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Low Temperature Differential Stirling Engine: Displacer Bushing

Continuing on my Stirling Engine, I built the displacer bushing. The shaft of the displacer is stabilized by the displacer bushing, which attaches to the top plate.

The bushing was cut from a 1” thick cylinder of aluminum and a steel insert. I put the aluminum into the three-jaw chuck on the lathe and roughed out the shape with the power-drive and cut off the part:

Next, I shaped the steel insert.

Then, I cut it off, and glued it in place. The reason for this insert is that when brass (used for the displacer shaft) rubs against aluminum, it “

Low Temperature Differential Stirling Engine: Base Block

The next step in building the Stirling Engine was to craft the base block. It attaches the cylinder to the chamber and attaches to the bearing plate. I cut the base block from a rough block of aluminum. 

I put the rough block into the four-jaw chuck on the lathe to square up the sides: 

Now with the properly-sized block, I layed out the cuts with the layout fluid (here you see the properly-sized block next to the original block):

I then lined up and taped the bearing plate to the base block, centered the drill bit, then cut a blind hole into the base block. …

Low Temperature Differential Stirling Engine: Bearing Plate

The first part I made for my Stirling Engine was the bearing plate. It connects to the base block and holds up the bearings that attach to the crankshaft.

First, using layout fluid and a ruler, I “layed out" the part on a flat piece of aluminum.

I then cut out the outline with a jigsaw and perfected the edges with sandpaper:

Finally, I drilled the holes using my drill press:

The bearing plate is finished!

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