Does this 2,000 Year Old Steam Engine Work?

I recreated Hero's aeolipile machine to see if this very first steam engine could be put to work. Could the industrial revolution started 2000 years earlier?
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[@htme]

If curious, you can view the full tech tree image here: www.patreon.com/posts/bringing-back-110303882

[@hobknot]

Well done so much this is so massive and it's been amazing watching all the videos and seeing an early steam engine

[@carola7893]

I'm honestly flabbergasted that you didn't cast it.. Wouldn't that have been much easier... And you've cast a lot before

[@mxecho]

without calculus there is no industrial revolution

[@DanielGBenesScienceShows]

This is beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

[@Brainstormer_Industires]

You should make flatness. Totally underrated both how easy it is, and how critical it is for achieving precision and the foundation of modern industry. Using a 3 plate process, basically grinding pieces of material (could be stone, cast iron, glass, or even bronze) against each other until you have a perfectly flat reference plate. Making something like a bearing that's smooth and precise enough to run, you need to have things flat/straight/perpendicular. Reference surfaces, a straight edge reference, and angles are SO important, and don't really require any high tech to get working.

[@jackieow]

A couple thousand years ago at a Greek temple, you could burn a sacrifice on an altar. It would heat a hidden kettle and out the spout would come steam that condensed into water. The water as weight into a hanging pot would pull on a spindle string with a second string wrapped around it. The pulled second string would open a door to reveal the stone version of the god being petitioned. Once you could see the god was favoring you by revealing himself, you knew it was time to pay the priest for your prayer being answered.

[@stasi0238]

Bro hero of Alexandria was such a goat. Bro made moving robots powered by seeds.

[@knlazar08]

And that's exactly how easy it is to use illusion(s) to control the masses...

[@LivingroomTV-me9oz]

‘Metaligy’? Is that the same as metallurgy ?

[@Duke-xo3sr]

diabolical I love it

[@budicinjosip3072]

Id bet people knew this just fine, they probably saw this as part of the process and just wanted and expected the process to repeat, like we expect a page to refresh or a feed to load, othervise were upset, has the Internet gone down, have the Algoritms forsaken us

[@genxtech5584]

I love this man.. Ingenuity: 9.2 Creativity: 8.5 Knowledge: 10 Craftsmanship: 0.00001

[@robertstuckey6407]

This series has convinced me that you cant start an industrial revolution without cheap materials and a lot of practical knowledge

[@maszkalman3676]

And shillnig for better help: 11

[@emadmustafa7294]

This experiment shows that there's a huge difference between theory and practice. Things look simple in theory, but tremendously hard in real-life experiments.

[@TheFinalFrontiersman]

The difference between practice and theory is greater in practice than theory!

[@doughudgens9275]

Clickspring is doing a version of “how did they do that” by building the Antikythera mechanism parts using hand tools. The ancient people were pretty clever as you are proving!

[@linecraftman3907]

People were always smart, we evolve very very slowly, people of the past just knew less than us

[@DreadX10]

His 'primitive' lathe is a prime example! He makes the tools himself and isn't afraid to cast bronze when it is called for. He always makes beauty!

[@dakotareid1566]

@@linecraftman3907 I’d argue they knew way more than us on an individual level.

[@mrlithium69]

Major tip when soldering : getting the metal to melt is NOT enough, thats the bare minimum. the surrounding metal needs to be heated up more, for "wetting" action, to absorb itself into the crack. needs more flux also. but the heat was mainly lacking. and precision/patience.

[@rappyrap2819]

Hey, I make copper vessels often (pots and cups), you could make molds or dies to help but a technique called raising is probably going to be your best bet as it allows you to make many different sizes and shapes for your vessels. You will need a raising and plannishing hammer, as well as a stake for raising, but compared to other methods its much cheaper and versatile.

[@polarbear9772]

im a gold smith and was about to comment the same! for the pipe's i think he should use a draw plate instead since this gets the seam way tighter

[@HorizonMakes]

For the copper hemispheres - you can try to do die molding, essentially make a negative of the part you want in wood and press it to shape (or hammer it into shape, that would probably be easier with the tech you have accessible). You could also try blow molding - essentially take 2 copper sheets, solder them together with one inlet, then pressurize the living hell out of it to "swell" the sides out

[@brendolbreadwar2671]

he just gotta reinvent a welder lol

[@vedritmathias9193]

Hydroforming. I was thinking the same thing

[@Laugh1ngboy]

@@brendolbreadwar2671 They knew how to solder copper together since the bronze age.

[@knlazar08]

​@vedritmathias9193 I was thinking hydroforming too. No need for dies or soldering/brazing. Only two forms with the desired radius removed. No sure if the current tech level would allow the required pressure though. But steam at 200 psi or so could be enough to do the job.

[@IcedForce]

Hydroforming is out of the question. The pressures needed for even copper sheet forming are in the hundreds of bars. You can form some bigger objects with just normal 100-200 bar pressure washer (like Colin Furze has done). Just to put that into perspective of making a steam engine, the late steam engine trains generated about 10-15 bars of pressure, the low pressure hydroforming uses (by Google) 700 bars while high-pressure up to 1,500 bars. And then you need the object to stand those pressure to form.

[@irisramer8622]

You should make a poster of that tech tree

[@R_V_]

Definitely. And sell it ; many would buy it !

[@marvin19966]

with you as a model on it PLEASE

[@solarflare623]

I think my biggest problem with the aeolipile is that it sprays steam everywhere. Imagine having a more refined higher pressure version of this thing working at a factory or on a ship. You would never be able to go anywhere near the thing because it would kill you or seriously burn you instantly. So essentially you’d have to build reinforced walls around it to protect people from the scolding high pressure steam spewing out of it and because of that you wouldn’t be able to check on it while it’s running. That may not sound like much of a problem but imagine you’re a worker at a power plant and the thing starts having problems but you can’t turn it off to check it lest you cause a citywide blackout. Not to mention that it also makes it more bulky which isn’t that big a problem in stationary uses but if you want to power a ship or a train with this then you’ll have to sacrifice a lot of precious space and weight for that shield. With cylinders or a normal turbine the exhaust steam is contained and you can use a funnel to direct it somewhere safe. Edit: you could also try a regular steam turbine with blades. It’s essentially just the same as a waterwheel or windmill but using steam instead of water and wrapping it in a container to prevent steam from escaping.

[@agingerredhead9380]

you could make an outer shell fairly easily that catches and condenses the steam. the biggest problem is the insanely low torque

[@rxy228]

i think what you are really missing for a lot of your projects is a lathe that is actually useful. maybe you could retry that?

[@andedabtau8335]

Absolutely! Without some level of precision, projects like these are almost impossible. And a lathe would be an awesome tool to help with that.

[@engineer0239]

Agreed. Clickspring has good videos on that.

[@xeros4000]

you can build a better lathe using a worse lathe. but he leaves all his work at "barely passable", so he hasnt build up the necessary skills even after all these years.

[@SenkJu]

​@@xeros4000This is my main point of criticism of this channel. I think the concept is great and I see why working for months on a single video trying to perfect a single technology isn't necessarily compatible with they way the KZbin algorithm works but I would honestly prefer it that way.

[@agingerredhead9380]

@@SenkJu true, i always feel like he takes a huge leaps like going from a lumpy sheet of impure copper to giant pure perfectly formed sheets.

[@BraxtonHoward]

That torch is WAAAAAAAAAAAY too small to solder on that big of a heat sink. Like trying to fill a hot air balloon with a desk fan.

[@ommsterlitz1805]

It is to simulate the manual blow torch they had in ancient Greece because they didn't do it with a massive gas torche

[@carthius]

As someone who has done HVAC i can say its not the torch at all that is the problem. The issue is 100% the way he is trying to solder. Hes melting the Solder on the copper like its a candle instead of doing it properly. The proper way is to use the torch to heat the copper and let the solder melt naturally to the copper with the heat of the copper. You dont need a torch any bigger than what hes using... he just needs to do it right...

[@JayRock907]

nah he was just using too much everything, especially with the torch.

[@hurrdurrmurrgurr]

​@@carthius "he just needs to do it right..." This channel in a nutshell.

[@SubLordHawk]

Solder? Surely you mean sarder?

[@Wisconsin.pikachu]

For soldering especially those small parts like the nozzles, flux both parts and start to heat evenly. Near the end of your heat go to only 1 side of the pipe and heat there for a couple seconds. Remove the flame from work area and with solder on the opposite side you heated tap the joint with the solder. You should see it melt and pull towards the hotter side. Dont do a lot of solder less is more 👌

[@briebel2684]

That's what I kept thinking while watching this. He needs a flux to do most of the soldering work for him, instead of trying to force the solder into the gap.

[@FriesOfTheDead]

Watching him try to solder was the most heartbreaking thing I've seen all year.

[@andrewmattox1233]

@@FriesOfTheDead, Indeed. I'm not a professional or anything. But re-did all of the pluming in my house with no leaks. The surfaces didn't look like they were sanded before trying to solder. Clean copper, flux, heat, capillary action should be doing all of the work.

[@PabloEdvardo]

@@FriesOfTheDead welcome to the channel. this series is basically just a documentary watching andy skip doing any of the research on the basics for any skill, and instead jump head first into failing miserably

[@SirWonkotheSane]

This channel is just a highlight of the utter tenacity of our species.

[@zoplonix_reverse_engineering]

My guess for the inspiration for steam engines: 1. Having the top of a pot fly off when it boils. a. you are clever and you see how it could be used to push b. the cover is too small for the pot (on purpose for a cooking technique or all you have or shrinkage in the manufacturing process) 2. You are making tea and add some plant material that is the same diameter as the spout. A piece gets stuck and eventually rockets itself out 3. A leaf falls from the tree over your boiling water and flies away. 4. Your clothing/leaves gets lifted by the fire. But the fire can't be contained. Water can. Or the boiling water lifts your clothes (could this dry them without burning?). Whatever the inspiration, the idea is that you can see that steam can push. So now you can make a hammer or ram. But now the problem is, you have to reset the ram after each push. So push it back with another ram! But then the other ram would have to be on the opposite side of the first ram - meaning you need another boiler. So: add a pivot! Place two rams next to each other with a rod connecting them on the end and a pivot point in the middle. Now, when one ram pushes forward, it moves the other ram back, and vise vera. But then how do you connect the two rams to one boiler? Because the steam will push both at the same time. So you need a one-way valve so that the steam only fills one ram at a time. But that only operates when the ram is extended to a certain position. So you have to put the valve in the ram. Thus we get the steam cylinder! Or, looking back to having one ram on the opposite of another ram, you could see that you need to get the steam to then push the cylinder back and so you need to contain the cylinder and have the steam get pushed around behind it somehow to push it back.

[@NotAnotherWhiteGuy]

I believe the reason the last one isn’t creating much power is your heat source isn’t hot enough. The steam looks weak, like it doesn’t *really* want to spray out. I’d make sure you have the heat ripping, then put it on the heat. It also seems like you need to consider the piping size - bigger gives heat loss (steam pressure loss) but also gets large volumes up to the top.

[@stasi0238]

Hero of Alexandria was such a goat. Bro made a tutorial on how to make robots (automatons) that are powered by seeds or sand.

[@ammonitida]

they were not robots

[@NOLNV1]

​@@ammonitidaprogrammable moving, automatic machines are totally robots

[@ammonitida]

@@NOLNV1 no theyre not. but keeping thinking the greeks had robots. did they have flying saucers too

[@DH-xw6jp]

​@@ammonitidaif a programmable machine that performed tasks on its own is not a robot, then what would you consider a robot?

[@ammonitida]

@@DH-xw6jp look at the honda robot, MIT robot or robotic arms.

[@Golden_SnowFlake]

Next time you try to make a round hemisphere, weld two plates to one another with a sealed connection to one of the plates, then use a long tube, to safely compress the interior of the plates with either water or steam. This is called "Hydroforming" and would have been available at the time. They used large pumps with weights and manual force driven via leverage to compress water to attain nearly perfect spheres.

[@grahamstewart79]

Hydroforming with steam sounds like a good way to severely injure yourself.

[@agingerredhead9380]

he would need perfectly airtight joints that could withstand probably at least 100 bar

[@marvin19966]

about those perfect spheres...

[@dougaltolan3017]

As Graham ^ said: DO NOT USE STEAM.

[@patrickdowney2126]

As a guy that solders for a living you may have picked the most difficult thing to solder for your first attempt, a copper sphere. We'd have issues making one of these at work and we have a machine shop and build lab equipment. Honestly, well done.

[@Slye_Fox]

I'm pretty sure an Aeolipile would be low-pressure steam, and low-pressure steam engines need to be rather large to get any useful amount of power from them.

[@paradiselost9946]

how much heat is applied, over how much area, and how big is the nozzle governs the pressure it will reach... energy in, energy out. the area of the nozzles, the pressure , the diameter the nozzles act upon, and the peripheral velocity in relation to the speed the steam leaves the nozzles dictates power.

[@classygentlemangaming8400]

this is the best channel of this type because you never cheat or take shortcuts, you do all the work

[@marconeudecker6533]

1. you don't need a sphere in the rotor. just one cross branch is enough. 2. Maybe try to put the rotor horizontal and reduce the distance to the boiler. This and no sphere should reduce heat loss after the boiler. 3. Longer cross tubes in the rotor provide more torque. 4. The kettle needs to get hotter. Either more fire or a better exchange from the fire. In steam locomotives, for example, the exhaust gases were passed through the boiler in pipes.

[@akhasshativeritsol1950]

Removing the sphere would definitely have benefits. I wonder if there is some benefits to keeping it though that aren't readily apparent. It could act as a reservoir to even out changes in the rate of steam generation. The weight would also act as a flywheel, once it gets going...

[@mattymerr701]

I was expectong some conspiracy theory stuff but im glad the guy kept it all grounded and was talking about his own experimentation

[@bencrispe9562]

For your final steam engine, you can still use your lathe for the parts, just not on metal. I suggest making the shapes for the parts out of beeswax on the lathe, and making a mold with them. Then, you can just pour molten brass into the mold, and presto! Engine parts!

[@micahphilson]

With modern engineering, this is so easy! Like, still so underpowered, but so much easier than what you had to work with. I really feel for you trying so hard and so long to get this to work! In ancient times, this was someone's life's work, taking the already improved concept, improving it tenfold, and still not getting it to be useful!

[@______IV]

@2:15 To be real, his versions of Hero’s engine use bearings which were obviously not around 2000 years ago.

[@nickg5250]

fantastic channel and concept, as always

[@GoodandBasic]

This looks amazing! With how fiddly it is to get that rotating joint airtight, it's even more amazing that this was developed so long ago!

[@nathantron]

You need to start having a helping hand build things. Doing it alone is not how they did it. They had apprentices! You could have used the older soldering method if you just had someone else to hold the heat and stuff to assemble. Great job by the way, that looks amazing.

[@DobleWhiteAndStabley]

That first really eatly steam engine used vacuum, but the more modern engines didn''t really have steam cooling. There was a prototype steam car in the 70s that made steam and cooled it in a closed loop. That first steam engine using vacuum actually was used to pump water out of mines I think.

[@XMarkxyz]

yep that's th newcommen atmospheric engine, very soon it was abandoned in favour of steam expansion like in the watt engine because cooling the cylinder each time is quite wasteful, but to be fair except for locomotives many steam angines and turbines (stationary or in ships) were fitted with separate condenser that go to create a vacuum after expander; still most of the work is done by steam expansion but with the vacum and "pulling" from the condenser you recover a bit of efficiency

[@paradiselost9946]

@@XMarkxyz the majority of the power available in steam only can be extracted when you drop below atmospheric pressure. the high pressure side of a steam turbine does very little. the low pressure side is where all the work is being performed.

[@TheHomerepo]

Something that could be interesting for this channel would be to showcase some in-between stages in technology. The exploration of the in-between-stages that aren't commonly known could showcase failed attempts and projects that ultimately led to technological advancements

[@paradiselost9946]

they arent all "failed attempts". some of them simply lacked the materials or machining abilities, some worked fine, but in the chase for maximum energy density were rendered obsolete by more inefficient, yet more compact and powerful machines... and some were just sidelined by circumstances out of their control, such as war...

[@micahphilson]

I was thinking of pressure testing this device when I realized what may be your "different principle" to maximize output power. Using pascal's law, you can apply a small force onto a small area into a fluid-filled volume, output to a larger area, and maximize the power by the ratio of the small area to the large one. Still reciprocating, which is a detriment to modern efficiency, but that could wildly multiply output power in a simpler machine!

[@novaenricarter705]

Hey a huge tip for soldering copper. Get the joint hot not where you want the solder to melt. For example if you wanted to solder the two halves together its best to heat both sides you want joined and not the gap where the solder will go. Once the copper is hot enough capillary action will suck the solder into the joint sealing it and holding it so it wont drip solder inside of the construction. Another tip is use little solder, it takes a lot less than it appears if the joints meet up with each other well. You want there to be almost no gap in the solder area between materials. good way to practice is to make a flat rectangle into a pipe and solder it just like you did in video except smaller! best of luck, love your channel

[@FriesOfTheDead]

Bruh, just watch one tutorial on how to solder copper, please man, it's like you've never even seen someone do it. Why are you using a cigar lighter to solder large copper parts? Just go get a $30 plumbing torch, your little candle flame will not get the parts hot enough. If you ever want your joints to stick, you have to clean them first with some sand paper or steel wool before trying to solder them. You need to apply flux paste to the surfaces otherwise they will oxidize immediately upon heating, and you need to heat the joint up to temperature then remove the flame and apply solder to the hot joint. You cant have the flame on the solder wire, because it will just melt it into balls that wont want to wet the copper surface. 1. Clean until it shines, 2. Flux everywehre, 3. Heat the joint with a bigger torch, 4. Remove the flame 5. Apply the solder wire to the joint. If the solder wire doesn't melt immediately when it touches the copper, you didnt get it hot enough.

[@agingerredhead9380]

IK it was painful as someone who, while not a professional by any means, has done soldering enough to know better

[@dougaltolan3017]

Then theres the sheet metalwork....

[@vinceraineing]

You're not understanding the point of this channel...

[@PatrickKniesler]

I think he was trying to fill the gaps, like you can with steel welding.

[@FriesOfTheDead]

@@vinceraineing If the point is that he needs to figure out 100% everything himself, then that failed years ago. He clearly gets information from somewhere and doesn't act as if his entire existence is in a void, so in whatever post apocalyptic setting you think he's role playing, he could have found an old wise man or a book or a cave painting to explain soldering to him, the same way that someone explained the steam engine concept to him.

[@XMarkxyz]

So about the ending and steam engine working in "reverse", no they don't, the one you specifically refer to yes and it's called Newcommen Atmospheric Engine because it's the atmosphere to impress more force when the water jet cools the steam off; but that's an horrendously inefficient engine because, among other reasons, you're constantly cooling and reheting the cylinder (all wasted energy) so soon enough the most used steam engine was the one using the espansion of the steam in a cylinder. Than it evolved in double and triple expansion and, also quite soon, a condenser was added which yes it does create a vacuum and gain efficiency but still the steam expanding does more than the vacuum, also locomotives for example (except for rare cases) didn't have condesers, they were used just in stationary applications or ships

[@agingerredhead9380]

That 'wobble' as it spins indicates that the spinning part isn't straight, that could be making your whole device much less efficient due to the spindle having a tendency to stay in the lowest position; if it were straighter it could start easier and possibly generate more power with less vibrations

[@WasatchWind]

I'm very interested to see how the more advanced steam engine turns out. I hope that y'all devote at least a handful of episodes to it. I'm guessing y'all will try to do something interesting with it, and I'm holding it for a basic steam locomotive, but that is another big step beyond a base steam engine.

[@johnspence2466]

I really enjoy your content and have been a long term subscriber thanks for the hard work that you and your team put into each video

[@dim1723]

Great another episode! Thought it was a revisit after reminding us about the fire.

[@mattymerr701]

I like that you actually pronounce soldering a reasonable way and dont fall it sodder

[@asicdathens]

Heron invented the water pump, the musical organ, the syringe, pneumatic valves in his book Pneumatica (it is the origin of the term "Pneumatics"). His steam engine uses a thrust bearing on one side. The other pipe , the one steam flows through, I assume uses leather for seal.

[@williamfricke4464]

Looking up a old craft called "Metal Spinning:, I found out it has its roots before 1400 BC. Egyptians used a hand powered version to spin gold and silver into the shapes you need. Something to look into, and is almost a forgotten craft now.

[@junit483]

What in the actual hell?! You made all of those wood tools and didn't bother to carve a hemisphere plug into a chunk of wood. Also you can test with compressed air.

[@jeremyortiz2927]

I've been watching for a long time now (bronze weapons casting) and remember the fire. I'm extremely happy you pushed through that low point. Can't wait for steam power 🚂♨️😤💨(simulated steam)

[@JessWLStuart]

Nice job! Looks like the issues with making the aeolipile do useful work are just getting the tolerances dialed in.

[@tracybowling1156]

This video was really interesting!

[@kittyprydekissme]

I've spent a lot of time thinking about things you could invent soon. They don't all help to lead to the steam engine, but I'd like to see them anyway. A spinning wheel, and maybe then a spinning jenny. Different types of looms might be cool, too. Maybe printed fabrics (that should be fairly easy). Windmill A rolling mill for making sheets of metal. Much better than hammering by hand every time. Some agricultural stuff, especially a Jethro Tull seed drill. Maybe a treadle-powered thresher. Horsecollar (you can rent a horse). A small sailboat you can use to test different types of sails. Gears of various types. You don't have to use them for anything at first. Just try out different ideas until you get good enough, then you'll already know how to make them for future projects. Also springs, and valves, and screws, and other machine parts you might need later. More chemistry stuff. I've loved the ones you've done so far. More glassworking. Try to do lenses if you can. Blast furnace and cast iron. China invented it in the 5th Century BC. It should be within your capabilities. You haven't done a food episode in a long time. Maybe you could do salami since you have good saltpetre now. Random inventions that don't matter much for technological progress, but which might be fun and unexpected. I recently read about how linoleum is made. It sounds surprisingly easy.

[@diegoparga9324]

Can’t wait for this guy to develop transistors

[@th3darkgem566]

Thinking if the sphere was held in a vertical position, it would work better..?

[@Keatosis_Quohotos]

We're in the end game now. What a journey it's been

[@happytoaster1]

Great to see the struggle getting it to work honestly. I'm sure a bunch of people tried this through the centuries, so you're re-creating their struggle.

[@williamfields8452]

I LOVE THIS CHANNEL!

[@xxxyz721]

To make a sphere, either make a mould for it or possibly make a rough sphere, seal it with water inside and heat it up to use steam pressure to round it off. :).

[@jameshall4385]

I have always loved that engin. I first learned about it in middle school a long time ago and think it is the coolest thing from ancient history

[@ChrisJohnson-gx8yo]

Great Work

[@elcommandanteskalar]

I very love the video series and the link to human history 👍

[@amellish]

you should start working more on precision. the technologies you want to work toward require metrology, flat reference surfaces and concentric round features. grinding a surface plate using the three plate method and establishing a system of measurement would let you build better wood and metal structures by being able to actually make a flat surface, a straight line and a right angle. at that point, you make a screw, which can be done using drawn wire, which can be used to bootstrap a more precise screw on a primitive metal lathe. with a precision screw, you can make a screwcutting lathe and modern machinery is in reach. but first you need a surface plate

[@bcftr]

I’m glad you’re getting back to the series but I don’t think you have to end at the steam engine! Work your way to the Information Age! Build. A small fission reactor that’d be awesome!

[@Cs13762]

It's incredible how certain people just have different strengths while being so utterly incapable of certain other things and every one is different in that regard. To me i just think its incredible how someone who couldn't get into engineering school, which is not insignificant-it means they thought he was incapable of engineering-that person could argue that an engine with a worm gear reduction that puts out .01 watt of power to lift half a water bottle COULD'VE started the industrial revolution, if only people had realized it's potential... downright fascinating.

[@justinlipkin]

Happy 5 years!

[@NathanielSalzman]

Great stuff. Look up "tuck shrinking" to help you more easily make shrink sheet metal without folds or tears.

[@benmcreynolds8581]

I think it's important that the side supports aren't pressure pinching in towards the middle, which can cause the ball to not spin & mess with the friction

[@malikpelletier7976]

big soldering irons are often better than a torch for that type of work. there is the oldschool style where its just a block of copper at the end of an iron rod with a wooden handle, they are heated up with charcoal or propane and they usualy come in a pair so you can solder continuously. google antique tinsmith soldering iron for inspiration

[@BetterDeadThanRed99]

That's what's missing. With just a little more effort you could have a separately-fired 'superheater' and make 'superheated steam' and that would have yielded a more impressive result. This is how steam engines and turbines actually work but you need to be extra careful playing around with high pressure superheated steam. I cannot stress enough ⚠ Be safe but keep these uploads coming!

[@masterimbecile]

20,000 years of technological advancement have shrunk down to just 5 years. All in all, it's not so bad.

I've always thought about these as the water being already inside the sphere, so no need for the pipework: they become axles, without anything going through them. The fire is heating the sphere directly.

[@Konischiwa]

Great video, love the journey :D Will u use the steam engine at the end of the road map for any future projects ? (your own train or electricity powerplant)

[@discosanandreas]

Whoh. Great video!

[@ncot_tech]

I see now why it took so long to get from basic iron working to complex machinery. Being able to pile mud in your back yard to melt rocks you hand dug out the ground, or being able to beat on metal with a lump of iron is one thing. Being able to manufacture precision parts is a whole new level of complexity. All the comments of "d00d WhY Y0u S0ldEr WiTh BBQ LiGhTEr?! JuSt Use BiG TORch!" are kind of missing the point. We know how to do things correctly now, but back then they had to literally figure this all out. Imagine being the first person to build a lathe that actually worked properly, that could make accurate circular objects from metal. And didn't do it by beating on sheets of metal on top of a tree stump like everyone else. Something that'll be interesting to watch is where we learn how to make a pressure vessel that doesn't explode... If the end goal is to build a steam engine, I'd take a few creative liberties and reason that since we've unlocked lathes and modern tools, and go buy some proper ones so that the tools are not the issue.

[@fishyerik]

Combining the turbine and boiler into one unit would make it much easier to produce meaningful work, or less difficult. Earliest version of "modern" steam engines utilized the vacuum, that is, the reduced pressure relative to atmospheric when the steam condensed, but for a long time using the pressure of the steam, above atmospheric, just releasing the steam into ambient air was the norm. Either way, if you only use vacuum or pressure, you're loosing a lot of potential energy. But if you have to choose, it's easier to get high power density and efficiency with really high temperatures and the pressure above atmospheric.

[@yesimtorje]

Been here since the start!

[@Skullkid52297]

I kind of want to see you build a torch. Take a look at some old ways of blowing glass with breath/bellows powered torches. I'm pretty sure you guys are at the tech level for it since the restart.

[@dylanhunt5368]

So what's the next series? How far back we can take the ideas of discovered technologies, re-constructing them with tools and materials available at the time? Would it have been possible to build a modern steam engine 2000 years ago, if only they knew what they were doing?

[@WhichDoctor1]

the thing is to get any work from high pressure steam you need precisely milled joints. And you can't get those without powered metal lathes. Which themselves require a whole ton of logistics in order to first even make them work and then to make them economically viable enough to be perfected enough to become useful. You don't need steam power to get metal lathes, you can use water power. People were milling out the barrels of cannons for a century or two before the steam engine became a thing. But the beauty of the early steam engines was that they used low pressure steam, so didn't need any parts finer or more precisely milled than a cannon barrel. Just a big chunky cylinder and a plunger, and the imperfect gap between could be sealed with wet cloth, just like the gap between the cannon barrel and the ball could be sealed by wadding. But ultimately, there was no economic incentive to even invent a mill big and crewed enough to mill a cannon barrel without centuries of improvement in black powder technology. So without the metallurgy and milling tech required for guns there would have been no tech base capable of building low pressure condensing steam engines. Let alone high pressure engines that were in any way useful. That's often the reason big technological advances happen when they do. Because you need logistics chains created to support entirely separate technologies and the need for the next technology to come together in the same place at the same time to support the creation and utilisation of a new tech. You can have the need for a steam engine. But if no one has already invented the tools to build one that works, no steam engine will be built. And similarly you can have the tools to build a steam engine, but until a use case important enough for people to put in the time and energy comes along, still no steam engine will be built. In reality, of course, it usually takes multiple other technologies coming together in the same place at the same time, not just one

[@peterkallend5012]

Use this to run an alternator. Steam powered phone charger is definitely within the realm of possibility for a device like this. A quick upgrade in efficiency would be to remove the pivoting steam jets and instead of the spinning central ball, use something like the Tesla turbine that leverages laminar flow to rotate the drive shaft.

[@xero110]

Don't be afraid to use 100% lead for projects like this. It's much easier to work with and as long as you have good ventilation with gloves you'll be fine.

[@TheTrueLordOmega]

there is another pre-industrial steam engine you could attempt to do, as described by Taqi al-Din / Taqiyaddin around 1550 (either 1546 or 1551) that apparently was strong enough to spin Doner

[@Fossillord]

If you’re having trouble with leaving metal you should check out Clickspring’s videos on building the Antikythera Mechanism with ancient tools. You could probably make all of the tools he has made.

[@Zeero3846]

I noticed that you kept trying to align two separate tubes to make the axis, but that could've been easily fixed by using a single tube that goes all the way through. If you were using that tube to feed in steam, just drill a hole in the middle of the tube and make sure that hole ends up on the interior. Anyways, the point is that it's a whole lot easier to start out with a single straight tube rather than trying to join two smaller straight tubes with a sphere in the middle.

[@siegfriedkettlitz6529]

You could try needle bearings on both ends. In the steam end it would take the majority of the weight and you can make the pressure seal from a non-load-bearing material that creates less friction while providing a bit of a seal.

[@HopelessRailmantic]

If the plan is to do Thomas Newcomen engine. Originally called a steam engine, it is now considered an atmospheric engine. Since its power comes from the atmosphere and not from the steam vacuum.

[@Leo99929]

flux will make your soldering easier. The difference it makes is phenomenal.

[@edwardbarton1680]

A poured Babbitt bearing might be the way to go. While "Babbitt" was invented in 1839, it's an alloy of metals which were available in the ancient world.

[@brianjones8673]

If you'd like a "what if?" Timeline you might want to look into Stirling engines. They wet a response to the danger of steam engines

[@FirstLast-vr7es]

Just demonstrating a concept like that to early engineers could have inspired them to take it to the next level. It's a shame that it never really happened.

[@alexthedonutslayer591]

You need to use way more flux, you can never be too generous with it. Back in the day, they'd use rosin, which you can make yourself by melting and filtering pine tree sap. Also, idk what solder you used, but go for the classic solder (Sn60Pb40), it has a lower melting point and it sticks to stuff much better. As an added benefit, it's an easier alloy to make yourself. Double also, don't heat up the solder directly. Heat up the metal, then melt the solder on the heated surface of the metal. Triple also, butter the bread before you make the sandwich, not after. It's much easier to join 2 pieces of metal if they both already have solder on them than trying to squeeze the solder into a dry joint, especially if the pieces are large.

[@robertgaines-tulsa]

I don't even know how they pass a crankshaft through a bulkhead of a ship while allowing it to turn while remaining water tight. It's interesting engineering.

[@Tom-Lahaye]

The principle of vacuum in the modern steam engine was really only used in the first steam engines designed by Newcomen in 1712 and improved by James Watt in 1778. These were known as atmospheric steam engines. a piston was drawn up by the motion of a flywheel sucking steam from a boiler in, to start the engine the flywheel had to turned by hand or horse and a rope. Steam was under little more than atmospheric pressure so wouldn't do work when filling the cylinder. After reaching the top steam was shut of and the steam filled cylinder was then cooled by a spray of water and the steam would condense, creating a partial vacuum. Atmospheric pressure at the other side of the piston would push it down and create power. The produced power was very limited because of the very small pressure difference between the sides of the piston. Richard Trevithick designed what is considered the first real modern steam engine in 1797 that had a much better power to size ratio, using high pressure steam at more than atmospheric pressure creating power by expansion in the cylinder. Here no condensation is used or even wanted as that would decrease efficiency and even destroy the engine by water locking the piston. The high pressure steam engine was possible by that time because industrial made steel with better properties became available.

[@markedis5902]

Two things that would improve your soldering no end would be: 1./ Use lots of flux. Pine resin dissolved in >95% alcohol works well 2./ Let the heat do the work. Leave the heat on for longer. It takes time for the joint to whet. Bonus tip. Only use lead based solder. The unleaded stuff requires specialist equipment to work its best.

[@Bomba388]

If we are willing to say they had the technology to make this, you could say they have pressure forming capabilities. So you could have done a form of hydroforming by clamping 2 rough hemispheres and a steam pipe or something to make the pressure

[@holywatergum6890]

Amazing still I love it ❤😂😊

[@joshuabaughn3734]

Considering that the Greeks made a computer, napalm and an engine… they definitely had too much time on their hands!

[@CARS-N-CAD]

It would be awesome if he went all the way to the silicon revolution. Making like a 10-100 transistor wafer

[@akta1984]

I have done the machine in my primary school, however with different approach ❤

[@BrickEngines]

You could have drilled a hole, plug it using some tubes and attach it to a boiling chamber. Heat it up until it reaches a very high pressure so it straightens the copper to create a perfect looking sfere.

[@aarondeck2814]

Try making a spade drill and a bow drill. Use it like a bore tool and make a wobler engine out of copper or brass. Very few moving parts and uses the steam pressure more directly than trying to push on air.

[@blank_3768]

the biggest step in the creation of the steam engine was actually the cannon. the technology needed to bore out a cannon is the same technology needed to make a piston

[@RocketChild]

Guys, from the beginning of civilisation, we’ve finally made it to steam power 🎉

[@SilentShiba]

In 30 years: building a metalic hydrogen stabalizer and starting my own space age

[@peterwilding3515]

The worm gear may have worked if a fly wheel was placed over it, as was done with a spit jack in the 18th century