Coss Horizontal Stirling Engine Build

Coss Horizontal Stirling Engine
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I originally Iound this engine on the cover oI the Nov / Dec 2005 edition oI The Home Shop Machinist. I hadn't really paid too much attention to it as I
thought it was beyond my capabilities. I was also deep in other projects at that time. In February 2009 I started looking Ior a project; something just
beyond the reach oI my technical skills. Beyond, because it would challenge me and push me to learn and reach beyond my comIort zone.
It made sense to build Irom the bottom up. I wanted to build in the
same order as assembly - I didn't want any parts on hand that couldn't
be attached to another part. The Frame or as Terry calls it, the Tuning
Fork was Iirst.
BeIore I start cutting, I print the part oII the Cad program and make
sure that the size and location suits my mill and material. I also use it
to zero the mill on the material.
Then let the Iun begin...
The Iour extra holes on the leIt side are pin holes to align the Frame and the
base.
Next came the pillow blocks. The basic dimensions are the same, sort
oI, but I did not split them but rather secured the bearings in place by
way oI a setscrew down below. Terry advised not to do this as it
distorted the bearing enough to induce a bit oI unwanted Iriction. But,
once I installed these lovely (and rather expensive skate board
bearings), along with the Ilywheel, a quick spin oI the Ilywheel
showed that it would spin Ior a very long time indeed.
The pillow blocks are also attached Irom below with button head cap
screws.
Coss Horizontal Stirling http://www.ldrider.ca/cnc/coss-horizontal/coss-horizontal.htm
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The Ilywheel isn't quite to the drawing dimensions. The only piece oI
aluminum on hand that came close to being the right size was a bit too
small. But, it works and probably won't aIIect engine perIormance...I
hope.
As with all oI the parts, they are only wet sanded to a moderate Iinish.
Once everything is built and the engine running, I'll wet sand
everything down to about 1000 grit and either leave raw or anodize &
dye Ior a bit oI colour.
The Cranks bear almost no resemblance to the drawings. The mill
Iinish on the sides is rather poor here. The product oI using an end mill
that was a little too short and the non-cutting edge spent too much
time rubbing the aluminum. Fortunately, it sands out rather easily.
They will be secured to the shaIt with No. 4 set screws. Jeez those
things are small.
These were eventually sent to the recycle bin. See new crank arms
below.
Next came the base. There is no base in the drawing and is presumably
just leIt up to the builder to design.
You can see the same alignment holes in the base as in the Irame above. They
will also be added to the cylinder which joins the base to the Irame.
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It's starting to look a bit like the picture on the magazine cover.
Next comes the body. First one side is milled and drilled. You will
notice along the top, three .125" holes Ior index pins. This allows the
work piece to be removed Irom the mill, Ilipped over, and precisely
repositioned Ior milling and drilling the other side. Because this piece
is not symmetrical, the drawing must also be Ilipped beIore creating
the cut paths.
A piece oI MDF is next clamped to the mill and three matching .125"
indexing holes are drilled. Then three .125" x .400" pins inserted. Now
the part can be Ilipped over and laid on top oI the MDF with the index
pins exactly aligning with the holes in the part. You normally don't
want to expose MDF to moisture but the work is all done in an hour or
two and that's not enough time to adversely aIIect the MDF.
The second side is now milled and the part cut out. Note the nice Iinish on the
edge this time Irom using an end mill oI with the right length Ilute.
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Everything is Iitting just Iine so Iar.
The drawings call Ior the Power Cylinder Retainer to be at the outside
end oI the power cylinder. There is a caution in Terry's article that
over tightening the power cylinder retainer bolts can distort the
cylinder. Perhaps somewhat misguided, but my sense is that iI the
retainer is closer to the Body, and using shorter bolts, there is little or
no chance oI distortion. So I recessed the retainer a bit to
accommodate a slightly reengineered power cylinder.
As it turned out, I leIt the hole the original size which was the same
diameter as the cylinder ID whereas it needed to be the same diameter
as the cylinder OD in order Ior it to slide over the cylinder. It gave me
the opportunity to mount a mostly round part in a Iour jaw lathe
chuck, center it using a dial test indicator, and opening the hole to the
correct size. I knew theoretically how to do this but had never
attempted it beIore. Remember what I said about pushing my limits
above ???
You may not be able to tell but the Iit oI the retainer against the Irame
at the Four o'clock position leaves just enough room to slide a cigarette
paper in there. As they say, sometimes it's better to be lucky than
good.
I also like the more Iinished, less industrial look oI button head cap
screws in many places like on the cylinder retainer.
Notice the enlarged hole compared to the picture on the leIt.
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The Power Cylinder was next. A couple years ago, a neighbour was
moving out oI his house and practically gave me loads oI machinist
tools. In one box was a bunch oI drills. Really big drills. This one, just
under 1" Iit the taper on my MyIord Super 7 lathe and saved me a
whole lot oI time with a boring bar. I haven't used a boring bar a lot
but they don't call it boring Ior nothing.
This shows how the cylinder was cut leaving a shoulder on it
to Iit inside the retainer. The cylinder still need the diameter
reduced to 1.375" to Iit inside the recess oI the body.
Lapping will wait until the other cylinder to Iinished.
The retainer stands proud oI the body a little too much at this point.
What I had in mind was closer to about .050" or so - just enough so
I was certain that the cylinder was Iirmly seated against the body.
I may reduce the shoulder on the cylinder. But then again, maybe not;
it actually doesn't look too bad as it is.
With such short screws there is no chance oI distorting the cylinder.
The cold end cylinder was the most time consuming. Grooving the
exterior with the parting tool took the longest. Lots oI tool chatter
which, no matter what I tried, would not go away. I took this
procedure extremely slowly so as not to end up with a lump oI scrap
aIter so many hours.
Hot end, cold end, and retainer completed except Ior holes.
5 oI 7 7/07/2010 9:45 AM
Displacer piston connecting rod. That end mill is .020" and is just used Ior lettering and similar Iine jobs.
The rod may end up being too heavy and have to be re-cut in aluminum. The bearings are router bearings Irom the local Iine woodworking store.
The power piston was certainly one oI the Iussier parts to make so Iar.
It needs to Iit the cylinder extremely closely yet slide smoothly.
The Displacer Piston Barrel
This is a very thin piece. The Iirst one I made, I cut oII a little long
expecting to Iace it oII to exact length. It was too thin to hold tightly
enough in the lathe chuck and when the cutting tool touched it, the
end crumpled and ended up looking like a Cabbage Patch Doll.
The finished Displacer Piston.
Sometimes, I Iind that parts like the end caps can be made more accurately on
the mill than the lathe. The thin .150" material is way too thin to grip
eIIectively in the lathe chuck. I could have turned them Irom a thick rod but
the parting oII process may create its own issues. For me, at least, the mill was
just as Iast, more accurate, and required minimal touch up on completion.
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I just couldn't quite get used to the crank arms I made previously. I
saw one something like this on another engine and designed and cut
these. So much better and in tune with the rest oI the engine I think.
Updated: April 11, 2009 Finishing touches to Iollow
7 oI 7 7/07/2010 9:45 AM

Coss Horizontal Stirling Engine Build

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