Stirling Engine Update (4/6/16)

I have finally made my flywheels for my stirling engine. I left holes around the edges so I can press nuts into them if the flywheels need more mass. The flywheels spin surprisingly freely on the rod that I plan on using. This means that I should be able to get away with not using bearings, which means fewer parts (cheaper!) and I don’t need to remake any parts to accommodate bearings (less time and cheaper!). Currently, I am making the mounting brackets for the cylinders, which will allow me to start putting all of the parts together.

The glass plungers/pistons are frosted, but I am considering lightly sanding them with high grit paper (probably 800 grit or so) just because the tolerances are already so tight that oils from my hands seem to be interfering with the pistons’ movements (which is pretty mind blowing for glass components). I still plan on cleaning them, but I would rather my engine run reliably than efficiently.

For the whale’s head, I’m thinking about molding the shape first out of clay or play-dough before making it out of foam. Hopefully I will learn something from the clay modeling demonstration on Friday.