Why have a liner at all? Why not nikasil (or the newer version of coating method) coat the block or weldament? Then use low-tension automotive piston rings with better sealing characteristics and less drag... For commercially produced engines, this might be interesting... but cast iron is really th...

Low clearance uniflow engines work quite well so long as adequate vacuum is available - even when the engine is just started. I plan to attack this by using a steam eductor to pull a vacuum in the condenser before admitting steam to the engine; once the engine was warm and running smoothly it will b...

I'll keep an eye out for larger 2 stroke diesel liners on EBay - thanks for the tip! These folks have new "all-purpose" sleeves that would allow lining a weldment after both heat treat and machining: http://www.lasleeve.com/all-purpose-sleeves I'm interested in building a large single cylinder unifl...

Some reviews of other burner designs can be found here: http://home.fuse.net/jasdot/atomizerNozzleDesign.html

- Bart

Would a steel cylinder weldment w/ cast iron piston & rings be practical for a steam boat? I would find fabricating a 5"x6" uniflow cylinder from steel tubing & plate, normalizing and welding a more practical proposition than casting same. I seem to remember this sort of construction being used in t...

And the Otter made it into video fame as well at 33 seconds in!

Thanks for posting this!

- Bart

Note that restaurant steam tables pans (at least sizes found here in the US) can work very nicely for smaller launch hotwells. They're deep drawn stainless steel, and readily and cheaply available..... Someone suggested 30 minutes steaming as proper capacity; that is rather more than I use, though, ...

A small solar cell panel can also be used for boats that spend much time away from shore power; this is simple and easy to rig. We use this on our Airstream travel trailer. Another approach is to drive a small DC motor via a belt and to use the proper electronics (dc-dc converter) to provide regulat...

If that's a regular single you could just let back pressure on the engine push the condensate out into the hotwell... I do this on the Otter (a lot smaller boat, I'll admit ) and this works just fine.

- Bart

There are a variety of factors affecting what rpm a designer selects for a steam plant. For our typically smaller boats, selecting the design RPM to be pleasant is perhaps the most important. I'll go out on a limb to suggest that somewhere between 200 and 400 rpm is a reasonable compromise between s...