The Stirling Engine Boat Page

Norris Bomford's 1957 14' rowing skiff with 3 cylinder self-built Stirling engine. It used to be a hire rowing boat for tourists to Stratford upon Avon.  Norris has had 3 different engines in it since 1975.

Norris adusts the gas regulators. Curiously, -on first starting, the three flue pipes "sing" like organ pipes, until the burners warm up. (Moans like a dinosaur!)

On the Avon at Stratford upon Avon (Shakespeare's home town)

Stern View showing the flywheel and clutch mechanism.

Propane Burners, heaters and coolers- note VW barrels used as working cylinders.

Clutch Mechanism - ex-lawnmower. Flywheel is an old brake disc.

Two views of Steve Truscott's Boats

Here are some pictures of Malcom Rowney working on the heat exchangers for his  4" bore rhombic drive boat engine. Photos: M. & S. Rowney.

Andy Ross (centre) with Harald Berg and their interpreter,  Hilde  taking a leisurely boat trip aboard Berg's wood-fired Stirling powered boat, near Askim, Norway, one summer day in 1984.    Photo courtesy of Sigmund Kydland, reproduced from  "Making Stirling Engines" written and published 1993  by Andy Ross.

Power cylinder with transfer ports machined in. This is a truck liner - 4.125" bore from a Ford.

Malcom pausing for thought - a common practice with experimental engine building.

Internal shot of the cooler - made from a 3/8" (10mm) sheet of copper, slotted by hand with a hacksaw!! and then rolled up into a cylinder. A lot of hard work.

Cooler and power cylinder fitted together. Note transfer ports

The heater consists of 2 sizes of stainless steel tubes. 24 smaller and 8 larger. The heater cap is fabricated from stainless steel and welded up into a gas-tight assembly.

Internal shot of the heater showing the 2 sizes of pipe welded into 2 rings. A tricky bit of welding - and something I would like to automate using a spot welder

The completed heat-exchanger assemblies laid out on the bench