Terry Mayhugh, Round Rock, Texas, built this Howell V-4 IC Engine using a Tormach 1100 PCNC mill. Read the whole story, Mechanical Designs with a Tormach 1100.

External combusion engine? In 1816, it was state of the art. Cheap, efficient and safe, Robert Stirling's hot air engine was used in various ways (think pumping water and powering small toys), but none was more intriguing than powering hot air fans. The fans run quietly and work just about anywhere, so when first introduced they provided relief for everyone from missionaries in hot climates to those suffering during the 1918 Influenza Epidemic.

If you're not convinced these fans are still cool by today's standards, the following video of a Jost hot air fan powered by a Stirling hot air engine should do the trick.

This Ky-Ko hot air fan is essentially silent, and is powered by lamp oil.

For more on hot air fans and Stirling hot air engines, read Renae Vander Schaaf's feature on Wesley Bosch's hot air fan collection from the January 2012 issue of Farm Collector.

The Wood Bros. Humming Bird thresher is different. It features a progressive design – chain-and-paddle return elevator system, Farmers Friend straw blower (which automatically swings the blowing spout, allowing for larger piles of straw) – and it always draws a crowd.

Bill Vossler wrote about the circa 1910 Wood Bros. Humming Bird thresher that Orville Anderson purchased and restored in 1987 in the January 2012 issue of Farm Collector. The video below of a similar Wood Bros Humming Bird threshing oats at the 2011 Rock River Thresheree is owned by Richard Kuhlow. While not the exact thresher featured in Farm Collector, it gives an interesting glimpse at a thresher that did things a bit differently.

For more on Wood Bros. Humming Bird threshers, read Bill Vossler's feature from the January 2012 issue of Farm Collector.