Stirlingengineforum.com

I dont know of any commercial engines that may do what you need There are a few boats knocking about Silver Stirling 1 comes to mind and the French gentleman in the video A Japanese gentleman did have some drawing up on the net from the Marine research university of Japan for engines and hulls http...

I'm not sure I understand what you are after - fundamentally all engines work in any orientation, its just details like gravity-fed systems that need to be adjusted, so with most simple stirlings, the only thing you need to do is arrange for heat to be applied appropriately. A stirling engine with ...

For some time I tried to build a simple tin can type of stirling engine, to power a small and light model boat. But it's not for me. I always get stuck somewhere, while building, and I'm too stubborn to just copy someone else's design. So I'm quitting on building an engine alltogether. It's not goin...

I'm bad at math, so I guess not. :-P

I get the "alpha" part.
But what exactly is "gamma" about this engine?

There is no need for equalization with the outside air when the engine is running, quite the contrary. It is the difference in pressure that makes it possible for the engine to operate. A diaphram engine will probably stop running when the internal pressure moves above the atmospheric average. A pe...

I think I'll try something more conventional first, and drop by this project (or something similar) later on.

Not exactly the same type of "free piston" but I think you might just be on to something. I personally suspect the pinholes could very well be a problem, you say holes plural? Yup, one in the displacer, and one in the outer cylinder, so it can ajust to outside air pressure slowly. (which ...

Maybe I should try without the recommended pinholes next time.
Or just stick to theories, and see if it gets picked up by someone else.

What do you mean by "kick"? Did you first try to get it running without the crankshaft, or went right into putting it all together? Yes, this. It makes no sense to continue building the engine, when it's primary powr source doesn't even work, (while it should). SoI failed at the "fre...

This project is parked right now.

I can't get a "kick" out of the can, so it's probably not a functioning power source at all.
Maybe I'll attempt again, some other time. For now, I might try a more conventional project.

I think I mistook your flywheel to be the boats propeller. Anyway, looking forward to some photos of this build. I think you'll only see the finished product, if it works, that is. Don't have a lot of faith in that. (And that's probably why I find it hard to make photo's of every step.) Might be so...

Well, I got the cylinder/displacer assembly finished now, but I can't test the "kick" of it.
Seems like I have to build the rest first, in order to discover it doesn't work.

Well, cylinder and displacer are ready and the silicone glue that keeps the displacer in place, is drying. Hopefully, tomorrow I can assemble them together, and perform some "kick" tests.

And I'd prefer a conventional engine layout in relation to the boat anyway.
I like when it clatters a bit, like a small diesel engine. :-)

That's purely an aesthetic thing for me.