The Boys' Book of Engine Building

by A Frederick Collins reprinted
by Lindsay Publications Inc

How to make steam, hot air, and gas engines and how they work, told in simple language and by clear pictures.

You open the book and the first thing you see is a photo of a very fine live steam model of an American locomotive. Then Collins tells you it was built by a 17-year-old. Now if that doesn't make the average American look like a lazy bum, I don't know what does. I would be proud to say I built that at any age.

But Collins was trying to say any boy can build simple engines and have fun running them. That means you can, too. And here's a slow paced - remember this is for boys - and easy to read text that will show you the fundamentals.

Chapters include: the first engines, two simple steam turbine engines, a simple piston steam engine, a 1/24 hp horizontal steam engine, making small boilers, fittings for model engines, a model Atlantic type locomotive, steam - the giant power, a hot air or caloric engine, a 1/8 hp gas engine, and more.

You're told how to make the patterns for the castings. Collins suggested taking the patterns to a foundry (there many around in that day) to have them cast in brass or iron, but that if you poured the castings yourself you could claim you built the entire engine. Collins assumed no boy would have a metal lathe, so he recommended having the cylinder bored by a machinist. But that's something you can do. (If you don't have a lathe, then it's time to build the Gingery lathe.)

If you've already built the Gingery/Lewis Atkinson Differential engine, then this 1918 book might be a bit tame for you. But if you're just starting out, there are some projects here to try. It's fun reading for anyone with 10W-30 in his veins (or sloshing around in his head), and it's a great gift for a kid (and all those middle-age retards you hang out with)!

Fun reading. Informative. Simple. Get a copy! 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 softcover 261 pages

No. 23489 ... $12.95