Homemade TWIN CYLINDER Air-Powered Engine Goes REALLY Fast! 

Just imagine what the pioneers of the industrial revolution could have achieved with access to a CNC plasma cutter!

Oh very well done Tim, that extra cylinder really does transform the engine. It's sounds so happy at the lower speeds: I could listen to that all day long. Perhaps you should do one of those 5hr films of it just ticking over, just like the ones of fireplaces, fish tanks or waterfalls. Personally I think this makes for a perfect stationary engine where it's wobbliness and high centre of gravity don't matter. Perhaps you could convert a compressor into a loco engine? Sturdy and compact and you'd have a nice output shaft as well. Many have high and low pressure cylinders of course.

fireless steam locos are not unknown - having a fixed steam plant and just a storage tank of steam on the locomotive to run from and think there may have been some air-powered ones as well - having a windmill running a compressor to fill tanks and then using the air to run a train sounds like a fantastic idea. Might be better to have the tanks fixed to the train and fill it from a storage tank so not so much fiddling around and heavy lifting.

The friendship between you and Will is a delight to witness. You both seem to have such fun, even in moments of adversity.

For more torque you could split the air out from the valves on the left to the push stroke on the left and return stroke on the right, and split the air out on the right to the right push stroke and left pull stroke. It will use a bunch more air wont go faster but at least you will get more force.

What a wonderful thing Tim, I could watch that going round and round all day!

Also good demonstration of why internal combustion engines were such a game changer! Just slap a 10 horse engine on a frame, add a 2 gallon petrol tank, and you have a loco! Easy! Lol! Steam and pneumatic engines are very challenging because of their power source. As others have mentioned a wood gas powered engine maybe your best bet. You have plenty of wood.

Tim, I think you could get bonus free power by connecting the out-stroke of one cylinder to the in-stroke of the other. The plumbing is already there for it.. if that makes sense

Found this channel today. Thanks Tim. I'll do some exploring. If you decide to use steam, you run into some pretty serious certification requirements. Best to stick to compressed air.

A little detail: the arms depressing the valves are beautiful.

Love the sound it makes, people like Tim will be needed after the next apocalypse.

We just love watching what you do we bet your glad to have Sandra and Flora and Trudy home safe and sound.Happy Easter 🐣 with best wishes and regards.💚💚💚💚💚👧👧👧👧👨👨👨🐔🐔

Totally amazing, it was guys like yourself who would have developed the steam engine back in the 1700s & 1800s. Really do love seeing people developing & designing engines over the polished builds from bought plans (although not wrong).

Tephlon plumbers tape to seal the threaded connections on the compressed air fittings would help with the hissing noise and probably save air over the long run.

5 seconds in and a distinct "Ivor the Engine" sound....great stuff.YOu must be getting there Tim well done

I love the sound of this guy’s voice and the way he talks.

I agree with your assessment that it's probably not worth making those pistons double acting, but do keep in mind that you can now make them double acting with zero effort, by just linking up with valves on the opposite cylinder! Thanks for posting.

Reminds me of air powered washing machine I once made for agitating metal parts in soapy water. I made a metal box that held the water and put on a frame stand to rock back and forth. Then hooked small air cylinder to rock it with a valve similar to valve body on automatic transmission to direct the air and change positions with each rock. If you put air to it without filling with water it would walk around the floor.

I think the rocket boiler you were working on has great promise for providing steam for the engine.

The gearbox off a boat with an in board engine has a simple forward /neutral /reverse action, built-in clutch, not too heavy... Worth a look.

Fun fact- this is very much like how a "Heisler" type steam locomotive is set up! The pistons are set horizontally either side of the locomotive, much like you have yours set. When steam is applied, it turns a flywheel and driveshaft. The driveshaft is coupled to the 2 bogies on the locomotive, which then drives the locomotive forward or backward when the pistons are in motion. The Heisler is not known for speed, but for its torque, ability to climb steep grades, and tractive effort.

Very good progress. You would likely need very high pressure gas bottles to store sufficient compressed air to power the engine. I think they would need a couple of thousand PSI pressure to get any worthwhile air duration. I cannot imagine a wind powered machine able to generate such pressure. There is a small car made in India which uses compressed air to power the vehicle. Look up Tata Airpod for more information. Well done Tim the two cylinders are working relatively smooth. What a fight to get the cylinder head off. Dave.

I think you are a very clever man.

I would say opening up the unused ports to reduce resistance. It's a pretty long stroke, and that means a lot of air going in and out. A large opening can reduce that a lot, and might make it faster.

Amazing. It’s spinning twice as fast with two cylinders :) Looks cool.

1:25 i just imagine someone using a torque wrench on his bicycle having a heart attack seeing this

You don't need another set of valves to utilise the 'rod end' of each cylinder. Simply "T" into the piston side of cylinder #1 and run a hose to the rod end of cylinder #2, and visa versa for the other side. It should (approximately) halve your speed and double your torque. Awesome video!!!

By far one if the coolest things I've seen wish I was as smart and had the tools to build like that

Many of the mine locomotives used here in Western Canada at the beginning of the 20th century ran on compressed air until replaced by electric ones. Steam was too dangerous for use underground. Keeping it as a compressed air engine would make sense (and would be safer too) as long as you had a large enough reservoir for the distance being covered.

I suggest that you should introduce a oiler between the compressor and the cylinders to stop the piston rings wearing away on a dry or dirty cylinders or a squirt of oil in the breathing holes

Another option to consider rather than steam is an air reheater before the engine. The air gets cold as it expands from the tank, and loses some oomph in the process. Some compressed air trolleys used little coal stoves or bottles of nearly boiling water to do the reheating, though you can likely get away with pretty much anything that can raise the temperature. My personal favorite idea is to pair an air engine with a biochar kiln, lots of heat to spare there!

One way you could make the engine reversible would be to modify the cams to work like slip eccentrics. The cams would need to be free to rotate on the flywheel shaft and there would need to be two stops to limit the amount of rotation. This gives the cams two operating positions according to which direction the shaft is turning. The two stops need to be set so that the cam timing is correct for each direction of rotation. A simple way to change direction is to turn the flywheel by hand in the desired direction. The friction of the cam followers against the cams will cause the cams to remain stationary until the cams come up against the stop for that direction of rotation.

Hi Tim, do some research, the paper mills in Kent used to run fireless engines, one near me in Dartford had some compressesd air locos, and if I recall one in Sittingbourne Kent was narrow guage as well 👍

My father, my grandfather, and my great grandfather, who is a blacksmith would love this Channel…

There is no mechanical reason that you couldn't make a windmill powered air compressor but it will take a lot of wind to be practical. You could power a compressor using animal power and then use the stored energy much faster than it was stored. This is particularly useful if you have animals that need lots of exercise but don't produce high density power.

Instead of filling the tank with steam or compressed air, you might be better off filling the tank with superheated water. Water at 250°F will produce steam at 50 psi. The steam expansion rate is 1700:1 You can use a fixed boiler, and plumb hot water into your on-board tank. That way you don’t have to move the boiler. This is what was known as a “fireless locomotive”. Of course, at that point, you might as will just mount the boiler on a car; and take it with you. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireless_locomotive

Another fabulous creation, Tim. I'm so glad I found your channel. The railway is looking better all the time. To transfer power to the wheels, have a look at some ride-on lawnmowers that use two discs either side of a rubber roller set at 90 degrees to the rotation of the discs. This is a combination clutch, reduction-gear and reverse in one. It changes the direction of rotation of the output shaft by pressing the roller up against one or the other of the discs. Old Cox brand mowers used this arrangement which was easily visible by lifting up the seat. Two old car brake discs and a small, solid rubber wheel attached to an axle would work.

When I was a kid we would break rusty joints by applying heat first, always worked. But a hammer would shake those things loose sometimes too. Cool gizmo:)

Very nice. It reminds me of the Lego pneumatic engines i used to make.

I don't care what others may say, but your engine there is a thing of beauty! Personally, I would try going with the windmill working a compressor, and changing out compress air tanks for your mini locomotive. But, that is just me and the idea would be for hauling the woodchip wagons. More power than that and I am unsure. However, I have the utmost faith in you! Whatever you end up with in the final run will be practical and beautiful.

The British mantra of making do with what you have is prevalent throughout your entire channel Thanks so much for sharing your adventures with us.

If you want to store compressed air efficiently, you would need quite high pressures. I don't know how big your cilynders are exactly, but i would quess a stroke of about 70cm and the 5cm diameter. So that would be 1,35 Liters per stroke per cylinder. So at 100 RPM around 270 Liters per minute, if your working pressure is 1 bar (wich it won't be, cause you want power). A SCBA Tank at 300 bar (six liter internal volume at atmospheric pressure) holds around 1660 Liters ((Volume times pressure) divided by 1.1). So that would be gone in six minutes, if you have no leaks and want to depressurize completly, wich you wouldn't want, because then moisture can get into the tank. Also, for those pressures, a very expensive compressor is necessary, and the bottles aren't cheap either... So lets go for a somewhat cheaper option, 200 bar and maybe argon-cylinders (for welding and stuff). Those probably cost the same as a used SCBA bottle, but with more volume and usable air inside. The compressor problem is still there, but you can use a normal welding pressure reducer. Although you might want to combine multiple tanks on the loco, to have enough air... Just be sure you know what you are doing, because high pressure air is very dangerous!

Reversing? Gearbox it would be my advice. Shay locomotives are an example of steam powered engines that use gears. Its' funny, because the inventor started out making it as a hack, much like your engine. His company couldn't afford to buy a steam locomotive that could climb the mountains so he bought an old farm stationary engine, two train cars, suspended a boiler between them and used drive shafts to transmit the power out. The design was so successful, he was contracted by steam locomotive companies to make more and ended up selling them all over the USA.

AirEngResearch It was interesting to see how you designed the Air Engine and it works pretty well. I went through the same trials and errors developing the Car Air Engine I am currently working on!

I am amazed with your ingenuity and no doubt you could make an compressed air powered engine for your train but have you considered electric, an old mobility scooter would easily provide the parts required,

That's a pretty impressive pipe wrench for a pound shop special!

I bet Mr Thomas Newcomen and Mr. Watt are secretly applauding you. well done Tim.

Tim you need to put whistles on the outlet of the cylinders. Just to make funny noises. Very important :-)

This would be a really dope power train for a pneumatic motorcycle

You are able to make both cylinders double sided by tying the right side cylinder to the left side cam and vice versa. Because the cylinders are on opposite side, (and should be oppositly timed) you should be able to tie into the opposite sides cam to run the currently unpowered side of both cylinders. Awesome work, great sound and a artistic flare

Thank you very much for sharing your projects. They are inspiring.

This is so neat! You are literally reinventing the wheel. Of course the engineering is way above my pay grade, nevertheless it is very enjoyable to watch!

If you have a stream or river nearby, you could build a trompe, a water powered air compressor with no moving parts, and use that to power it. You would need a high drop in the water to get high enough pressure, though.

Fascinating. Like watching the evolution of the steam engine 1810

Those cylinders are made for thousands of PSI. You're only likely to have air at under 100 PSI. Bicycle pumps are much more suited to the job, because they're a similar size, but are *made* for air, and at the pressure you're using. P.S. A "V" configuration for the placement of the cylinders would ensure that the thing starts by itself.

Before you jump to steam power you should consider making your joints and moving parts less cantankerous. One of those pivots seems like its banging every time it contracts. Threaded bolts arent the best option but its cool to see that it works. If you do jump to steam however you're gonna need a big enough boilerwith a safety valve.

For a place with access to a trompe or the ideal conditions to build one for access to high volume low pressure air I could see that as a relatively viable source of energy for potential electricity generation. Not the most efficient but generally speaking free to us since gravity and water would be doing the work to pressurize the air.

Well, if you're manly playing around, and having fun, please continue, we're all having fun following this project. But if you want a practical suggestion, just use a horse, or donkey to pull the cart, or if you must use an engine, find a way to run an electric motor on a car battery. It's a lot of fun watching this channel, keep up the good work 👍

i know a way to make a simple reverser gear box that is in line that could be clutchless so if memory serves corect, you can take a diferential (preferably a locking diferential) 1 axle is imput and the other is output, you lock the gears together to move forward, to reverse you just lock the carier portion of it (could lock it from the bull gear) cant wait to see where this project goes/

Now that Sandra is back home again you will have a bit more time to get this working the way you want it to. Well done.

I could listen to that all day!

*_@Way Out West - Workshop Stuff_* 7:30 You can probably do something with belts (or with gears). With belts, if you have them "un-crossed" (like: 0 ) then it runs eg. forwards, but if you run the belts "crossed" (like: 8 ) then it can run in reversed direction. Same thing with gears, eg. an even numbers of gears runs forward, and an odd number of gears runs backwards, then it's just a question of what means to use to engage the gears, or what method to (un-)cross the belts, that can probably be done manually (when standing still & breaks engages. Warning!: for crushing hand injuries, if not careful).

Great work Tim! I'm sure if you had the time, you could build a whole steam engine out of old pipes and scrap metal. Amazing stuff.

Battery electric locomotives have been used in small underground mines for over a century. So have windmill generators for charging. That may be a more productive avenue. Alternately Briggs and Stratton or Honda would easily do what you want.

I just subscribed!!! Love the video!! As for my suggestion you can use a small DC permanent magnet motor with a small rubber wheel on it to rub the outside of your fly wheel and generate electricity to used in other ways. Maybe a Loco with an electric motor that can go in forward and reverse with a flip of a switch while you’re generating all the power you need on board. If you want to compress air at a high pressure in some welding tanks I know that air-conditioned pumps in cars can get you around 300 psi without a problem you could probably even run one on your windmill to compress the air ….. but we both know steam would be a lot more fun!!

Lookin pretty good with double the whammy

Marvellous Tim your a genius.Happy Easter again.🇮🇪🇮🇪💯💯💯💯💯

You could in theory use steam to spin a turbine that compresses air to run it. It seems like it would be a little inefficient in comparison to a typical steam engine, but at least you wouldn't have to change the seals to get it to work.

Hey Tim, keep in mind the Auto Industry already solved this. What you need now is an old stick shift transmission or gear box. Petrol Engines only crank in one direction so revers happens by changing the gears to make the output go in the opposite direction. Granted with this set up I don't see you going much being gear one and revers but it should help save you time.

Opposed pistons you say? Why, it's a BOXER engine!! :-) Love this build and how hypnotic it is to watch it in slow motion. Looking forward to seeing more, esp. if there's a steam conversion in the future. Best regards, Capt. Blackheart Charlie Key West, Conch Republic

Enjoyed the video. I like to make things from stuff I have lying around, too.

Just a though: If you added 2 selector valves (1 IN, 2 OUT, ) to the lines going to the cylinders (they are 2 per cylinder, but they could be just one) and connected the new additiona lines to the reverse chamber you could get the engine to run in reverse simply by switching the positions of these 2 valves. Let's say that when they are both switched to chamber A (equivalent to the current connection) the engine runs forward, when they are both switched to chamber B the engine would run in reverse because at any given angle of the flywheel the air would be distributed(timed) in the same way, but the forces resulting from each cylinder would be reversed( and about 40% smaller). I know the reverse would be powered by a smaller effective area (about 60%) of the cylinder and therefore be less powerful but that might be OK for a "reverse" obtained with so few additional components and complexity (only 2 valves and piping/connectors). Switching them in different ways (like AB or BA) it would result in a sort of parking brake.

I have to admit, this one earned a like just for jumping on the pound store pipe spanner. I would have liked it anyway, but that deserved it's own like!

I've used that same method - pipewrench on the floor & jumping on it.

the idea of a 'fireless' steam engine is really cool. have you thought about using an old four stroke lawn mower engine, and chance the camshaft gears so they open every revolution instead of every other revolution, there are some examples on youtube. and i know you already have a diesel stationary engine, but turning this into a steam powered stationary engine would be a good use of this engine due to its size, im worried a loco would fall off the tracks

If you really want to go for efficiency, the Walschaerts valve gear, used on most steam locomotives since soon after it was invented, seems to be based on rods rather than any fancy shaped cams, but it is quite a lot of rods

Have you considered hydraulic oil instead of air because it doesn't compress. You'd need to use an accumulator to maintain the oil pressure and then use a pump to fill the accumulator which can be powered by a extra track on the line at the start and end of the line. You may find a stationary hydraulic accumulator also works well with green energy, as a mechanical alternative to batteries. You charge the accumulator when the wind blows and the sun shines, and then you can access the pressure either when these are happening or even on days that are overcast and have no wind. Steam engines used the Stephenson link to change direction because the valve supplied both sides of the piston, so by changing the direction the valve moved, the steam would enter the cylinder the other way. If you installed a spring loaded stop that moved the link into neutral from the track bed, you could put your foot on a plate to lower it and pull the lever to reverse or forward on the loco to move it in the desired direction.

You better be careful! In history there is already a guy fighting windmills!

With the cylinders operating 180deg apart, you could connect the top port to the opposite cylinders bottom port and make them double acting!

It's so fast that I can even feel the air coming straight to my face piercing through the mobile screen.

Impressive buggering bar you have there. The engine sounds are pure poetry - great work!

I like the trefoil detail on the mounting plate and the beautiful cutouts on the valving pushrods. Remember steam /air trype engines are inneficient. Try putting little blades on the perimiter of your flywheel and use your compressed air to drive blades. Air piston is inneficient, too many reciprocating parts.

blitherlingly amazing. Utterly outstanding. I commend your engineering ability and wish I could be as well versed in such a field to do the same.

try drilling out the exhaust side of the hydraulic cylinders. Make the hole bigger. You're only getting out what you're putting in. If you drill it out it'll allow the rpm to come up. air restriction.

Tim your editing is enticingly tight. From play to end one must listen or miss an important part or Joke or point of whimsical humor! Noise is the sound of wear. All the movement in the pistons is loss of energy. Mostly from the cams. Maybe if both pistons were at the same end with longer push rods on a bigger hub pushing just off time with each other enough to have the flywheel spin evenly. Iam an old retired carpenter so take that with a drink maybe. Cheers 🇨🇦

This sits on the very edge between amish and normal. Very cool project imo

I love these old air engines

7:31 I think some angle iron welded up in a large box should be really cheap/ free if you look in a construction site dumpster. Also I figure you'd need at least 150PSI to drive anything, the engine and boiler will be heavy.

I like how you casually draw a near perfect circle lol

Nice job. Just remember you’ll have much more power if you use steam.

Fascinating work Tim! Just to throw a bit of a curve ball at you, I don't know if you're familiar but there is a train; British Rail Class 139 that is driven by the energy stored by a flywheel on board. Not sure if it's even feasible but it might be food thought.

Great work Tim! If you glued some magnets to the rim and added copper wiry bits around it you could generate power to run the compressor!

Surprised you didn't find the answer I did when contemplating my Stirling engine design, for the issue of crankshafts ;) don't make cams or cranks, make wheels! Just use a big wheel of something stiff with holes drilled in it. Sure, it saps your efficiency, but let's face it, the central concept of the application for my Stirling is that you need SOME form of mechanized motive power and the regular stuff is no longer available. Also -- sorry for emailing you something that has a length more appropriate for numbered chapters! I just tend to write like that. I'm quite verbose (you may have noticed...). It's just my nature. One other thought. There's such a thing as a trompe, essentially a water-powered air compressor. I've wondered for a while if there's a vaguely related device out there that would use a draft of hot air or a directed flame to thermally compress air somehow, rather than using a piston. Unfortunately, my skills at Googling are... not sufficient, to put it mildly, to the task of hunting up such a thing. I get a lot of results for power generation using the heat from more standard air compression devices, and nothing of actual relevance. If you could create such a device -- a thermal air compressor -- you'd be able to run that engine basically from a firebox. Job done ;)

Well done! I made a vacuum pump of similar configuration using plastic pipe for the cylinders .

I love the way you give everything an artistic flourish with your plasma cutter, i.e. the cutouts on the pushrods. Very cool!

You are a pure GENIOUS SIR 👍👌🧐😇 Cheers 🍻

You project is coming right along Tim and looking great while doing so. If you want to power things with it in the shop how about a rubber drive wheel that contacts the flywheel and then runs a belt or chain to the "driven" device? I can see a large blade sawmill, sander or drill press being run by that machine.

A second set of actuators with a quartered crank will get you a self starting engine

Remember when the Wright brothers said, “it can’t be done.”

Go for the Windmill! Can't give you another reason than i',m the most interestet in this :D