This machine was sitting at a thrift shop, a handwritten note suggested it was a steam engine. Hmmm. two single action cylinders of different diameters, no valve gear at all.
It's almost certainly not a steam engine but possibly an homemade experimental heat engine of some sort? There is a propane burner in a rusty box (below) that fits around half of the larger cylinder, the other half of the cylinder is surrounded by a metal trough, maybe with cold water?
We applied a few pounds of air through the valve on the small cylinder and the flywheel turned a few degrees but no joy...
Any ideas?
Hit & Miss engine ? Mesmerising to watch in operation if that's what it is...
ReplyDeleteIt sure seems like a steam engine of some sort. Could the large cylinder be the boiler and the spindly linkage operate some sort of steam valve at the boilers end? I don't understand what the water tank would do? Can we see inside of it?
ReplyDeleteIt does look like a live steam engine to me, but I'm not sure about the steam routing into the cylinder. I would start by figuring out what that smaller connecting rod controls, and apply air upstream of that. If that doesn't help I would open up the cylinder and figure out how it works...it may be missing something.
ReplyDeleteI would also remind myself that it may never have worked.
Stirling engine?
ReplyDeleteGet back if it starts
ReplyDelete