This is a single action Open Column Twin Cylinder steam engine and actually the first one I ever attempted to build. The design it’s not mine. This is something that I came across on the internet when I was searching for blueprints and it looked cool to me but also neither too simple nor too complicated to make. The drawings are complete, the engine is well designed and it’s working perfectly. Although the engineer didn’t take into consideration the machinist’s way of seeing, building and measuring things and a lot of the dimensions must be recalculated. What made things worse for me was that I had to convert everything from inches to millimeters.

If you interested in building this steam engine you can find a link to a PDF file that includes the drawings and a 3D model of the engine on the Download section of my Blog.

I used aluminum for the engine block and the pistons, so you can tell that this is a light duty engine. It never was at my intention to run this engine on steam. I’m using a low pressure aquarium air pump instead. Although you can build a real heavy duty engine from this drawing’s by using different materials. Most parts of the engine have been made on my mini lathe before I purchase my mini mill, but I could be easily complete the entire project on my lathe by using the milling attachment.

You can visit my Video Gallery and watch the entire video series of step by step making this little steam engine.

This is a snapshot of a 3D PDF file that Willie has sent to me. Thank You Willie!

Download 3D PDF –> open-column-twin-steam-engine