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| It was a great honor to have Dr. Bindon as a guest teacher to the middle school in Pennsylvania where I teach. He is seen here showing some of my students a turbine steam car he has developed as a kit. Picture courtesy of reporter Becky Lock and the Williamsport Sun Gazette Newspaper. |
I have always enjoyed reading about the great scientists and inventors. Through combinations of observation, intelligence, hard work and serendipity their stories are as exciting as any fiction. Better still, I've gotten to know a man who is making giant strides in putt putt engine innovation and understanding. His is a great story in the making--right now.
He is Dr. Jeff Bindon, a "retired" South African engineer and educator who is still working with his university to develop ingenious science/technology kits for young people. They range from simple folk toys to a steam turbine-powered car from a soda can that can be modified to pump water--with just scissors and pliers needed for construction!
Dr. Bindon turned his attention to putt putt boats and created a see-into engine with the use of clear overhead projector film, which withstands high temperature. The design uses contact cement and a sheet metal clamp arrangement to make the seal. Contrary to what I expected, the film does not fog up. Through the clear parts at the pipes and at the hottest part of the boiler you can see exactly what is going on inside the engine!
That was just the start of it. He set out to find out why some engines--even those without leaks--go dry and stop working. This is known as "burn out." It is very frustrating and mysterious.
Dr. Bindon observed a bubble of air emerging every few minutes from good engines. That led him to hypothesize that air dissolved in water circulating into the engine was coming out of solution when heated. That released air goes to the highest part of the engine, replacing the water and eventually causing the "burn out." Then, through a series of common sense experiments and observations, he has made a compelling case that a successful engine--one that keeps going without burning out--burps out the extra air!
You can read about this and more in his excellent article in MODEL ENGINEER, February 6, 2004.I strongly encouraged (or maybe "hounded") Dr. Bindon to develop a kit for building his engine and he did. Because money transfer and shipping hassles make it impractical for him to supply small orders for North Americans, I offered to distribute the kits until I can find a real distributer to do it (contact me if you think you might be the person to take this over--I'm really not a business person).
Details
I am a teacher (and not a business teacher) without the time, interest or brains enough to set up things like PayPal accounts. I ask that checks be made out in US dollars. Outside the US, if you cannot make out a check in US dollars, contact me and we can look at some alternatives.
Note that you will have to buy a small amount of contact cement (not rubber cement) available in the adhesives section of hardware stores and building centers. You will also need to get a small amount of industrial (methyl) alcohol to use as fuel--available wherever paint is sold--usually called shellac thinner. The kit involves some soldering of the copper tubes. The alcohol burner that powers the boat doubles as a heat source for soldering. I would not let a kid do this project without close supervision, both because of the safety (soldering) and difficulty (directions must be followed very closely).
It is extemely important that once the jet tubes are soldered in using the provided alcohol burner, you need to switch to the smaller wick that is provided. Furthermore, you need to keep that wick short so the flame is very small. Insustrial alcohol burns with a hot flame. If you allow a big flame it's easy to boil the engine dry and warp the clear film--wrecking the engine.
Here is a simple plan for making the body of the boat for the see-through engine out of a milk or juice carton.
The first kit is $10 US (ten United States dollars) for the first kit, and $7 for each additional kit--including the air jet cars (see below) that are also made by Dr. Bindon. These prices include postage.
My address and phone (best to reach me after 7:00 PM EST):
Slater Harrison
209 Edler Rd.
Williamsport, PA 17701
Telephone: (570) 321-7468
My kids invariably tie up the phone line so if you call, please leave a message on the machine to kindly hang up, then call back in 4 minutes.
One more thing: I don't know where to put this, so I'll put it here for now. I am also distributing a really cool jet car that uses a soda bottle of compressed air--I couldn't resist. Dr. Bindon also makes this kit, and he shipped me some. You charge the bottle with air from a bicycle tire pump. Here is a 5 second MPEG video showing some students letting go and it swishing around in my school gym. The kit supplies wheels, chasse, tire valve adapter and a wire to melt a hole in the 2-liter bottle (you supply). This kit is quicker and easier to build than the steam engine kit. I am also selling this at cost of $10 (or $7 with any other kit), which again includes the shipping and handling to anywhere in North America.
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