The piston is an important part of the Stirling engine. It helps regulate the chamber pressure while simultaneously pulling the flywheel, causing the flywheel to rotate.
The piston needs to slide up and down quickly inside a tube, which makes fit essential. Since this was my first engine, I decided to purchase a graphite piston inside a glass tube online from Airpot.
I took one of the brass bolts that I was using to attach the block to the plates and filed it down on one side. I drilled through the flat part of the bolt so I could insert a wire hook to attach the piston to the flywheel later on.
I attached one of the nuts 3/16” from the hole I had cut into the bolt, then silver-soldered it on with a blow-torch.
Finally, I drilled out the center of the graphite slightly so the shaft of the bolt could fit through the graphite.
The piston assembly was finished!
