Bought a steam engine the other day.

I have always wanted one of the little Mamod live steam engines, and the other day I found a good deal on a used one.
These things are kind of neat, I figure it might be a good way to teach my kids about physics. Anybody else ever messed with one of these?

I sure hope you checked the Carfax report.

Looks like fun. I wouldn't mind having one just to toy with.

I haven't messed with a Mamod, but my 3rd grade science project was building one with plans from a popular mechanics article.

I learned something really important during my demonstration: glue gets soft after a few 200F heat cycles.

My dad has five or six, including a stationary engine and a machine shop. We machine pieces of soap. My family has about 20 real steam engines, so we've got the bug.

My neighbor had one of those when I was about 4. I loved watching it run. Stern works well as a fuel source.

I've got a stack of them. This is probably my favorite.

I can feel the bug biting me. Besides watching them huff and spin, what are you doing with them?
Kramer, do you have pics or videos of the soap operation?

Yes. I have one stored away in a box. It was missing the plug for the boiler and I found out the hard way to probably find a new one.