Some of you asked what I make in my shop. So today we’re going to look at the first steam engine I made. I found a free set of plans online, and the metal was stuff I had around. I think it turned out pretty well!

The cylinder side of an oscillating steam engine, showing cylinder, piston, and crank disc. The upright and some decorative chamfers on the cylinder have been engine turned.
The cylinder side. I’m really happy with how the engine turning (the jeweled effect on the flat metal bits) turned out.
The flywheel side of the engine, showing steam/air inlet and exhaust, tension screw, spring, and flywheel.
The flywheel side. I bought the screw, washer, spring, and air fitting, along with the nut on the crankshaft. I made everything else.

I actually power it with compressed air rather than steam. Steam makes a lot more power than compressed air, but since I don’t need the power, air makes more sense. Steam boilers require a lot of fussing to operate, but I can run a couple engines from the air pump for an aquarium, and all I have to do is plug it in.

The steam engine is completely useless, of course, except as a pretty toy. But what the heck, I had a lot of fun working on it, and I learned a lot too!