As 2022 starts and gets underway I have a new hobby.  I have started racing radio controlled sailboats.  I received a Dragonforce 65 for Christmas.  There is a new club just getting established in the Olympia area and it is quickly becoming popular.  They have been racing twice a month for about 6 months now, and they have 14 to 18 boats at each event now.

The club races mostly DF65s, but there is a growing number of DF95s showing up for the mixed fleet racing. Dan Shier is the organizer of the little RC yacht club, and he regularly lets people try out his Dragonflite 95.  After racing my DF65 for a few weeks and then trying the bigger DF95 I soon decided I wanted one of those two.  The boat is bigger and faster.  I am still very new to the DF racing experience, with only about 6 weeks with a DF65 and one day of racing with my new DF95.  But even as a newbie, I thought I would share some of my impressions about what sets these boats apart.

Let me start by saying they are both great boats.  They look very similar.  They are both available with all the radio parts installed in the hull.  All of the tedious work building the mast and boom is done.  You need to assemble the rig and sails.  Both boats are quite intricate to build and require great patience and dexterity to complete.  It really helps if you have previous experience with sailing and previous experience with miniature models.  

These are both race boats, and as such they have more sail adjustments than the average cruising sailboat.  The small scale of the boat means that many of the lines must be tied with exacting measurement.  All of the measurements are metric, so it really helps to have a metric ruler and a metric tape measure.  I found the DF95 was slightly easier to assemble.  It is a bit larger in scale, which makes things easier to see and to manipulate.  And it is a later design than the DF65, so there are a couple of improvements in the build process that make things easier to put together.  For instance, the line that ties the jib boom to the deck is adjustable on the DF95, but it is not on the DF65.  The adjustment makes the installation of the jib boom much easier.

On the water, the DF95 is a fast forgiving sailor.  It is well balanced.  Although the DF65 can be well balanced too, but it takes a bit more tweaking of the rig to get things lined up just right. I have seen it happen twice where a DF65 skipper launched their boat before turning on the radio receiver in the boat.  Both times the boat was well tuned with a balanced rig that sailed away on a true course into the wind and just kept on going!  The first time was in a pond, so the pilot just had to walk around the path to get to the boat.  The second time was in the bay, and it required a fast paddling kayak to get that boat back.

The DF65 is a less forgiving boat to sail.  It requires a tender hand at the controls.  If you over steer the boat it slows it down.  If you don't pay attention to waves, gusts, and your turning speed it is real easy to find yourself in irons, sailing backwards.  So far the best method I have discovered for getting out of irons is to sheet out all the way and wait for the boat to turn, then sheet in and sail away on the new course picked by the boat. 

It took me several race sessions to finally get the boat tuned up so that it was performing as well as others in the group.  I had a long string of last place finishes that were getting quite frustrating.  A single blade of grass on the keel acts like a sea anchor on these little boats.  

Once I had the DF65 properly tuned for our conditions it quickly became clear that I was now losing races because I lacked the skills I needed for good racing.  As long as I didn't make any big blunders I could keep up with the pack, and sometimes finish close to the front of the pack.  But then I learned I could lose if I missed one turn, or if I let the boat stall and fall into irons.  I could end each heat of racing with a short list of two or three things I could have done better.  My biggest mistake is steering too much and too often.  It is tempting to play the controller like a video game and just push the levers to their extreme settings all the time.  I have to keep reminding myself that in my full size boat I never turn the rudder hard over to the limit.  The DF65 needs the same finesse.

So the secret to success with the DF65 is to first tune your rig to match the conditions, and then sail her with a gentle touch, paying attention to all the little details.  

The DF95, at least in my brief experience, is a much more forgiving boat to sail.  Over steering doesn't slow you down as much.  It has more weight, so it glides through the turns and does not fall into irons as often.  It is bigger and easier to see at a distance.  And it is fast!  It is so fast that it become difficult to perform tasks that require you to take your eyes off your boat for even a few seconds.  Things like writing down the scores at the finish line or changing your gloves are a real challenge because in windy conditions the boat will cover a lot of distance in just a few seconds.

The two models are close enough in speed that we occasionally see a DF65 finish ahead of the DF95s.  So the DF65 is no slouch either.

I had a choice for Christmas between either the DF65 or the DF95.  I favored the DF65 for two reasons.  There were many of them being raced in our local club, and the price was affordable.  When it came time to make the order the DF95s were out of stock, so I went for the DF65.  I recently picked up my DF95 because a club member accidentally ordered an extra one.  I was able to pick it up from him even though the supplier was sold out again.  I scored.  Having raced both boats now, I can say that I would recommend the DF95 as your fist boat if it is in your budget.  It is almost twice the price as the DF65, but it is easier to sail, which makes it easier for beginners (like me) to learn with.

On the other hand, starting with the DF65 will force you to master the fine motor skills and finesse needed to make that boat sail well, and those skills will pay off with many victories when you advance to the bigger faster DF95.

When I raced the DF65 I had some real challenging days, days that made me want to quit and go do something else.  On my first outing with the DF95 I started finishing well on a consistent basis.  The only person who beat me consistently was Dan, our club organizer and an experienced club racer.  That may have just been a good case of beginners luck.  Time will tell.

Both of these boats are awesome.  I see myself using the DF65 when portability and size are important, such as traveling long distance or carrying it on a boat.  I will use the DF95 when I want to be a little more relaxed and focus on the fun more than the technique.  With one design racing it will always come down to racing the same kind of boat that your friends are racing.  And now I am ready for both.

What a wonderful summer!

It has been a fun summer!  We had two nice cruises aboard Tya.  The first trip was 10 days long and took us as far north as Poulsbo, WA.  The second trip was 21 days long and took us into the Gulf Islands of Canada. We circumnavigated Salt Spring Island, enjoying marvelous Canadian hospitality all along the way.

Our favorite anchorages on the Canadian adventure were Tod Inlet (behind The Butchart Gardens), and Port Browning on North Pender Island. We soon discovered that almost every private marina in the Gulf Islands has a pub at the top of the dock.  The pub at Port Browning served my wife the best nachos she has ever had.  It was there that I discovered I liked “Dark Matter”, a dark, sweet, roasted malt beer that was very delicious.

The best fish and chips of the summer were found at JJ Fish House in Poulsbo, WA.  We will be returning there on our next trip through the area.  Very delicious fish!

Thank You Amazon!

I started writing my first book to fulfill one of my life goals.  Before I knew it, I was writing my fifth and sixth books and I was making a pleasant income from my writing.  I have now earned enough from my writing to buy a small yacht that I have named “Tya”, which stands for Thank You Amazon! 

I have decided to share my insights and experiences for writing and self-publishing with a video blog as I write my next book.  If you would like to see what my process is for self-publishing and technical writing, please follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/larsenbooks or on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwdTbJVzChAjGLdpooZCCNg.

The Joy of Self Publishing

There is joy and a sense of great accomplishment in publishing a book. The fascinating tale is not always in the book itself, but in the story behind the making of that book. My most recent publication of More LTD Stirling Engines You Can Build Without a Machine Shop is one of those tales.  It was three and a half years from start to finish, and for a long time it was at the top of my list of unfinished projects. Finishing this project not only created a book, it also feels like completing a chapter in the story of my life.  My readers and the marketplace will now judge the value of my contribution.  But regardless of that outcome, I have experienced the joy that comes from managing a long, complex process and seeing it come to life.

The book you publish is almost never the book you started writing. I discovered an easy way to make very successful bearings using Teflon tubing, and went to town and designed at least a dozen engines that used the new technology. It seemed feasible at the time to put them all in the book.  The scope of this idea was far too broad to be practical. Most builders probably only want to make one motor anyway.  But I want my readers to find value in their purchase, so I maintained an approach to publish a collection of designs, but downsized it from 12 to 4. The 4 designs are all very similar, and the final product of these projects is a traditionally configured motor. The aim is to provide the builder with several choices for building a conventional looking motor.

It is hard to guess what will be relevant when writing for a small niche market. The first rule is to make it relevant to yourself. The second rule is to make it understandable to your audience. Financial success occurs when you are able to connect your audience with the book.  And that is the role of marketing. Good marketing puts your book in front of your potential customers so they see it as one of their choices as they invest their time and energy into the same subject you are writing about. And if they choose to buy it, they find it relevant and understandable. That success will lead to positive reviews, broader discussions, and more sales.

Successful self publication is much more complex than it first appears. Think for a moment about the tasks a publishing company performs with and for an author as a book is developed. The publisher may provide editorial direction, proof reading, editing, formatting, illustration artists, cover design, market research, marketing plans, advertising, press releases, book tours... It's a long list, and it keeps on going. When the book is finished and ready to sell, the work is about half done. It has been my experience that I can invest as much time and effort into promoting a book as I spent writing it.

If you are going to write and publish a book yourself, and if you want that book to be successful, you need to become the manager of the publication process and address all those tasks that a publishing company would do for you. You may want to do it all yourself, but few people have all the skills needed to produce and market a good book. That is why even independent self publishing authors routinely solicit help from others.

Nothing illustrates this better for me than proof reading. I have already fixed a few typos and spelling errors in this article, and chances are I will not catch them all. No matter how many times I read through my own work, I never catch all the mistakes. So for me, effective proof reading means that it must be read by someone else.

For my first endeavor, I recruited five friends and gave them each a copy of the book.  I did this after I did multiple read-throughs myself, and I was pretty sure it was near perfect. The results of that effort not only brought me lots of good feedback about the book, it taught me a few things about proof readers.

My book, it turns out, was far from perfect. One of my proof readers was very skilled in the art of grammar (it is an art form, you know) and gave me incredibly good advice that improved the book. And he didn't have to read the whole book either. He told me "make these kinds of changes throughout the book" to improve readability, and he was right.

Among the other proof readers, one was reluctant to write in the book for fear of defacing the book or perhaps didn't want to appear overly critical. A couple of them said they didn't really understand the technical subject matter and were reluctant to finish it.  Each time that I have used this social networking approach for proof reading I have found very valuable feedback from one or two of them.

I simplified my process with this most recent book. I first did several cover-to-cover readings myself.  When I knew I had caught all the mistakes I could see myself, I asked my wife to read it. She is not into this technology stuff like I am, so her feedback was very good at finding places where I needed to simplify and clarify my approach. Then, instead of recruiting five friends, I just went to one of my previous volunteers who had done a good job before. I gave him a galley proof of the book with a $100 bill as a book mark, and told him he could keep the book mark as a souvenir for his efforts. We negotiated a timeline and he was done in a couple of weeks. He didn't have as many changes this time (I must be getting better) and I have confidence that my $100 investment is well worth it for the peace of mind I get in return.

Self publication doesn't mean that you are doing everything yourself. You may have to become your own project manager at times. You will always improve your product if you recruit help from people who have the skills that you lack.

Quadcopter Pilot's Flight Log

Now available at Amazon.com!

Whether flying for recreation or for certification, it is the best practice to always log the flight. Logging the flight provides a record of experience for the pilot as well as a record of the flight time on the aircraft. This journal is intended to create a record of the key events that define every flight outing.

Quadcopters are sometimes referred to as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), or drones.  This log book provides 100 pages with prompts to help track the time, location, and duration of your flying experience, as well as other significant events that occur.  It also creates a maintenance record for the aircraft.

Building the H6082 Heirloom Guitar Kit #1 Curly Maple

I purchased the Grizzly Curly Maple Heirloom Guitar Kit H6082 on 11/28/2013.  I completed construction and played it for the first time on 10/15/2014.  I am very pleased with the results.  I made a few minor mistakes along the way, but I was able to compensate for them each time.  My next one will be even better!

What's in the kit.

The first thing I did was dress the frets and slightly round the edges of the fret board.  The fret work is done well, but the ends of the frets were a little sharp and not comfortable to slide against your hand. I had to so some minor sanding to the neck joint to get it to fit.  Being a little too tight from the factory is better than being too loose.  The neck joint is shaped so that it will only go in at the proper position.  That is a plus.

I attempted to do a high contrast finish by staining the top black, sanding off most of the stain and then adding a color dye.  This is when I learned that the curly maple is just a thin veneer.  I caught the problem before it was too big, and did my best to camouflage my mistake with some artistic application of wood dyes. Looking at the cross section of the body makes one think that the maple top is at least 1/4 inch thick, but this is not the case.  Had I known that, I never would have tried the two tone color technique with all the sanding.

Stained and masked, ready for lacquer.

 

I had hoped to apply lacquer slowly over the winter months, but the garage was too cool for lacquer most of the time, so the project went on hold until summer.  I had pretty good results by hanging the guitar and the neck outside on the back porch and spraying it there.  Another mistake I made was failing to fill the open grain mahogany on the back and sides of the guitar.  It looked very smooth after sanding, but the grain opened up quite a bit as the finish went on.  The porous surface looks nice, but it is taking a lot of scrubbing with water and a tooth brush to get all the polish and wax out of some of the pores.

Lacquer is starting to look good.

 

This was my first lacquer project.  I wet-sanded the guitar starting with 400 grit and working up to 2000.  I used a little too much water during the final sanding and some seeped in through the bridge mounting holes and raised the surface with some slight swelling.  I noticed it right away and stopped, and the swelling went down after I hung the guitar back on the drying rack for a few days.

The final assembly went very fast after all the finishing work was done.  The intonation did not require much adjustment at all, and so far the truss rod has not needed any attention.  The guitar has been tuned up for several days now as I fiddle with the setup.  I plan to put new strings on it as soon as I have the setup close to where I think it will stay.

Starting to wet sand.  Note the visible pores in the wood.

 

The nut is close to perfect.  I may take it to a luthier to have the slots filed down just a tiny bit.  (I would do it myself but the files cost $90.) It is close enough to specs to be played as is. 

My only complaint so far is the bridge.  The hardware did not exactly match the spacing of the posts on the guitar body and was difficult to install.  The tight fit makes adjustment a little challenging, but still possible.  It does not look like a high-end bridge.  I also noticed that the string spacing does not match the pole spacing on the pickups, but they still seem to work well.

After wet sanding and polish it glows.

The instructions had a couple of places where they didn’t match the kit.  I knew it was going to take a while to build, so I did an immediate parts check when it arrived.  The parts list indicated a set of screws that I didn’t have, so I sent an email to Grizzly and they sent them to me right away.  Well, it turns out that the instructions were wrong, and those screws are not used anywhere in the kit.

The other disagreement I had with the instructions was the ground wire to the bridge.  The instructions tell how to install it, but the hole for the wire is absent, and there is no wire included for this.  I remember the ground wire being important on other guitars I have had, so I drilled a hole and added the wire from the tailstock post to the ground on the electronics.  That was a simple addition and it works.

The finished guitar in its happy home!

The pickups sound great.  This is my first humbucker experience, and so far I think they are real sweet sounding.  They have more drive than the single coil pickups on my Stratocaster.  This guitar also has excellent sustain.  It is really noticeable at high gain that the notes will ring for a long time.

Grizzly’s description says that this guitar can be played professionally when finished.  I would agree.  I paid $395 for the kit ($459.93 with shipping).  Finishing products probably cost me another $170, and I paid $108 for an Epiphone case. My total investment was $738.  If I could have done a little bit better job on the finish it would probably be comparable to a guitar of that price range in the music store.  However I have the added pleasure of knowing I play a hand crafted one of a kind instrument that I made myself!

Runner's Training Log: 2014 - 2015 Two Year Training Journal

Find it for sale on Amazon.com for only $9.95. It is also available in the UK and Europe.

This is the ideal journal for creating multi-week training plans and recording training progress. The journal layout matches the format used by today’s best training plans, such as those promoted by Hal Higdon or Runner’s World. Every day of the calendar has space to write the plan for that day, and additional space to record actual training (for those days when things change). This allows you to flex your training days while accurately recording your progress. The convenient layout makes note taking quick and easy.

The calendar-style layout of this journal puts your whole week in easy view. The training week runs Monday through Sunday, and with the large 8” x 10” format you always have 8 weeks in view.

The Runner’s Training Log contains extra features that will be useful to those who include racing as part of their training routine. Countdown the weeks to the next race on the training calendar, and use the special pages to set goals and record progress at racing events. Create run plans for 5k, 10k, half, and full marathons. Create contact lists for all of those names and numbers that keep you running.

The Runner’s Training Log is a 26 month training calendar that begins on 11/1/2013 and runs through 12/31/2015. That’s more than two years for the price of one!

 

 

Your Comments are Welcome, Except When...

I have received several comments recently that I deleted from the blog.  The content was obviously generic enough that the same comment could be cut and pasted onto just about any website, and they all ended with an invitation to visit a website.

I would be glad to help any of my friends promote their website, but please make your comments appear as if you are responding to a subject on the page.  Any comment that appears to be an effort to boost your SEO ranking, and not part of our conversation, will be deleted.

If  you are interested in boosting your SEO standing with reference links, here are a few tips from my own experience promoting the StirlingBuilder website:

1. Place a link to your website in the first paragraph of your YouTube video descriptions.  There are many hundreds of websites that copy the content of YouTube, and their piracy can work to your advantage if they are also broadcasting the link to your web page.  This simple trick can result in thousands of reference links back to your website.
2. Place a link to your website in your email signature.  Join the most popular discussion groups related to the topic of your website.  Participate in the group discussions and use the email response option to post your discussions to the group.  This has several advantages for your SEO. Every response that included your email signature creates a reference link to your website.  Those links are especially valuable because the context of the link is relevant to the topic of your website.  If the most respected sites for mechanical engineering discussions have links to your engineering site, that is more valuable as a reference than links from unrelated locations.
3. Create a Google Alert.  Google Alerts will monitor the web every day and send you an email daily that shows new references showing up on the web for your alert term.  If people start talking about your company or your products by name, you will know almost immediately.

One of the reasons I delete the junk posts from my social media sites is because I want to maintain a focus on the topic.  Keeping things focused makes your site better for your reader, and improves your SEO score too.

LTD Stirling Engine Success!

I am very pleased to see another one of my new designs working on the first test.  I have set some lofty goals for my next book of Stirling Engine plans.  I am exploring how to build the pancake style LTD Stirling Engine without using a machine shop.  The goal is to make an LTD Stirling Engine that will run from the heat of a warm hand, and to do so without spending a lot of money and without using expensive machine tools like a milling machine or a metal lathe.

My first book accomplished this by making some radical changes to the engine design, basically turning it on its side to reduce friction.  This proved very effective and created an engine that will run from the heat of my hand.  I believe I have now solved several of the engineering puzzles required to make a traditional looking Stirling Engine that does not have to be turned sideways in order to run from the heat of a warm hand.  Both of the engines I have tested to date have successfully run from hand heat with the addition of an ice cube to the engine top.  I am confident that under the correct conditions these engines can be made to operate on hand heat without the addition of any ice.

This is great news for those of us who have always wanted a heat-of-the-hand Stilring Engine, but wanted to build it on a budget.  The keys to this new design are the bearings.  I have found some material to make bushings that is easy to work with, very affordable, and available for ordering online.  I have also found an easy way to make clear sidewalls for round engines that uses bent acrylic which can be custom fit to any dimension needed.

Here is a video of one of the recent test runs for this latest engine:

I Am Recruiting An Artist/Illustrator

Here's the story:  I created a book that I called, "Kid's Coloring Calendar 2014" using free clip art and templates that I found in Microsoft Office.  When the book started to sell I decided to double check the copyright status on the artwork.  It is really nice art and it was hard to believe it was free.

After some research I found that the art came from EducationWorld.com. The Education World website offered the same calendar template on their website, but it includes a copyright statement on each page.  That copyright is removed on the version that is offered through Microsoft Office.  When I contacted Education World they indicated that yes, the artwork can be copied and used in education settings, but it cannot be sold for a profit.  They were unaware of the templates being offered in Microsoft Word.  Microsoft indicates they started offering the templates in Office '97, and the Education World representative was not with the company back then.

I am confident that the calender I made was put together using artwork offered in the public domain with no copyright restrictions.  But I have chosen to respect the copyright of Education World.  I personally detest copyright infringement.  I immediately ceased all sales on my printed version of the Kid's Coloring Calendar and I now offer it as a free download.

Artist Recruitment

I am now recruiting an artist to help me create a new Kid's Coloring Calendar.  I am looking for someone who can make traditional coloring pages that are themed to match the seasons. Compensation will have to be negotiated.  I am willing to offer a commission on sales or a flat rate.  However, I have a small budget and this is not expected to be a large revenue stream.  The greatest reward may be seeing your art in print and hoping that it may become popular.

I operate a small family owned publishing company that currently has 11 titles in print, with more on the way. We are exploring the possibilities for several theme based and purpose driven coloring books.  This book may be the first in a series of children's books that we publish.  The artist selected to work on this project may be asked to collaborate on future for-profit projects.

If you would like to find out more about this recruitment, leave a message here or email me at Jim@StirlingBuilder.com.  I suggest you download a copy of the current project to see what the art looks like that I am replacing.

Check out Genuine Journals

Hey everyone, check out GenuineJournals.com.  It is a growing collection of simple paperback journals that are very fun and practical.

3.3 Million Views!

3.3 Million Channel Views. 

I know that is still small on the scale of YouTube success.  But I am very happy to have achieved it!  I have had one viral video and a few other good performers.  I am just waiting for the next big viral hit.

http://www.youtube.com/16strings

Music Industry Predators

The music industry is fighting back against copyright infringement in the same way that Japanese pilots turned their planes into missiles near the end of the war.  In a desperate attempt to win in a war that is already lost, the music industry has cast a broad net to try and clean up the copyright violations on YouTube.  At the time of this writing I have responded to five false claims of copyright infringement on this video.  There is no music in this video, yet each time it is tagged there is a digital rights management company (Often "The Orchard" or one of its subsidiary companies) claiming that some obscure piece of music is being played in the video.

When a claim is made against a video, all ad revenue is stopped.  This means that I, as the true rights holder to the video, can no longer earn any income from the video.  At the same time, the company making the claim now has the ability to post ads on my video, and all ad revenue goes to them, as they have made a claim that they own the rights to the content.  In a strange twist of the rules, the music industry is now making money on media that they did not create, and that they have no rights to whatsoever.  They have found a way to steal digital rights income from other people, even when there is no music involved.

There is no human involvement in this process.  The digital rights management company simply makes a claim to the YouTube machine and starts making money on the videos.  As a YouTube up-loader I have the right to appeal the decision, but losing a series of appeals will result in having my YouTube account flagged for copyright violations.  The on-screen warnings indicate that this can lead to having my account closed and all videos deleted. 

If I file an appeal, it is not heard by YouTube staff.  The appeal goes to the company that filed the claim.  They have the ability to insist that they are correct in the absence of any evidence and without arbitration.  The music industry can shut down any YouTube user and eliminate their ability to make legitimate money on their own material.

The music industry has become the new cyber-bully on YouTube.  They are not making these false claims against obscure videos that are not being viewed.  They are targeting videos that are being viewed and generating ad revenue.  They are stealing ad revenue from people like me by doing this on a massive scale and making claims on (probably) hundreds of thousands of videos.  Others have posted that they have finally given up on the appeals process and just let it go.  Now the digital rights management company is making the ad revenue on those videos and earning large sums of money every month on material they do not own.

YouTube needs to wake up and modify their digital rights process.  They have allowed a bull to run freely in the china shop because they don't want to be the target of legal action.  Google and YouTube are a part of the problem.  They don't care if the ad revenue goes to the wrong person, because they make the same amount of money either way.

Click the image below to see the last two claims made against my video:

Watching the Amazon Sales Rank

The Amazon Sales Rank is a very dynamic rating of how well a book or product is selling on Amazon.  The number is updated about once an hour and does not reflect any sales that are happening outside of the Amazon domain where you see the number listed.  Amazon keeps separate sales rank numbers in each of their markets, so good sales at Amazon.co.uk will not influence the calculation of the sales rank in the US.

As a CreateSpace author I can see real time reports of book sales and watch the changes in sales rank that result.  Amazon reserves the right to make occasional adjustments to the sales rank even when sales are not occurring, and they will occasionally do this.  The sales rank will climb during any hour-long period where there is no sale, and it will drop to a lower number when a sale occurs.

Amazon decided recently to credit the self-publishing authors with sales after the book was printed.  We were previously credited with the sale at the time of the sale.  Amazon is able to print books for Print-on-Demand sales in usually just a few hours.  As a customer I have been notified of shipment within three hours of placing an order for a book that was printed after I ordered it.  This shift to reporting sales after printing has has an odd impact on my daily monitoring of sales.  Many of the sales now get reported while I am sleeping!  Now I am often finding that I can wake up in the morning and see sales that were credited to me during the night.

Amazon sales ranking is very dynamic for books that are not best sellers.  While books in the top 100 will not show a lot of movement throughout the day, books ranked lower can see their ranking jump several hundred thousand places with just one sale.  I guess it is hard to calculate the hourly sales figures on an item that does not sell every hour, or even every day.  Amazon wants the number to reflect sales during the last hour, and is not so concerned with the sales rank of less popular titles, even if they are selling consistently over time.  As a result, you may see large shifts in sales rank for books that are not best sellers.

There is another fun twist to sales ranks.  As a CreateSpace affiliated author I can ask that my books be listed in specific "browse categories" on Amazon.  The sales page for each book will show the ranking for the book in the chosen sales category any time that it is in the top 100 titles of that category.  My three books on Stirling engine construction all happened to rank well enough to be in a top 100 list at the same time recently, so I took some screen shots of the sales rankings to memorialize the moment.

The first book that I released is called "Three LTD Stirling Engines You Can Build Without a Machine Shop."  Here is what the sales rank looks like for that title (click for a larger view):

I was very excited to see that sales were good enough to be placed in the top 100 sales for Science Experiments and Projects and Mechanical Engineering!

 

The second book I released is "Quick and Easy Stirling Engine."  Here is the sales rank for that title (click for a larger view):

 

 



The third title I released is called, "Eleven Stirling Engine Projects You Can Build."  It was also recently listed in the top 100 for two different categories (click for a larger view):

 



 

More LTD Stirling Engines You Can Build Without a Machine Shop

I have started working on another collection of Stirling Engine plans that will become the next installment in the series of designs of Stirling Engines you can build without a machine shop.  This will be another series of LTD engines that should be capable of running from the heat of a warm hand.

The first set of LTD designs has become a popular seller.  “Three LTD Engines You Can Build Without a Machine Shop” has been selling very well in the United States, in the United Kingdom, and in Europe.  I have received inquiries asking if my books are available in German, Spanish, and Norwegian.  I also receive occasional requests for an electronic version of all three of my current books.  Publishing eBook versions of these texts is not currently in development, but will likely be happening in the future.

Several have commented on the non-traditional approach to Stirling Engine design used in the first book.  The design variations that were made were all done in order to reduce friction and make a true LTD engine possible without a machine shop.  This new project will create a series of LTD engines that follow in the spirit of the traditional pancake style LTD engine. 
The current outline for the new book has 4 engine designs with a variety of configuration options.  If you include all the configuration variations (large, small, round, or square) there will be 12 complete sets of plans in the new book.

The book will be written with the worldwide audience in mind.  Measurements will be primarily in inches with the metric equivalents shown.  The parts and materials needed for construction will be very affordable and should be available worldwide.  Alternative materials and building techniques will be provided so that builders will have options to choose from when assembling their own engines.

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.

Troubleshooting Tips

How to Trouble Shoot a Stirling Engine

When they are working well, Low Temperature Differential (LTD) engines have just enough power to overcome their own friction.  It is very common to experience difficulty when trying to get a new engine to work for the first time.  If you are having trouble getting your Stirling engine to run, here are some troubleshooting tips.

Temperature Differential

Do you have sufficient temperature differential?  You do not need to overheat your engine to get it to run.  You need both hot and cold.  Your heat source may be a candle or a cup of hot water, depending on your engine design.  Not every candle is hot enough.  If it does not harm your engine, try a candle with a larger flame, or perhaps more than one candle.   An alcohol lamp may provide even more heat than a candle.  Never heat your engine above the operating temperature it was designed for.

Keep the cool side as cool as possible.  This usually means adding ice.  Don’t let the ice interfere with the operation of the engine.  And never let water get inside the engine.  If ice melts and the water runs in through the pressure chamber gland, you will have to disassemble your engine and dry it out.

The key to the temperature differential is the DIFFERENCE in temperature between the warm side and the cold side.

Engine Rotation

I have seen some people try to rotate their engine in the wrong direction!  The rotation direction is determined by the phase angle between the displacer and the drive mechanism.  In most small Stirling motors the section of the crankshaft with the drive mechanism is following 90 degrees behind the rotation of the displacer piston.  So, when the displacer piston reaches the top, the drive piston is half way up.  When the displacer piston reaches the bottom, the drive piston is half way down.

If your displacer is not moving far enough, it may not be creating enough “displacement” to move the air inside your engine.

Pressure Leaks

A teeny tiny pressure leak is usually a good thing.  I have made several engines with air tight pressure chambers, and they actually need to have vents added to them so that the pressures can occasionally be equalized.  However, it is very easy to get too much air leaking out.  Since there is barely enough power to move the flywheel, it doesn’t take much of a leak to stop it.

One place pressure often leaks is around the drive piston (if you have one).  If you use a diaphragm drive, leaking is not a problem here.  Sometimes a little oil will help to lubricate a loose fitting piston while also slowing a leak. 

If you are using a diaphragm drive, it must be set up so that it is not too loose.  If the diaphragm is too loose, it is the same as a leak.  All your pressure changes will be consumed in moving the loose fabric of the diaphragm, and the motion will not go to your flywheel.  The diaphragm has to be set just right, so that all the slack is gone at each end of the stroke.  But do not make it too tight, or the motor will have to fight against the fabric in order to rotate.

Friction

As a general rule, if it makes noise, it is making friction.

If the displacer is hitting, touching, or rubbing the inside of the pressure chamber, that is increasing your friction.  Minimize this the best that you can.

If your displacer is coming to rest against a flat surface, it is increasing the “pull off” friction by creating a vacuum between the two flat surfaces.  This is one reason why you want your displacer to stop 1/16” to 1/8” before touching a flat surface.

If your displacer does not have enough clearance for air to pass around it, this is increasing friction.

Every place where two moving parts touch has friction.  You cannot eliminate friction, but you must minimize the friction at every point where moving parts come together.  If you can create a design with fewer moving parts, you will also have fewer friction points.

Check the displacer motion and make sure it is not rubbing the inside of the engine.  Make sure it is not hitting the top or the bottom.

Check the motion of the displacer shaft through the gland.  This is a common trouble spot for both friction and leaking.

Check both ends of the connection between the displacer and the crank shaft.  The direction of push/pull must always be perpendicular to the axis of the drive shaft.  If the connecting rods are pushing at an angle other than 90 degrees, this will cause binding.  Install keepers in necessary to maintain the angle of the connecting rod.

Does your crankshaft and flywheel turn freely?  If you disconnect the displacer and the drive mechanism and spin the flywheel, how long will it coast?  The pop can motor on my desk right now will coast for 15 seconds with a flywheel made from two CDs.  If yours spins for less than 5 seconds, you have a serious friction problem.

Check the connecting rod between the crank shaft and the drive mechanism.  This connecting rod must also always push and pull at 90 degrees to the crank shaft axis.  If this is pushing to the side, it will cause friction and bind.  You may need to install a keeper of some sort to get it to stay at the correct angle.

If you have a piston, make sure it does not bind.  It must fit loose enough to fall through the cylinder under its own weight when there is no air pressure holding it up.  And it must fit tight enough that it will not drop (or it will not drop quickly) when there is air pressure to cause resistance.  If it is a tight fit, you may need to make it looser by polishing.  If it is a loose fit, you may want to try oiling it.

Summary

Check everything thoroughly, but modify only one thing at a time.  If your modification improves performance, keep it.  If your modification makes things worse, or makes no change, set it back the way it was.  If you change too many things at the same time and it degrades your performance, you won’t know which change caused the problem.

It is very normal and natural for these engines to require some tweaking and tuning to get them “in the zone”.  Once you have them tuned up, they will run for a long time.  Remember: Low Temperature Differential (LTD) engines have just enough power to overcome their own friction.  You must pay great attention to detail to maximize power (by managing leaks and temperature differential) and minimize friction to make these motors run well.

I had the opportunity recently to speak and present a demonstration of my Stirling engines at Ada's Technical Bookstore in Seattle.  It is a wonderful, cozy little store. There were about 25 people there for the presentation.  We met some wonderful folks and had a great time chatting about the marvelous little Stirling engine.My engines were very well behaved and put on a good show for the folks.

Small Parts Photo Studio

The working laboratory of most evil genius inventors can be a messy place.  Mine is no exception.  I am in the process of designing, building, and documenting the construction of several Stirling Engines and I needed a way to photograph the small parts as they were created.  I also needed a way to photograph the completed Stirling Engines.

I was tempted to buy the Portable Photo Studio sold by ThinkGeek.com for $50 (http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/cameras-photography/a205/). But the dimensions of that setup are not tall enough for some of my completed projects.  So I created a similar setup on my own for about $30.

The backdrop is a display board like the kind kids use for science fair displays.  Cardboard versions are about $5.  This one is made from paper covered foam core poster board and sells for about $15.  The floor of the studio is made from another piece of foam core poster board.  One side of the floor board is white, the other is black.  Some small parts are light in color and need a dark background for best results.  I simply turn the bottom piece over and use the black side when I need the dark background.

I already had two movable lights.  One contains an old incandescent bulb and the other has a bright energy saving bulb. That provides a little light balance for the pictures, which I will reduce to B&W anyway for publication.  I use a 10MP snapshot camera with a flash and I am getting very good results. The second image here is an un-edited photo taken in the homemade studio.

I Am Furlough Daze!

Every great blues musician has a cool moniker.  I may not be a great blues musician, but I have found my moniker.  I am Furlough Daze!  I used my new personality to record a collection of 10 blues jams for a charity fundraiser at work.  It was one of the quickest projects I have put together, and it is also one of my personal favorites.  It feels a little strange when you favorite instrumental blues CD is your own work.  But I do enjoy listening to this one a lot.

I got started on this project by entering the King of the Blues guitar contest at Guitar Center.  That got me playing many of these songs.  The band you hear on the CD is actually the contest backing tracks from Guitar Center.  (I sent them an email and they told me I could use them for the CD.)  That made the project move very quickly as I didn't have to create the whole band, just the lead guitar part.

I used three different guitars in the recording, and my Line 6 Amp Simulator.  It gives a nice variety of textures with some gentle acoustic guitar, some classic blues crunch, and some over-the-top 80's metal sounds.

The 10 tracks on this CD are:

Slow Down Blues

Stone Blues

Slow Blues

110 In The Shade

Talkin' My Baby Down

Laid Down Blues

A Minor Affair

Still In Love

Little Girl Shuffle

East Coast Blues

You can download these for free by visiting http://soundclick.com/jimlarsen.  Or if you can find me on the planet you can get a CD from me!

Stay Cool!

Furlough Daze