BRASSY BABE

A S INGLE-ACTING WOBBLER
FOR BEGINNERS
I do love working with brass! It’s easy to work, not
hard on tools, and shines up so nicely. A perfect
material for a beginner in this hobby. Here’s the first
steam engine I designed myself. It’s a single-acting
wobbler, which means it has only one power stroke;
inertia from the flywheel pushes the piston down for
the next stroke. It’s not strong enough to move any-
thing but itself, but it does so with the enthusiasm of a
The engine is all brass, except for four parts: the 2-56 x
dog chasing its tail, and it’s just as much fun to watch! 1/2” screw, the spring, the crank pin, and the core of the
flywheel.

The disassembled engine. The input tube is threaded

and sealed with Loctite, which is why it is shown in place.
Another hole (barely visible in the photograph) is opposite
and the same size as the one for the input tube. Air (or
steam) exhausts through this port. We could just as
easily put the input tube in that hole instead; this would
reverse the engine’s direction.
Note the two holes in the side of the cylinder. The top
one is threaded to accept a 2-56 screw that passes
through a spring and the top of the triangle of holes in the
frame, to hold the cylinder snug against the frame. The
bottom one accepts air from the left-bottom hole of that
triangle and exhausts air through the right-bottom hole.
Note the crank pin attached to the piston. (More Loctite)
The flywheel is brass except for its core, which used to
be part of the armature of a small electric motor. The first
flywheel was 1/8” thick x 1-1/4” diameter, and was too
light for this engine. This one is 5/8” thick, and the engine
runs a lot better with it. It needs the additional weight for
the unpowered return stroke.
The lesson for me in this was, “just because a motor is
burned out doesn’t mean it’s useless.” Many parts are
salvageable, including commutators, ball bearings, shafts,
screws and so forth. I now greet a burned-out appliance
with mixed feelings: frustration because probably I have
to buy a new one, and anticipation to see what I can
salvage from its innards.

This was a fun project and a challenge for me. If you have more experience it may not be as much of a challenge,
but hopefully it will still be fun.

Copyright © 2001, 2002. All rights reserved. See Terms of Use.

Thanks to Ed Warren for his books on model

steam engines. He presents interesting projects
and useful metal working tips in his books If you build Brassy Babe, I’d like to hear from you.
“Home Made Steam Engines,” Volumes 1 and A link to my email address is on my home page.
2. These are published by Camelback Books
and are available from MODELTEC Magazine.
 August 1999
by These plans originally were drawn 1 to 1, but they
David Goodfellow were too small for easy reading. They are shown
davegood@gte.net here not to scale.

0.3 0.3 1.0

2

B E
C 1.8
A 1
A A
D
Frame
Make from 1”x1”x1.75” brass. Drill 1/16” x 7/16” hole
“A” and countersink 7/32” x 1/4” deep. Tap 4-20 for inlet
and exhaust tubes. 1 each, front and back. Drill hole “B,”
1/8” for crank shaft. Drill hole “C” 3/32”. On back side,
countersink 11/64” x 3/16” deep for spring. Drill hole “D”
(2) 1/16” dia. x 3/16” deep, to meet hole “A” (2). See
Sequence, last page.
1.0 F
0.35
G 0.12
Cylinder Block
Make from 1” x 0.45” x 0.3” brass. Drill
cylinder “E” 3/16” dia. x 0.9” deep. Drill
hole “F” 1/16” dia. to break into cylinder
“E.” Tap 2-56 to barely break into
cylinder. Do not make full threads into
cylinder; you want the 2-56 screw to jam
before entering the cylinder. Drill air
inlet “G” 1/16” dia. x 0.25” to break into
cylinder “E.”

See text Make from 3/16” brass rod. Mill flats on both sides as
H shown, each 3/64” deep. (Actually, only one side needs to
be milled, to allow clearance for the crank disk.) Drill 1/
1.6 16” hole “H” for crank pin. (I cut 3/16” from the shank
3
of a broken 1/16” drill bit for the crank pin.) Insert pin
1.05
into hole “H” flush on one side, and seal with Loctite or
other suitable adhesive.
0.4

Piston
 4

I 0.075 1.0

0.55 0.25 0.125

Crankshaft/Crank
Make from 5/8” brass round. Turn 1” down to .125” diameter. Turn 1/16” down to
.25” diameter. Turn 1/16” down to 0.55” diameter, and part it off. Drill hole “I” 1/
16”.

5
0.625

1.25
J

Flywheel
Make from 1-1/4” brass round. Drill center hole “K” 1/8” dia. Turn
as desired, and cut off at 5/8” thick.

6. Screw/Spring (not shown).

Make or scrounge spring to fit on
2-57 x 1/2” screw to hold cylinder
block against frame. The spring
from a ball point pen should work
well. I made mine, from the
thinnest piece of piano wire I
could find. Cut to 3/8”.
Some Notes on Brassy Babe
The previous two pages should give you all the information you need to Spring Hole: I countersunk the
build Brassy. I’m using a Taige lathe and a Sherline mill. Both machines hole for the spring because I didn’t
loaf on a job this small; no challenge for them at all. Plenty of challenge want the screw sticking out too far.
for me, though, as a newcomer to the hobby. This page gives some notes It looks better this way, and if I ever
on the design, and some of the practices I employ. put a larger flywheel on Brassy, it
First, almost every instruction given on the plans is negotiable. The plans would need to clear the spring.
just show how I made the engine, and they’re not locked in concrete. Locating the port holes (“D,” on
Second, in case you haven’t already gathered that, I am new to this hobby the Frame drawing): I’m sure
and the way I have done things is not necessarily the best way. With that in these can be located trigonometri-
mind, here’s some of my reasoning cally, but I’m not a trigonometrist.
for the way I designed certain parts: off just above the crank pin. I left it Instead I mounted the cylinder
Sequence: Shape the frame and on because (to me, at least) it looks block to the frame with a piece of
drill holes B and C so that you can nifty in operation. broken 1/16” drill bit, sharpened to
mount the cylinder block and a point, in hole “G,” then rotated
Spring: I wound the spring from the flywheel to run the cylinder
crank/crankshaft. That way, you the smallest diameter piano wire I
can verify the locations of holes A block through its arc. Then I drilled
could find. I chucked a 1-inch
and D before drilling them; a the ports at each end of the arc
length of 1/16” steel in the lathe, scribed on the frame. It worked just
mistake in locating these holes took a couple of wraps of piano
equals a ruined part. fine.
wire around it and anchored the
Crank: The crank is 1/8” thick “throwaway” end to a nearby wall. Cylinder Block, hole “F.” In the
because anything thicker would Then I held the useable end with plans I suggest drilling this hole
interfere with the piston, making it through, into the cylinder and then
pliers and flipped the lathe on and
necessary to go to a larger piston off at slow speed. Instant coil, and stopping short of tapping through.
block to provide the necessary it worked the first time. Take safety This is an Ed Warren tip, and I
clearance. Further, I chose to turn precautions if you try this, though; thank him for it. If you do it this
half the thickness down to 1/4” the average piano wire is tougher way the screw will jam and not fall
diameter to reduce the rubbing area than the average eye. Cut to length out during operation. If you tap all
on the frame. Less friction is a and you’re done. the way through you’ll have to use a
good thing. shorter screw and use Loctite on it
Flywheel: The flywheel is a little to hold it in. This would be messy
Piston: I milled flats on the piston small for this engine. Brassy runs and make disassembly a pain in the
to provide clearance where it rides better with a larger flywheel; I made backside - so much so that if I made
over the crank. It was only neces- another one 5/8” thick, and the that mistake I’d make a new cylinder
sary to mill one side but I milled extra weight improved operation. block.
them both because I liked the look. This one is kind of interesting in
That doesn’t leave much support for that its 3-spoke center is part of the Extra Note on Crank and Crank-
the crank pin but evidently there’s commutator of a small, burned out shaft: I first made this in three
enough thickness left, as the assem- electric motor. The commutator is pieces: crank, shaft and washer, and
bly seems to be holding together ok. made up of laminated wafers of the put them together with Loctite.
I used Loctite to secure the pin to shape shown in the photo. I used This was messy, and I could not
the piston. You could use epoxy two of the wafers, one inletted on bond these pieces square. So I
glue or some other adhesive, but I each side. It’s attached to the crank rebuilt that assembly as a single part.
chose Loctite because I knew that shaft with Loctite. The wafers are Engine performance (and appear-
if for some reason I wanted that pin painted black and the faced area ance) improved dramatically.
out of there the Loctite would between the wafer and the rim is Moral? Save yourself some grief
release it with a little heat applied. painted red. I used a cheap brand and do it right the first time!
Note that the piston is a lot longer of fingernail polish, and it wasn’t all
than it needs to be. You could cut it that good. A mistake. davegood@gte.net