are an artist!!! congratulations!