Newcomen Atmospheric Engine Model (Earliest Steam Engine)
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This is a desktop model of the Newcomen Atmospheric Engine, the earliest practical steam engine. Almost no supports!
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Model information
- Source
- Printables
- Category
- Engineering
- License
- Creative Commons — Public Domain
This is a desktop model of the Newcomen Atmospheric Engine, intended to illustrate its working principles!
This Wikipedia article has an excellent description and history: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcomen_atmospheric_engine
This is a model of the earliest practical steam engine, invented in 1712 by Thomas Newcomen. It was built to help pump water out of mines, and it performed this duty well! The working principle is simple--a cylinder full of steam is condensed with a jet of cold water, creating a low-pressure zone, causing the atmosphere (which is at a higher pressure) to push the piston down. By operating valves to repeatedly fill the cylinder with steam and condense it, work can be performed! The gif above (from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Newcomen_atmospheric_engine_animation.gif#mw-jump-to-license ) shows this process in action. This is the design improved upon by James Watt to create his famous engine more than 50 years later.
The print is all original parts except for the chains, which I got from Jack (https://www.printables.com/model/120393-chain-links). I used 10 links in the pictured model. I have provided the file here. Note that I scaled them to 25% in the slicer.
Almost no supports are required. The only place where I used supports was on hooks of the main cross beam.
Assembly should be pretty self-explanatory. The hooks in the piston and the counterweight are just a simple press fit. Make sure to print two of them!
If you want the model to hold it's position like in the picture, simply tilt the piston slightly in the cylinder and it will jam and stay put.
As pictured, the model is about 5cm X 15cm X 15cm.
If you want to make your own version, the CAD files are freely available on Onshape and can be copied and edited by anyone with an account. I have parameterized a lot of the geometry as a variable table in the model, so it should be easy to adjust. Link: https://cad.onshape.com/documents/ec481f9afb9db0dcfda51292/w/b13db4884be1e5acecb5ab44/e/a423433db4e27c4f43da2d59?configuration=List_Ge8aM9N0fKoN4H%3Dcounterweight&renderMode=0&uiState=67284ef628a6fa5bcb270404