so what do youdo besides fly heli's for fun?

[stoatnchips]

...Its kinda difficult to post anything new in this thread... After the Crabmeister's awesome creations, everything else just seems a bit lame!! Its so rare that i get time for my home engineering projects, the productivity has just fallen way off in the last few years. But for what its worth, here is my effort at a steam engine from a couple of years back. It started as a basic oscillating engine made from some odd bits of brass and steel which i hooked up to the steamer on the espresso maker... It brought a Big Kid smile to my face watching it come to life but that was short lived... it only lasted about 20 seconds because of the rate it used steam, before i had to refill the coffee machine and let it boil again. For scale... the coal shovel is 4 inches long; i also cheated and bought the pressure guage... not too sure on my own skills with 150psi and plate glass! That then prompted phase 2 which was the boiler... Ok its a little over the top for this tiny engine but i was planning to make a Mark 2 double cylinder reciprocating expansion engine.. with valves, a govenor and all the bells and whistles. Just didn't have tools accurate enough to machine the valve blocks.. which brings me to the current project... I found an old inspection microscope from the 60's real well built!! The x/y bed on it already had T slots and barrel mics that were accurate to 1/2 thou! So i set about retro fitting it with a motor, some homemade pulley blocks, a bearing stock with thrust bearings a quill and 3 jaw chuck. Gunna make a great mini jig borer/end mill if it ever gets done. :roll:

[crabfu]

Let me be the first to say stoatnchips, I am VERY impressed! The skill it takes to make an engine / boiler is something that is very rare these days :) I DON'T make my own engines or boilers... I rely on the skills of others like you, and merely hack things together in creative ways. You have the skills that I admire, I wouldn't know where to begin making something so complex and finicky. The pics look awesome man, nice work! And a great idea for making your mill.... you're creative with what you have as well, great job!

OK so about that steam heli.... stop harassing me guys, stoatnchips is going to be the first to make one :)

-Crabfu

[Gr4yb3ard]

Hah!

Stoat, that's freaking awesome, and I think, right up our alley,
Yup, after that example I'd bet you could get it done! Steam Heli Project!!

Golly!, what's with all the engineers & artists & steam up here? ;-)

I used to be a fan of Rube Goldberg cartoons, used to do stuff like this, but smaller scale. Now I collect ancient computers and my "Engineering Anomolies & Art (EAA)".

If I ever get un-packed, I'll send you a pic of a 10" Watt engine I built and a steam powered (alas, non-functional) powered Babbage engine. That's the only steam stuff I got, but I like 'em.

The Babbage engine was a classic prank, a fake gaslight goes into the back of a bit of porchscreen, and led's produce a "C:>" prompt, the keyboard is three rows of little levers labeled in querty ;-)

Gr4yb3ard
"...Orville: Okay, prop it!... ...Wilber: Hey, it's MY turn.... ....Orville: NO, you went before lunch... ...Wilber: IS Too!... ....Orville: IS NOT!!!...."

[stoatnchips]

Had a quick look into this and its not looking too good...well not with my skilz and a true steam powered heli... looks like we need 0.8-1.0 hp per lb on the power to weight to get lift and somewhere near 8hp/lb for a serviceable heli... the only way we could get near that is some form of super light weight steam turbine... either a very big model or very fine machining.... don't think you could realistically generate the steam on board either.... but with a sphere made of CF i think you could produce a very lightweight tank that could take pehaps 100-150 bar... cheat a bit and use compressed air and we might just get there with a half decent flight time... ;) wonder if i could get third party cover for flying this blender/grenade chimera??

[crabfu]

LOL you are starting to scare me.... to even think this much about it :)

CF can probably handle a lot of pressure, but not the heat so as an air tank... hmmm maybe, but compressed air is cheating! but a CF sphere water tank & gas tank, with flash steam & steam turbine... now that might blend :)

-Crabfu

[stoatnchips]

:rolling

...kinda my field... studied Aeronautics and Astronautics for while at college...

google:

"W H Phillips viertical flight"

...first guy to build a model heli that was steam powered... back in 1842... obviously not using 2.4GHz technology... Rule Britannia!!

http://www.qatarliving.com/files/images/Great_Britain.preview.gif

[crabfu]

Found this by the search....

"In 1842, the Englishman W.H. Phillips constructed a steam-driven vertical flight machine that ejected steam generated by a miniature boiler out of its blade tips. Although impractical to build at full-scale, Phillips' machine marked the first time that a model helicopter had flown powered by an engine rather than by stored energy devices such as wound-up springs. He exhibited his model at the Crystal Palace in London in 1868."

another site said it was 10kg... sounds like a heron steam ball with blades at the ends...

ok enough research stoatnchip, start building!

-Crabfu

[stoatnchips]

..think you're right... so....

1 5" copper sphere float from old fashioned toilet with 5/16 hole & thread
2 sprung loaded valve, set just below rupture pressure of the float
3 tiny brass single fan enclosed turbine (like a car turbo) screwed on top, maybe 1"diameter
4 pair of cx2 blades
5 tiny thin wall copper/brass tube from turbine exhaust out at right angles 'Notar style'
6 Nanolite Rx & 2 3.8g servos on gimble... like a hanglider
7 ...1/6 full of water...sit on a tripod over a bunsen burner... ignite... ENJOY!! :)

Pat Pend... "The Rotastoat"

[crabfu]

lol.... that's just so stupid that it might actually work! put me down for one pre-order of Rotastoat!

-Crabfu

[stoatnchips]

i know it sounds stupid but it just might work...this guys thinking right!!!

the design is good...machine from Ti and remove all excess material... housing made MUCH thinner...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDqu9mWS-nI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDqu9mWS-nI)

...theres some power coming off that, with a micro copper sphere holding the water with some sort of 'High Energy Density' napalm smeared on the outside..!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J373PZwA-aU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J373PZwA-aU)

...i think you would get close to lift off....if only i had the time, skills and tools!!! Nice thought experiment though;)

[Gr4yb3ard]

You guys are awesome!

But let's save the ti and get back to tinkering with the 200, MUCH cheaper.

NO, just kidding, go for it lads, somebody probably once said that an electric heli is **impossible**.

But really, why don't we see much in the way of ti parts in heli's, I've been thinking about this....

Not really the cost, most hobbies have all sorts of carbon and ti aftermarket stuff. Why do we only see carbon???

Gr4yb3ard
"...and will be sipping cafe expresso from a SteamWorks mug this weekend! ;-)....."

[crabfu]

Continuing more off topic eye candy... yet another swashbot....

c4kk3lfoTuI

-Crabfu

[rotorhead58d]

one day crabfu is gonna be rich and famous, and we can all say..."hey, i know that guy"

[crabfu]

one day crabfu is gonna be rich and famous, and we can all say..."hey, i know that guy"

lol, yeah I'll be famous in the geek world someday lol, but I wouldn't mind being rich though, I guess it's time to play the lottery... my hobbies are pricey, what can I say... I have expensive taste, and none of them pays back!

-Crabfu

[stoatnchips]

....retuned to channel Crabfu and its looks like we've been missing some awesome stuff!! :) ...It would be great to get the little fella moving forward a bit more efficiently and i'm not sure if this would work... but have you tried a small rubber wheel and a 1 way bearing on the rear claw and then swap out the parrallel linkage on the rear and just make it move back and forth... kinda like a rowing motion using the one way bearing??? Kinda feels like instructing my Granny on a more efficient way of sucking eggs!! ;)

[crabfu]

....retuned to channel Crabfu and its looks like we've been missing some awesome stuff!! :) ...It would be great to get the little fella moving forward a bit more efficiently and i'm not sure if this would work... but have you tried a small rubber wheel and a 1 way bearing on the rear claw and then swap out the parrallel linkage on the rear and just make it move back and forth... kinda like a rowing motion using the one way bearing??? Kinda feels like instructing my Granny on a more efficient way of sucking eggs!! ;)

I like the way you think man.... yes, I've tried that :) I used the main gear from the 200 on the back leg, and the belt guides from the 200 for front leg wheels. It worked, but was rather stupid.... if it rolled and has more momentum, it would be cool to roll with each stride. But it was a granny stroller lol barely pushed and skitted a long. I may revisit it someday, as I was also trying double hinges on the legs... but that way over the servos.

-Crabfu

[Gr4yb3ard]

Another magnificent work!

I'll chime in too, Crabster is brilliant!
My grand-kids are your first fan club, they love your stuff guy!

I've got my coffee mug, sticker for my laptop and a baseball cap, be sure to check out all the Crabfu/Steamworks goodies that are available folks!!!

This goes way beyond the GAUI, like Rotor said, one day I'll be able to say I knew him back when...

Gr4yb3ard
"...Leo?... ...ahh, he's just some Italian painter, but I hear he's got a gig doing some wierd portrait of that rich Lisa girl down the block..."

[J-Heli]

Yet another cool robot from Crabfu... Building a heli kit with a manual is one thing, but designing and constructing your very own functioning robot is an amazing feat by itself! You should look into stoatnchips idea a little more. You could use his idea, but use small swiveling wheels like on a grocery cart so that you could move in all directions. Keep us posted.

[rotorhead58d]

crab, you should design a robot out of junk 200 parts. bent tail booms for the legs, crashed canopy for the head. make the robot appear to be crippled, and walk with a gimp. lol why doesn't some robotics company see you and hire you, i have no idea.

[stoatnchips]

....make the robot appear to be crippled, and walk with a gimp.....


LOL

Would this "Bondage-bot" keep his Gimp on a leash, Rotor?? :YeaBaby:

[rotorhead58d]

LOL

Would this "Bondage-bot" keep his Gimp on a leash, Rotor?? :YeaBaby:

we americans enjoy brutalizing the "english" language. here, a gimp is slang for someone who walks with a limp. :YeaBaby:

[stoatnchips]

Thanks for the tip Rotor... its like learning a foreign language :)
However, I do understand what you mean about Americans enjoying brutalising the English language... and the odd non-secular regime from time to time ;)

[crabfu]

lol :) How about a gimpy gaui heli transformer steam powered swash robot on wheels? Making these things are taking too much time away from my air time... but it's been way too hot and windy around these parts lately, hope to have better heli weather soon.... so I won't be tackling that on anytime soon lol :)

-Crabfu