Model Engine Plans and Kits

Model engine plans and kits - LittleMachineShop.com

Model engine plans and kits at LittleMachineShop.com. A full range of tools and accessories for the home shop machinist, including everything for your mini lathe and mini mill.

2717 Belt Grinder Plans

17 pages of DIY belt grinder plans
18 pages of instructions
2" x 72" belt stays sharp longer and cuts cooler than shorter belts
Use for roughing, shaping, contouring of flat or angular stock

Plans for a commercial-grade square wheel belt grinder. Machines like this sell for over $1000. This project consists of 17 pages of drawings and 18 pages of well written instructions. The drawings are printed on 11 x 17 paper, making them easy to read. Every aspect of this project has been explained and detailed, including 3 dimensional assembly drawings to show you where everything goes. Although this machine would feel right at home in a professional metal worker's shop, the average home shop machinist will also find endless uses for this grinder. Use it for deburring, sharpening drill bits, dressing mushroomed punches, and grinding HSS lathe tool bits. Although this 2" x 72" belt grinder plan is not for a beginner, it was designed with the home shop machinist in mind. Anyone with modest equipment can complete this high performance machine. The prototype was built primarily with a 7" lathe, a drill press, and a MIG welder.

2515 Buffalo Pup Steam Tug Boat Plans

Radio controlled 36" model tug boat runs on live steam
Build the 2 cylinder steam engine from bar stock
Build the copper boiler
Build the boat, including propeller and rudder
Install the radio control

Complete plans to build a steam driven, radio controlled model of a tug boat. These plans were created by Bill Reichart. There are 30 pages of plans that cover building the boat including, building the boiler out of copper, and building the steam engine out of bar stock, and building the deck and cabin out of wood. The hull is fiberglass. Sources are provided for all purchased parts including propane, the ceramic burner, and the fiberglass hull.

4522 DVD: Building a Crosshead Overcrank Steam Engine

Build a crosshead overcrank steam engine
Video instructions and complete plans on the DVD
By Ron Takayama

This DVD shows how to make a crosshead overcrank steam engine. The engine is made from cast iron, stainless steel and brass. Cast iron, although it creates a lot of dust, is a very wonderful metal to work with and is easy to machine. The building of this engine is not difficult. As with any machining operation, it just takes time. Hard silver solder is used for all soldering operations, cadmium free solder is highly recommended. The video covers: an Introduction, Cylinder, Piston Ring, Top End Cap, Steam Chest Platform, Drilling Steam Ports, Soldering Cylinder, Steam Chest Packing Gland, Valve, Upper Table, Crankshaft Supports, Crank, Eccentric, Compressor, Clevis, Column, Crosshead, Crosshead Guide, Flywheel, Packing, Assembly, Timing Running On Air, Running On Steam.

4246 DVD: Building an Overcrank Steam Engine

Build an overcrank steam engine
Video instructions and complete plans on the DVD
By Ron Takayama

The engine is made mainly from cast iron, the only casting is the flywheel. The bore is 5/8", the throw is 1,5", the flywheel is 4.5" in diameter and, it stands approximately 12" tall. The majority of the parts are made of cast iron and although a lot of dust is created it’s a wonderful material to work with. For those of you without a DRO, included is a scale paper diagram of the parts that requires bolt hole circles to use as templates. Chapters include: Intro, Cylinder, Piston Ring, Top End Cap, Steam Chest Platform, Drilling Steam Holes, Soldering Cylinder, Pedestal, Packing Gland, Valve, Column, Fork, Upper Table, Crank Support, Crank, Piston Rod Guide, Eccentric, Eccentric Strap, Clevis, Compressor, Flywheel, Alignment, Timing, Running On Air, Running On Steam.

2342 Elbow Engine Plans
Complete plans to build a unique 5-cyliner steam engine. These plans were created by Bill Reichart. This steam engine has 10 pistons and no crankshaft. The plans include six pages of detailed drawings and construction notes. The engine is made from bar stock. No castings are required.

2340 Epicyclic Steam Engine Plans
Complete plans to build an epicyclic steam engine. These plans were created by Bill Reichart. This engine uses a unique set of epicyclic gears where one gear revolves around another gear. There are 33 pages of plans that detail every part and describe methods of production. The engine is made from bar stock. No castings are required. You get the gears from Boston Gear.

2395 Mini Lathe CNC Conversion Plans
Plans to add CNC to a mini lathe. These CNC conversion plans were created by Ronald J. Steele. This is a complete set of plans to add CNC to a mini lathe. They include a materials list with sources, plans for all the parts, and instructions for making the parts and installing them on the mini lathe. Changes to the original machine are minimal. Three drilled and tapped holes are put into the tail end of the lathe bed to hold the Z axis lead screw thrust washer seat/motor mount plate. The remaining motion control parts are either attached via existing holes or clamped onto the machine. Project completion time is 30 to 40 hours. Cost for mechanical hardware and materials is between $180 and $220. The plans provide several sources for the electrical parts and software.

2353 Mini Mill CNC Conversion Plans
Plans to add CNC to a mini mill. These Mini Mill CNC Conversion plans were created by Ronald J. Steele. This is a complete set of plans to add CNC to a mini mill. These CNC mill conversion plans include a materials list with sources, plans for all the parts, and instructions for making the parts and installing them on the mini mill. The only permanent change made to the mini mill is to drill and tap two holes. Ron Steele says the cost of the hardware and materials, assuming you need to purchase everything, is about $160. The plans provide sources for all these items. The plans also provide several sources for the electrical parts and software. One kit includes software, 145 oz/in stepper motors, and a pre-wired boxed controller and sells for $645. It takes between 20 and 30 hours to machine the parts and bolt it all together.

2341 Panther Pup Engine Plans
Complete plans to build a 4-cylinder, 4-cycle gasoline engine. These plans were created by Bill Reichart. The Panther Pup is an air-cooled internal combustion engine. There are 54 pages of plans, bound in a saddle-stitched booklet. The plans include detailed drawings of each part along with complete construction notes. Two castings are required. Plans are included to make your own patterns, or castings can be purchased from LittleMachineShop.com.

2343 Pip-Squeak Engine Plans
Complete plans to build a simple steam engine. These steam engine project plans were created by Bill Reichart. The Pip-Squeak was designed to be a very first, easy to build engine. It is built from bar stock. No castings are required. It can be made on a small hobby lathe and a small drill press. A small milling machine helps, but isn't necessary.

6342 Plans, P&H 1015 Crane Model - 1/12th Scale

Complete plans to build a model P&H Model 1015 crawler crane
Crane can be configured with boom length over 9 feet
USB Flash Drive containing 7 GB including complete plans and annotated construction photos

This Crane Model is a 1/12th scale, fully functioning 8-channel Radio Controlled replica of the 1960s vintage P&H Model 1015 (110-ton capacity) Lattice Boom Crawler Mounted Crane. Power for the model is provided by a 12 Volt, 22 Amp Hour LiFePO4 battery that is mounted at the right rear of the cab. The model’s left and right crawler treads are powered independently with 12 Volt gearmotors and propel the model at a scale speed of 60 inches per minute. The single Boom Hoist Drum, two Cable Hoist Drums and the Cab Swing are each powered by modified 12 V windshield wiper (worm gear) motors from late model VWs. The lattice boom is a hybrid design that utilizes select straight 5/16" diameter oak x 36" long corner rods with 1/8" diameter poplar lattice members, however the boom areas of stress concentration including the Boom Tip section, Boom End sections and the Boom Base section are 50/50 soldered brass tubing fabrications.

2304 Rike-Vise Plans
The Rike-Vise was invented by Bill Reichart. This simple tool is especially designed for the home machine shop. For many jobs it will replace a standard vise. The Rike-Vise is described as two 90° angle plates joined at the corner, and providing a foot so it can be easily clamped to a machine table or a lathe faceplate. The square donut piece provides an accurate clamp to secure a work piece in the base. It is made of mild steel. The plans include tips on accurately building the vise, plus details on using it. The plans comprise six 8-1/2" x 11" pages. The plans include information on building and using the Rike-Vise. Features of the Rike-Vise: At the lathe you can turn square stock round or drill square stock perfectly concentric. You can also do the same to rectangular stock, and drill or turn it in the exact center or to one side, as you desire. The vise holds work perpendicular for drilling at your drill press. At the milling machine, you can mill an end perfectly square, or notch or groove perfectly parallel to the sides. It holds stock perpendicular for use at the surface grinder.

2295 Stirling-Steele Engine Plans

Complete plans to build a Stirling engine
Engine is 10" tall when completed
26 Pages of plans

Complete plans to build a four-cylinder Stirling cycle engine from bar stock and commercial components. These plans were created by Ronald J. Steele. The package contains 26 pages of highly detailed drawings and instructions providing all the necessary information to produce this modern compact version of a Stirling engine. The Stirling-Steele engine can be machined on a 6" lathe and small milling machine from readily available material. A full bill of materials is included as are assembly instructions. This is not a kit but a full set of dimensioned drawings.