The pretty little toy about to be described is interesting as a practical application to power-producing purposes of the force exerted by expanding air. It is easy to make, and, for mere demonstration purposes, has an advantage over a steam-engine of the same size in that it can be set working in less than a minute, and will continue to act as long as a small spirit flame is kept burning beneath it; it cannot explode; and its construction is a simpler matter than the building of a steam-engine.

Principles Of The Hot-Air Engine

Fig. 97 gives a sectional view of the engine. The place of what would be the boiler in a steam-engine of similar shape is taken by an air chamber immediately above the lamp, and above that is a chamber through which cold water circulates. In what we will call the heating chamber a large piston, known as the displacer, is moved up and down by a rod D and a connecting rod CR1. This piston does not touch the sides of the chamber, so that the bulk of the air is pushed past it from one end of the chamber to the other as the piston moves. When the displacer is in the position shown -- at the top of its stroke -- the air is heated by contact with the hot plate C, and expands, forcing up the piston of the power cylinder, seen on the left of the engine. (The power crank and the displacer crank are, it should be mentioned, set at right angles to one another.) During the second half of the power stroke the displacer is moved downwards, causing some of the air to pass round it into contact with the cold plate D. It immediately contracts, and reduces the pressure on the power piston by the time that the piston has finished its stroke. When the power piston has reached the middle of its downward stroke, the displacer is at its lowest position, but is halfway up again when the power piston is quite down. The air is once again displaced downwards, and the cycle begins anew. The motive power is, therefore, provided by the alternate heating and cooling of the same air.

Construction

The barrel and supports were made out of a single piece of thin brass tubing, 2-7/16 inch internal diameter and 5-5/8 inch long. The heating end was filed up true, the other cut and filed to the shape indicated in Fig. 98 by dotted lines. The marking out was accomplished with the help of a strip of paper exactly as wide as the length of the tube, and as long as the tube's circumference. This strip had a line ruled parallel to one of its longer edges, and 2-1/2 inches from it, and was then folded twice, parallel to a shorter edge. A design like the shaded part of Fig. 98 was drawn on an end fold, and all the four folds cut through along this line with a pair of scissors. When opened out, the paper appeared as in Fig. 98.

We now -- to pass into the present tense -- wrap this pattern round the tube and scratch along its edges. The metal is removed from the two hollows by cutting out roughly with a hack saw and finishing up to the lines with a file.

The next things to take in hand are the displacer rod D and the guide tube in which it works. These must make so good a fit that when slightly lubricated they shall prevent the passage of air between them and yet set up very little friction. If you cannot find a piece of steel rod and brass tubing which fit close enough naturally, the only alternative is to rub down a rod, slightly too big to start with, until it will just move freely in the tube. This is a somewhat tedious business, but emery cloth will do it. The rod should be 3-3/8 inches, the tube 2-1/8 inches, long. I used rod 3/16 inch in diameter; but a smaller rod would do equally well.

The two plates, A and B, are next prepared by filing or turning down thin brass[1] discs to a tight fit. (Note.-- For turning down, the disc should be soldered centrally to a piece of accurately square

Fig. 97. Vertical section of hot-air engine.

Fig. 98-

Fig. 99.

[1: Thin iron plate has the disadvantage of soon corroding.] brass rod, which can be gripped in a chuck. I used a specially-made holder like that shown in Fig. 99 for this purpose.)

When a good fit has been obtained, solder the two discs together so that they coincide exactly, and bore a central hole to fit the guide tube tightly. Before separating the plates make matching marks, so that the same parts may lie in the same direction when they are put in position. This will ensure the guide tube being parallel to the barrel.

The power cylinder is a piece of brass tubing 2 inches long and of 7/8-inch internal diameter. The piston is of 7/8-inch tubing, fitting the cylinder easily, and thick enough to allow a shallow packing recess to be turned in the outside. Brass washers turned or filed to size form the ends of cylinder and piston. The connecting rod CR2 is a piece of strip brass, 3-3/16 inches long, between centres of holes. This had better be cut off a bit long in the first instance, and be fitted to the little stirrup which attaches its lower end to the piston. The drilling of the crank pinhole should be deferred till the cylinder and crank are in position.

Putting In The Water-Chamber Discs

Clean the inside of the barrel thoroughly with sandpaper; also discs A and B round the edges and the central holes. Disc A is forced in from the crank end a little further down than it is to be finally, and then driven up from below until at all points its lower side is exactly three inches from the bottom edge of the barrel. Disc B is then forced up 1-1/2 inches from the bottom end. The guide tube - which should have been cleaned -- having been driven into place, solder is run all round the joints. If the barrel is heated over a spirit lamp, this operation is performed very quickly. ("Tinol" soldering paste is recommended.) Before soldering in B, drill a small hole in the barrel between A and B to allow the air to escape.