IndianaRog and the Temple of Steam
Toy and model steam engines and turbines by Jensen, Karsten, Mamod, Stuart, Empire, LiNEy & others plus engine videos with sound & helpful restoration tips
Karsten Steam Turbines & Engines
A little something about Karsten: Click Here
Turbines and engines in this Collection:
(click hyperlink to jump to that engine type)
Unlike the other engines makes in my collection, this maker doesn't have a piece more than 10 years old and some are less than 1 year old as of this writing (April 2008).
These
pieces are generally NOT available on eBay, in antique stores, flea
markets or the other usual sources. Each example I have was
either a private sale, purchased directly from the gent who made them
or in a few cases from an online retailer representing the maker's
commercialized offerings.
How
does something become a "collectible" when it's newer than the car many
folks drive including myself? I guess it happens when word of
mouth demand is larger than the supply available. You see, these
engines are all made by a young model steam engineer named Karsten
Gintschel of Gintschel-Modellbau, in Cottbus,
Germany, a part of former East Germany.
I would never have heard
of Karsten's work had it not been for noticing several of his turbine
designs in the Steam Gallery website. Steve, owner of the gallery was not interested in selling his finds and I can understand why.
I
don't have examples of all of Karsten's pieces, in part because I
simply can't find a few of them I would like, given the low numbers
made. A few of his other pieces just didn't strike a chord with
me but I always have an eye out for one that does.
Prototype Oscillator (one of a kind)
I found my first "Karsten" pictured above, in the collection of the Mooseman (UK). Since owner Odilon and I had become good friends, we eventually agreed to an even trade of his Karsten oscillator for a Jensen Model #5 oscillator. We both were delighted with our trade.
Odilon coined the term "steam jewelry" for Karsten's work given they are true miniatures even amongst the toy steam segment. His workmanship is impeccable. Almost all of Karsten's engines and turbines use a novel copper "ball" for a boiler, capable of holding about 15 cc of distilled water and heated from below by a denatured alcohol burner (meths for our UK friends).
This particular piece and two others that follow used an interesting concept of creating the appearance that the engine is floating in air. The engine etc. is mounted to a black aluminum plate that is suspended above the wooden base. This not only looks cool, it helps dissipate excess heat (but I think looks was the driver !)
I
emailed Karsten on the chance he could give me more information on this
piece, and he confirmed it was a one of a kind prototype and he has
never made another quite like it. The cylinder oscillates on
proper bearings and it is a self starting engine virtually every time
it is fired. A self starting oscillator is very unusual, you
usually have to give the flywheel a spin by hand.Click below to see an instant video via YouTube:
The example that follows is the commercialized version of Karsten's oscillator. You can see features of the prototype reflected in that engine.
2nd Generation Oscillator in HO Scale
Karsten
took what he learned from building the prototype oscillator and
commercialized it into the version seen to the right. There are some distinct differences however, instead of the "steamball boiler" used on virtually every other Karsten I have seen, this model used a larger vertical boiler with a built in exhaust flue.
The alcohol burner directly beneath the boiler is fed from a hidden reservoir inside the wood base it sits on. Alcohol is filled into the reservoir via a syringe thru a tiny hole in the wood. When I first got this one, purchased directly from Karsten, I had to email him back for directions on how to find and fill the alcohol reservoir !
The
boiler and oscillator sit up on a raised platform with decorative
railings around the edges, making it a very attractive display piece or
better still a good looker under steam. I believe this is Karsten's first use of CNC machining, evident on the red portions of the flywheel and the shrouded parts around the oscillator plus the decking, railings and stairs.
It is nice to have both the prototype and commercial version of Karsten's only oscillators. As far as I know all of his other designs utilized turbine technology.
Click below to see an instant video via YouTube:
Heron's Steamball (Aeolipile)
The
next Karsten piece I added is his modern interpretation of Heron of
Alexandria's Steamball concept. History books tell us that in
retrospect, Heron invented the first steam engine via this concept, but
at the time it was a novelty, a toy, and it's potential to move toward
an engine of sorts was not realized.
When
you look at Karsten's modern version to the right, it strikes me as more
of a jet engine or the jet/venturi that spins a turbine. In this
model, Karsten uses his familiar "ball boiler", but instead of a fixed
configuration, the ball itself is mounted on bearings that allow it to
rotate around an axis.
Two
"jets" exit from the top of the ball
and in the simplest of physics examples ...the "action" of the steam
spewing from the jets causes an equal and opposite "reaction" of the
ball rotating away from the direction the jets are spewing. In a
sense it makes a good transition piece from Karsten's oscillating
engines to his true turbines.
The Steamball is a favorite with visitors to my workshop, as it is so simple to
understand and visually it's pretty neat to see this thing going like a
whirlwind in a cloud of steam !
If
there was one Karsten engine or turbine that I think has hit the
highest volumes, it would be this one...though "high" is a relative
thing, possibly hundreds of them are out there, but doubtful over 1,000.
Click below to see an instant video via YouTube:
Karsten's Ring Turbine (serial # 040)
The
next progression for Karsten was to take the Heron's Steamball concept
and modify it in such a way that it became his first turbine
offering. He named it Karsten's Ring and the example I have
is #040, one of less than 100 made. This one I obtained from a private collector. 
While it looks much like the Heron's Steamball above, the ball on this
one is stationary and the steam jet is directed to a vertically
oriented turbine fan. The burner lies beneath the ball
boiler and a shaped copper drip pan lies beneath the turbine.
I
really like the looks of this piece and it would probably be my
favorite Karsten given it makes a nice visual display, especially under
steam as it demonstrates the principals of a steam turbine.
When
time permits, I run Heron's Steamball and Karsten's Ring simultaneously
for visitors, taking the learning process from a toy thousands of years
ago to a representative tool of today.
In
Karsten's early days of making engines, he shipped each one in a custom
made wooden box for protection. These have been replaced with
corrogated for his later engines, but the example here shows how he
built a bombproof box to hold his jewels !
The
circular turbine blade "logo" burned into wood at the start of this
section was photographed off the lid of this wooden box.
Karsten's "Gate" Turbine in HO Scale
As a follow on to the Karsten's ring above, he designed another configuration with the turbine in the vertical position, but set apart from the boiler and burner. I'm told this design plays to Karsten's love of science fiction flicks and sort of has the look of a time machine of sorts.
I bought this one privately as well, one of only 30 made in this configuration. It is a red letter day when one of Karsten's pieces pops up in the secondary market and I snapped it up as soon as available. Knowing each piece is hand made by Karsten himself means collectors of his work are loath to part with them.
This
design, like my prototype oscillator, sits on a floating platform
isolated from the wooden base. This feature gives it a weightless
sort of appearance, as if it levitated to that position. In
practical terms, it helps the engine vent excess heat like a heat sink.
Like
Karsten's ring, I'm partial to vertical turbines as I think they hit
slightly higher rpms than the same piece in horizontal
configuration. I'm not sure why, but it could be that in the
vertical position, the condensate naturally drains due to
gravity. In the horizontal position, the condensate must be flung
by centrifugal force and then it drains.
Click below to see an instant video via YouTube:
1st Generation Turbine "Plant"
I'm not sure whether this model preceeded, followed or happened about the same time
as the Karsten's Ring above, as it was my understanding the Ring was
his first migration into the turbine world. The Ring is a
vertical turbine design and in this one the turbine fan lays
horizontally. Of the two I prefer the vertical design just because of "looks", but either orientation performs beautifully and it's a matter of personal taste. I think Karsten preferred his turbines oriented vertically, as most of his designs are laid out that way.
This model like the prototype oscillator and the "Gate Turbine" uses the floating base design feature separating the metal base from the wood base for looks and heat dissipation. Karsten sent along two different turbine blades for this one...the bronze one pictured in the still photo above and a lighter red one of aluminum pictured in the video below. The bronze one takes longer to get up to speed given it's heavier weight, but then seems to coast longer than the other. The aluminum on the other hand starts up faster and I believe achieves higher rpms. Nice to experiment with two options!
Click below to see an instant video via YouTube:
Turbine Saxonia (serial # 024)
Select Karsten models are now usually available via the U.S. online website: The Great Toy Steam Co. I have found several pieces available through Doug Pusser, proprietor and I've been very happy with his service, packing and replacement of one small part broken in shipment, no questions asked. I like doing business with quality folks like that.
The
Turbine Saxonia came from Doug and represents a noticeable increase in
"finish" to a higher standard. The turbine external parts and
burner base are powder coated CNC machined aluminum. A machined
brass ID plate lists the name and serial number in a very professional
looking way.
The size of the flame is for the first time controllable by a unique "snuffing" lever to the right, which works quite well.
On
the rear of the turbine is a unique to Karsten worm gear for
transferring power to a pulley that can then power light
weight accessories.
Karsten Turbine Built for Jensen Mfg. Co.
To back up a bit. Earlier in this section on Karsten pieces, I noted that the owner of the Steam Gallery website had half a dozen examples of Karsten's work that first attracted me to his designs. Steve, the owner of the Steam Gallery website is also the current sales manager and website creator for Jensen.
Steve saw the potential for a collaboration with Karsten to bring a top notch turbine offering to the Jensen fold. After 2-3 years of iterative designs, feedback from toy steam collectors and a strong desire by both Karsten and Jensen to make this a reality, the Jensen Model 95G Turbine Power Plant was introduced to the market in Dec. 2005. The example below was #3 of 25 initial units hand signed by Tom Jensen, Jr., owner of the company.
This setup is in a class of it's own, NO plastic parts here as seen on some toy turbine engines. This turbine is CNC machined of aluminum, powder coated red and married up with solid brass gearing and a traditional Jensen flywheel to throttle down the RPM's to match the needs of the Jensen Model #15 generator. Steam input is courtesy of a newly designed Jensen boiler powered by a 660 watt immersion heater.
Check out the video below if only to hear the very cool jet engine-like sound of this turbine winding up. There is NOTHING quite like this on the world toy steam market.
Click below to see an instant video via YouTube:
Heron's Turbine Ser. No. 001
- Early oscillator prototype with ball shaped boiler
- Later commercial oscilator with cylindrical boiler and center flue
- Rotating SteamBall with opposing jets inspired by Heron of Alexandria's first steam engine
- Fixed position SteamBall powering turbine blades in both vertical and horizontal arrays
- The joint turbine effort with Jensen Steam Engine Co.
I was fortunate to find one of these 2007 models on eBay and delighted to see it was #001 of the series. I have several other numbered Karstens, but never the first one. Pictured below is the piece Karsten refers to as:
Heron's Turbine.
In principal, this operates like the earlier rotating SteamBall /Heron inspired type I already have, but with the unique latticework suspending the rotating boiler.
The overall finish is more professional than in earlier models and bears both a Gintschel Modellbau ID tag and a serial number tag.
The boiler seen closeup below, has also taken on more of a sci fi/flying saucer look with a distinctive lip and riveted, silver soldered seams. It holds about 15 cc's of water injected into the top.
As in Karsten's prior rotating boiler examples, everything rides on a post suspended on ball bearings. The fit is so precise that it will rotate for 30 seconds with just a hand spin.
For alcohol burners, Karsten's other pieces have used simple fuel bowls, vertical sets of wicks fed from hidden alcohol reservoirs and now this quite unique and attractive design shown below right.
The burner has a proper reservoir beneath, with a large single wick in the center. 10-12 cc's of alcohol is injected in the opening seen in the front.
To my surprise, when running, this open "hatch" does not ignite...I don't quite understand why, but maybe air is drawn in there as the fuel is saturating the wick and feeding the flame.
Given this open "hatch" on the alcohol reservoir, the first time I fired it I had a wet towel handy just in case, but now with 5 or 6 firings, it performs perfectly...a very well executed design and I am quite pleased for it to join it's "brothers" in my collection.
Once lit, the burner produces a very robust flame that will bring the boiler up to operating steam pressure in less than 90 seconds. Burn time is 5-7 minutes whirling at incredibly high speeds...perhaps 2,500 rpms or more. Nice one Karsten !!!!
The following link shows this very engine featured on Karsten's HomePage...he takes better pics than me for sure !!
Click below to see an instant video via YouTube:
Karsten Radial Steam Turbine
Another of Karsten's new designs introduced in 2007, but this one joined the Temple in March 2008 via another purchase from Mooseman's collection.
This one bears a strong resemblance to the Heron's turbine just preceding this one, but differs in that it uses a half arch suspending the boiler over the burner, boiler is fixed in place vs. spinning and turbine itself sits on one end fed by a fine steam line.
I love how this one rapidly gets up to speed...about 70 seconds from lighting the burner the turbine starts to spin. I have heard that it reaches 20,000 rpms, though I can't confirm that. It does however go faster than any other Karsten in my collection and does the "jet turbine windup" sound beautifully.
A closeup of the turbine blade...
I'm not quite sure why Moose sold this one off, but I delighted with it.
Click below to see an instant video via YouTube:
coming soon!
