Stirling Engine

Before I start here is the Wiki page to explain what a Stirling Engine is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine

I made my main cylinder by soldering a piece of metal to the bottom of a pipe.
The metal came from a old metal lid. Before use just scrape off all the plastic so as to not create toxic fumes when heated.

Finding a sealed piston was too hard so I decided to stuff a tube with aluminum foil.
Note the piece of wire that has been embedded into the foil.

This is the piston that provides the power.
It was been made from a copper tube with another piece of copper soldered on to the bottom.
My soldering iron did not have the power to solder on to the large piece of copper so the joint is a bit dodgy...

I was lucky enough to find a piece of plastic that was perfect for the piston

I had a gear set with gears and a shaft so I just drilled holes and attached bars across two gears and cut out the middle.

There is a few too many holes but it still works.
I hammered the small tube in after drilling a small hole.

I did not have a spare hard drive head like all the other Stirling engines but I did have spare metal with drilled holes... And a lot of lubricant.

The only thing that was round enough is CDs =)

I found a old school compass which make the perfect holder. I made a retort stand from wood and a metal rod.

Assembly took some time to get all the fiddly bits right but when it came together it was all worth while.