On Sun, 11 Aug 2013 22:46:48 -0500, Ignoramus12972
wrote:

By the way, my kids want me to make a homemade steam engine. Something
that can be made with basic machine tools, such as lathe and a
mill. At first, I want to avoid steam entirely and just run it from
compressed air.

My question is, does anyone know of a reasonable plan, with valving,
governor, etc, that could be made in a few weekends. Thanks.

i

Take a look at PM Research - they sell a number of casting kits
including steam and internal combustion engines as well as a bunch of
scale model machine tools for overhead line drive. I'm not sure why,
but Google warns that their web site can "harm your computer". I've
been there before many times with no harm done, but maybe somebody
hacked their web site.

If you want bar stock engines, try:

http://www.model-engine-plans.com/

which features quality plans sets from Jerry Howell. He passed away a
few years ago and the site is now run by his son. You might like the
Stirling engine kits, which run on the heat from a cup of coffee. They
sell plan sets and, in some cases, parts kits for items that are hard
to find.

For a really simple engine, try this one by Rudy Kouhoupt:

http://bay-com.com/Machining_DVD/sit...-1html-76.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCHYn...re=context-gau

Mike