Sunday, March 25, 2012

Eleven Stirling Engine Projects You Can Build

It has been a while since I have posted about the experience of designing Stirling engines and the production of my books.  I want to say that I am very happy with the feedback I have heard so far on the latest book, "Eleven Stirling Engine Projects You Can Build".  There really is nothing else like it that I can see in the market right now.  If you want to see a comprehensive collection of Stirling engine projects including kit-built engines and pop can engines, this is the book you must have.  I hope to dedicate some time in the near future to adding some posts to this blog that talk about each project.  I will give you some of the back stories about how these engines were selected for review, and how the original engines were designed.

There are many resources for free Stirling engine plans available on the Internet.  I got my start in this hobby by building engines from some of those plans.  That is a great way to get started.  The designs I made for this book offer you several advantages over the plans you will find on the Internet.

  1. The pop can engines in this collection are engineered with some advanced thermodynamic principles that are not present in any of the free plans you will find on the Internet.  These design elements make the pop can engines efficient enough to be air cooled.  This is a tremendous advantage when it comes time to show off your work.  You don't need to add ice, and you don't need to add water to get your engine to run.  Just light the candle and spin the flywheel.  The engine will run until the candle is extinguished.
  2. The plans in this collection offer a great amount of detail and the instructions are thoroughly explained.  You will be told how to do perform each construction step.  And you will also learn the important information behind each step and why it is important.  There are multiple pictures for every construction step.  You will see the parts being made with pictures taken at every key phase of construction.  In some cases, you will even find references to videos posted online to help you even more.
  3. The plans in this collection allow you to make the best choice for which engine would be best for you to build.  You can decide if you want to build a kit, or if you want to build a motor from scratch.  You will have the knowledge you need to make an informed decision.
At the present time I have posted 90 videos on YouTube that show Stirling engines running or being built.  That collection of video resources will continue to grow as I have plans for many more informative and instructional videos in the days ahead.

If you want to hear more about the 11 Stirling engine projects in the latest book, subscribe to my blog and you will be notified whenever I add a new post.