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I am starting on a 1/8 scale "Myers" Rider-Ericson Pump engine castings kit. 5/3/2003

This is a link to some interesting information about these engines http://www.stirlingengines.org.uk/pioneers/pion5.html

This is detailed work in progress and it has been broken into Sections

Section 1

Section 2

5/6/2003 All my work is done on basic Sherline machines with riser blocks installed. Not for the purpose of advertising for Sherline, but I get a lot of e-mail from people asking what I use to do such small work as they would like to do small stuff, I for one can do this and more on a bigger machine, but many think the key is the small machine. In actuality with all my hobbies I try to give back as much as possible and for a long time I wanted to see more casting kits and such geared towards many guys who are either just starting out with either no room for big machines or no budget for them, like me. So for the purpose of people being able to see the kind of work that can be done on these machines and how I went about it, could be very helpful to those like myself who are limited to small machines. It was also a large factor deterring me from starting years ago, as I thought none of the projects I wanted to do, could be done on the machines I had room for.

In case you are curious, here is where the "Erickson" stands. Everything is basically completed with the exception of the Linkage and water pump. All thou I want to replace the 2 piece Hot cap with a Solid Stainless Steel Cap and I may replace the Power Cylinder and Piston with the original parts. Right now it has a Brass Cylinder and Graphite piston. The original is a Stainless Steel Cylinder and Brass Piston.

I am finally back to work on it after a tough battle with removing the brass cylinder liner and replacing it with the original Steel cylinder. I had spent the better part of the last two years trying to think up an easy way to remove it, but in the end I had to just heat it up with a torch and beat it out with a hammer. I already had the steel cylinder and brass piston made up , so I was ready to go there. I finished up most of the linkage over the week end. 11/25/2005

Progress has been slow. I noted back in the beginning that the drawings had problems, but they were minor , I thought! They have gotten much worse as work has progressed. I have spoken to at least one other that purchased this kit and returned it after realizing the problems in the drawings. If I had known the response he was given when he took it back I would have never purchased this kit! I had spoken to others before purchasing, that would not purchase it do to the quality of the castings. I have no complaints to the castings. They machined beautifully and they were not that rough considering the complexity of some of them. However the drawings are the pits! I can now say for sure I would not recommend this kit to anyone with out years of experience building engines. It is just far to complicated to "Figure Out" on your own. After many hours of calculations and trial and error. I had the engine ready to start for a first run. After solving the riddles and remaking of the parts necessary I have found that the Needle Bearings recommended just have to much slop and cause the flywheel to flop around stalling the momentum, other then that it feels strong and should run just fine with new roller ball bearings. I have the bearings on order. Mean while I nickel plated all the brass parts and still have the pump to complete before final "run in" and disassembly and paint.

The new bearings came in thursday (12/22/2005) and was a matter of a few minutes to install. Big difference! No more flop, and much smoother rotation. After a few hours of playing i have yet to be able to get it to run, however these engines are very sensitive to friction and air leaks. Most of the friction is worn in at this point but there is some slight drag during power piston phase. The engine will turn over about 98% of the rotation on it's own with just a nudge to get it started. Perhaps a heavier flywheel would make the last difference, or it could be there is still i small air leak somewhere. It is not sealed perfectly as i don't want to lock tight the cylinder to the base until after paint, during final assembly. I also maybe looking at another problem with the drawings. I have no way of knowing the proper range of movement in the power piston and displacer. If the crank is off a little i may not be getting proper stroke on the pistons. With the pump completed it will have a better supply of cooling water to the jacket, which will help over the standing water in there now. I also have the fire box off and with it on, it will help concentrate the heat to the hot cap better. I am also firing on my little alcohol burner and a propane burner would generate more heat. My only concern at this point is if the engine has difficulty with a little friction, how will it handle the pump? We will have to see.