looking for help - brass steam engine

Hi, I'm interested in building a model steam engine. I'm very new at this and looking for help. I have some brass and was wondering if it's an ideal material for a steam engine? I have a work shop but it's primarily set up for wood working. can you give me some basics on how to build a beginner steam engine?

Yes yellow brass is considered an okay material for building a small steam engine, but generally not for the boiler.

There are lots of books out there on building simple engines, and even some free plans can be found online. Another good source is reprints or back issues of Modeltec or Live Steam magazines.

If I had to recomend a name, I'd say Elmer Verberg (Verburg?), You'll sometimes find collections of his plans on ebay if you search for "Elmer's Engines"

There are also casting kits on the market that are suitable for beginners. The PM Research #2 and #3, the Stuart ST, S-50, H-10, and V-10 come immediately to mind. (The PMR #2 and Stuart ST both have oscillating cylinders and are the easiest to build)

Most people will tell you that you need a minimum of an engine lathe and a drill press (and sometimes a milling machine) to build an engine, but 80 some years ago fellows did amazing work with just hand tools and wood lathes.... The job just took MUCH longer.

I can supply some books and kits, as can others of Harry's advertisers. Hope this helps and good Luck!

I could email you a print if I had your address. You might want to take a machine shop class to get the basics first, if you don't have them down already. For a toy steam engine brass and aluminum are fine, except I would make the crank out of steel.

You might do a search for steam at google.com. Also while you are there do a search of "rec.crafts.metalworking". They have also talked about this on several occasions.