Gunner wrote:

A thread came up a day or three ago, about building some sort of motor
to run a small generator or a belt to supply power to :stuff: in
either remote locations or in the event of a long term power failure.

A serious question to the group....in your individual opinions, does
anyone have any suggestions for a simply made from common materials,
with minimal machining, steam engine?

Boilers are another issue of course..and suggestions on that would be
nice as well.

Would it be possible to convert an internal combustion engine, for
example a VW engine, to run on steam?

Given the numbers of steamers here on RCM, and itinerant inventors,
somebody should have some ideas. Think of it as Junk Yard Wars.....

The only criteria is that it be easy to assemble from common
materials, capable of running an automotive generator (at the least)
and can be done with minimal tools, or simple machine tools. If it can
be scaled up for larger gennys/line shafts, that would be a plus.

Thanks in advance, let the fun begin.

Gunner

"What do you call someone in possesion of all the facts? Paranoid.-William Burroughs

After reading some of the other comments I still think it would be a fun project.
All I want is one or two horsepower driving a car alternator. I would prefer
a boiler that could take wood as the fuel but any fuel would be OK.

Probably won't ever build such a device but I would like to.

Bill K7NOM