Stirlingengineforum.com

Oh, I forgot to mention to the others that this is a dynamic balancer tool.
I hope I can spare the change to get one. otherwise, the poor man's balancer is in order. http://www.antiqueautoranch.com/montana ... page4.html
this basically will explain also how a balancer works, also.

This austrailian product is a stroboscope with an IR sensor, led strobe, and accelerometer for vibration analysis. the IR sensor is used to detect the 0 degree reference mark drawn on the shaft/flywheel. I was going to build one similar to this, but this one is smaller and more compact than I could ...

found a $120 dynamic balancer. uses stroboscopic method of balancing and uses an accelerometer to detect vibration and phase detection.
http://www.dynexhobby.com/ originally designed for model plane propellers and such.

Found a new seal. a WV-seal. like the vee seal, but W shaped, with less drag and more support. Here is what it looks like. Here is the link: http://www.veepacking.com/ "WV Packings While similar to Vee Packings, the WV style provides sealing properties that are largely independent of stack pack...

Ah, I found a good cheap supplier for hBN. They give a really good description on how the stuff behaves. It is hygroscopic due to the 5 micron or less mesh, therefore care must be taking to remove humidity from the area or it will clump. Any open container must be used immediately or it will clump u...

Have 80mm graphite slugs ready to go already thought of that. Have enough to shut down a small reactor. I find glassblowing suppliers to have plenty of graphite for sale. Graphite + hot air = CO2. CO2 is very bad for a working fluid. The design target is for air as a working fluid, all other conside...

Ceramic vs ceramic friction depends greatly on the ceramic, of course. ~.27 is what the paper found. rough estimate.
About the same as nylon vs nylon friction. I guess hBN is not all the great in ceramic mixes, but helps in small quantities, like 5%.

Nice research paper, I just wish it wasn't mostly in Japanese, but it still contains useful info for sure. I found one on ceramic-hBN composites. Unfortunately, it is on google books, and I can't post the conclusion word-for-word. Scroll down to the bottom to see it. https://books.google.com/books?i...

V-twin configuration, 80mm bore, 30mm stroke. 600F isn't enough to satisfy me, 450F over a long time period will eventually decompose the teflon to make it fail. I need to go 2x over the design limit for longevity's sake. Totally impervious would be nice, but this is a search for the best material, ...

The IC engine doesn't have gapless top rings because they would not survive. Many racers have tried it, but even Total Seal stopped offering a gapless top ring and went with a gapless 2nd ring. The aluminum compressor piston bores ARE anodized (overhauled plenty of them) and so are the pistons in ca...

certified master mechanic, 25yrs. But I don't know avionic technology and methods. There may be a great number of things I have never seen, and Ian could probably shoot me down any day of the week if I am not careful. However, automotive a/c compressors use ceramic piston seals vs aluminum cylinders...

Sounds like 100% sintered hBN is the way to go for piston rings if it has the same strength. This should solve many problems, indeed. A CAD program I like that is free is from www.emachineshop.com. I use it regularly to draft .STL files for my 3d printer. It also allows you to estimate costs of diff...

I should definitely order some from amazon for sure. alibaba web links tend to be geared towards mass production, it seems. For now, I am all about the prototype. Apparently, the hBN is also hygroscopic (water absorbing), and may make a nice dessicant of sorts for a stirling engine, too. Getting moi...

I like this design. Hydraulic/pneumatic cast iron seal. Would be nice if coated with hBN.

Do these ring seals have overlapping ends like a transmission seal? It would only make sense if they did. I imagine a thin supporting (backing) ring would have to be used, if the compressed stuff is as soft as I imagine. I was thinking a trapped ring held in place with a snap ring in a groove on the...