Building a Solar powered Stirling engine - Where to start?

[Ibuilder]

Hi all,

I'm a beginner at this and I've been searching around Google and Youtube for a while on how to build such an engine.
So far this has resulted in more confusion than conclusion :D

I'm interested in building a simple, yet durable engine - that is, not just for demonstration, but for lightweight use. I doesn't need to be powerful.

But where do you get plans for these engines? I have looked at videos of several very similar designs, but I haven't really found the plans to build one. Most complete plans I've seen so far are for coffee cup -type of setups, which is great, but not really suitable for my project.

Another problem is that, I'm a little short on tools when it comes to metal work, so even if I would have the plans, it might be quite difficult for me to manufacture parts if they require proper machining. I can do basic drilling etc. tasks, but not much more for metal (for wood working I would have some more tools, but I guess those are not very useful for this).

Any links, book recommendations and tips would be much appreciated :)

[Junkie]

You have a look at this. All simple solar engines, that don't require any machine tools.

http://www.alice-dsl.net/bsuhrbier3/

[Ibuilder]

Thanks for the link! I'll take a look...

[jimlarsen]

I have some videos of solar powered Stirling Engines posted here:

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

If you are interested in building them, the plans are available here:

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Stirling-En ... 559&sr=8-1

They are relatively easy to build. Two of the designs will even run from the heat of your hand. Each engine costs about $30 to make.

Jim Larsen
http://StirlingBuilder.com

[Ibuilder]

Thanks, I will take a closer look!

[Murph]

Martin Wyss had a rather nice unit using a automotive CV boot as the piston, rather ingenious!

http://www.alice-dsl.net/bsuhrbier3/

Murph

[Ibuilder]

Nice idea for reuse!

[morgan]

has any one checked out, " simple stirling 1 engine " at http://www.solarheatengines.com/ it is very nice,no lathe or mill needed
most parts can be had at hardware and hobby shops. i built one and it ran right off the get go.

[jimlarsen]

Solar Heat Engines looks like a great resource. I think I will put a link to that on my page. Those are some very finely detailed plans he is offering there.

http://sites.google.com/site/stirlingbu ... ling-links