Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines
The Regular Stuff: Chat, Buy, Sell, Off Topic, etc. => General Discussion - Model & Toy Steam Engines – Stirling Cycle – Flame Lickers – Small Antique Originals => Topic started by: ShadetreeMotorcycle on June 23, 2021, 02:00:23 pm
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Well how neat is that , any video of it running ?
Not yet Bruce (I know...i Know, without video it did not happen, right?) Lol.
I am taking a sabbatical from work, but when I get at some proper metal working tools, I had the thought to modify a needle nose plyers such that I would drill a small hole near the tip from the top down thru both jaws, than tap/thread the lower jaw and thread in a tiny set screw with tip dressed half round, in this way it would be adjustable and could be used to form faux rivets on the outer pop can before assembly, with perhaps 2 rows of decorative rivets plus polish first and proper fittings, fill port and SV it could look semi respectable and video worthy as well.
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Well how neat is that , any video of it running ?
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I have had this idea in my head for some time and today I gave it a go and it works!
There are hundreds of videos on YouTube of clever things you can make from an Aluminum beverage can, one of the more popular is the "penny can stove" or "soda can stove" I have built a few and they work well.
Using the stove construction methods, I press fit 2 can (bottom) halfs togather but first drilled a tiny hole in the concave base and then pressed a tapered punch in the hole to open up to my tube size. Many people leave the color advertisements of the can on the inner can thinking it melts from the heat and acts as "glue" but is not needed to form a seal. From the stove photo you can see they rubbed off can advertising on outer can with a scotch pad then metal polish for a more finished look.
I just wanted to test, so I did not get fancy with mine and the tube is just press fit in hole, but you could get fancy and fit a proper hose barb and even a SV in top of can if desired. I knew my aquarium tube would not be up to the task, but I got away with it by adding a little thick super glue around the spot where tube enters can as the tube gets very soft with steam heat. Even with all the weak links this setup ran the D5 a bit faster than my new Aquarium pump so I estimate I was getting around 3 PSI
With proper fittings and tube she would do more so I would recommend a proper SV at that point. Heat source was a single wick Alcohol lamp on my setup.
Disclaimer: Steam and pressure vessels are dangerous! I am in no way recommend folks build boilers from pop cans. For entertainment purposes only!
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This view shows tube entering boiler
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What a well made can stove looks like:
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