The Beam Engine • Hacker News Board

Re: The Beam Engine

#21

Post by conartist6 » Thu, Jul 23, 2026, 9:53 PM UTC

buildsjets wrote: post #18

jscott817 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similar to balls to the walls (or similar). Coming from the analog aviation controls I believe.

Example, throttle controls on a Dogulas DC3. All engine controls forward is the typical convention for full power. (At sea level, neglecting the altitude effect on required engine fuel/air mixture.) https://www.douglasdc3.com/dc3throt/dc3throt.htm

That said, i'm sure the pilots were aware of the double entendre

Re: The Beam Engine

#22

Post by buildsjets » Thu, Jul 23, 2026, 9:54 PM UTC

Fred Dibnah's BBC series "Age of Steam" is a fine overview of the development of steam engine technology and the industrial revolution in the United Kingdom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl_UA36ouzM&list=PL2vJ5Cg-wl...

Re: The Beam Engine

#23

Post by goodmythical » Thu, Jul 23, 2026, 9:58 PM UTC

MisterTea wrote: post #13

Ever hear the phrase "Balls out" when referring to pushing something to the max? Comes form the balls of the centrifugal engine governor. At maximum speed the balls extended all the way outward giving us the term "Running balls out." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrifugal_governor edit: I once said this phrase at a work meeting and someone objected to my use of a crude term which I then explained much to everyone'…

I suppose this is also the less colorful true origin of "balls to the wall" than the phrase itself suggests?

Re: The Beam Engine

#24

Post by tingletech » Thu, Jul 23, 2026, 10:00 PM UTC

my grandpa had a table top model of a beam engine that he would power with a pressure cooker

Re: The Beam Engine

#25

Post by dghlsakjg » Thu, Jul 23, 2026, 10:01 PM UTC

goodmythical wrote: post #23

MisterTea wrote: post #13

Ever hear the phrase "Balls out" when referring to pushing something to the max? Comes form the balls of the centrifugal engine governor. At maximum speed the balls extended all the way outward giving us the term "Running balls out." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrifugal_governor edit: I once said this phrase at a work meeting and someone objected to my use of a crude term which I then explained much to everyone'…

I suppose this is also the less colorful true origin of "balls to the wall" than the phrase itself suggests?

Nope. Balls to the wall refers to the balls on the end of throttle levers in aircraft cockpit.

Going balls to the wall means pushing the throttle and mixture all the way in to the firewall/instrument panel for maximum power.

Re: The Beam Engine

#26

Post by eleventen » Thu, Jul 23, 2026, 10:07 PM UTC

Quinn (Blondihacks) on youtube is a model engineer machinist and has, IMO, the most outsider-watchable content on building boilers and steam engines like this.

Highly recommend this primer titled "The Model Engineering Learning Curve" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps_BQJEMnGA

She's been building a model locomotive for years now, there are over 100 videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLY67-4BrEae-xhrvZX33gPk4...

One more: a little engine I'd never encountered before called a wobbler is, apparently, the hello world of machining model engines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrHDrIms7-0

Re: The Beam Engine

#27

Post by hmokiguess » Thu, Jul 23, 2026, 10:16 PM UTC

This has https://ciechanow.ski/ vibes, I like the form!

Re: The Beam Engine

#28

Post by radarsat1 » Thu, Jul 23, 2026, 10:26 PM UTC

One of the unexpected pleasures of having a 3 year old has been learning far more than I ever planned to about steam locomotives. It turns out steam engineering is fascinating, this article emphasized it for me even more. It really amazes me how much ingenuity there is in just connecting the right shapes and joints up so that the right thing happens at the right time, creating perfect cycles, regulators, etc. Seeing it explained in an iterative way like this is fantastic because you can understand what problem is solved by each part. I would love to see a piece like this strictly about locomotives.

Re: The Beam Engine

#29

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jul 23, 2026, 10:26 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: The Beam Engine

#30

Post by glinscott » Thu, Jul 23, 2026, 10:28 PM UTC

eleventen wrote: post #26

Quinn (Blondihacks) on youtube is a model engineer machinist and has, IMO, the most outsider-watchable content on building boilers and steam engines like this. Highly recommend this primer titled "The Model Engineering Learning Curve" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps_BQJEMnGA She's been building a model locomotive for years now, there are over 100 videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLY67-4BrEae-xhrvZX33gPk4…

Blondihacks is amazing. Beware though, you may be buying a lathe and a milling machine soon after you start watching :).

It's a great hobby. Manual machining is totally different from writing code, but you get into a similar state of flow.