3D printed alpha Stirling engine #2

thingiverse

this is the second version of my alpha type Stirling engine. (see http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:269119) improvements are: bigger main axis ball bearings design of a syringes support (see instructions) as you may see on the new video, it runs very smooth ;-)http://youtu.be/NF4qvpR8RvY video of the syringes connection is herehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF49rg12fj8 Instructions some words on how to connect the syringes ... The biggest difficulty was to allow to make a support in PLA while the syringe is becoming quite hot ! If you look at the support design, you'll see one hollow cylinder is bigger in diameter than the other one. The big one will support the hot syringe. I use two pieces of 6mm OD x 3mm ID silicon tubing to make a kind of big O ring. Those tubes are inserted around the syringe and between the glass and the PLA. They will flatten when the screws are screwed and act as a thermal barrier to keep the PLA temperature under its melting point... WARNING: as the engine operates with an alcohol burner, there is a flame and the hot end reaches a very hot temperature and remains hot a long time after the flame has been turned off. In other words, this is not a toy for young kids... Always operate safely under an adult supervision!