These can be purchased cheaply on eBay and if you look there over a period of a month you will see many different types in various states of repair. They range from "ready for restoration" to "immaculate unused".;
,,, The possibility of accidental fire in the home is just too great and easily avoided.
 Do not fill the boiler. If there is an overflow hole on the end opposite to the chimney. Leave this open while filling and stop when water comes out. Use HOT water to minimise start time and maximise running time.
 There needs to be some air space left in the boiler above the water to allow pressure to build up.
 Make sure all the filler and overflow holes have their caps screwed back into place before fueling.
 Now let's look at what to do about fueling up. There are two types of fuel. Present day fuel is in solid tablet form which are placed into a burner tray. It may be necessary to cut these tablets down in size to fit your particular burner as they do differ in size in accordance with the boiler size. Older models have spirit burners which contain either non replaceable gauze or replaceable wicks that soak up their liquid fuel.
 With old type rectangular shaped gauze style burners you should pour an amount of Methylated Spirit directly into the top of the burner. The burners were sized to be filled until you can just see the alcohol on top of the gauze. There will then be enough fuel for a good run of the boiler, but not enough to boil it dry. Do not refill the burner without topping up the boiler again. If you have an even older type of engine it will have a round tank burner with wicks numbering between one to three. Again, just fill up the tank through the filler hole and refit the brass screw cap finger tight.
 But wait, you need to squirt oil onto the moving parts. To put it simply, any moving parts that are in friction contact with another need some oil. You can but Mamod oil although any oil is better than no oil! Castor oil is one of the most effective options available. You can use car engine oil, handyman oil or the real thing. Don't use grease as it will not flow and so will not lubricate fully.
 Spin the flywheel using your finger to get the oil around a bit and to ensure everything runs smoothly.
 Just practice this once before light up. And then, the action begins! Using a box of matches, ignite the burner and using the burner handle, place the burning burner neatly under the boiler. From now on, do not leaving your engine until the burning process is completed and the hot boiler is not in harms way.
 Steam will begin to hiss in the area of the piston. Now you can gently flick round the flywheel. It revolves in a clockwise direction as seen when looking at the piston side of the engine.
 If you want to stop it running very temporarily you may place your finger into the flywheel to restrict its movement. If you do that, the Safety Valve will fizz with boiling steam and water until you allow the flywheel to run again. This is not a dangerous thing to do and can be quite fun but just be wary of the very hot spitting steam!

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Buy a Mamod engine.
Decide upon either one that remains in a fixed position, known as a Stationary Engine or one that moves along the ground known as a Mobile Engine.

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Know that there are some basic things you now need to do starting with "getting it running" like getting water and fuel.

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And always - ALWAYS take your alcohol or dry fuel engine outside to run it.
Make sure that water is to be carefully poured into the boiler through the hole in the top where the Safety Valve is located.
On the boiler back plate, either look at the Water Level Glass or as with older engines, the water level hole, and stop filling when the correct level is reached.
If you have a Water Level Plug type, this is the time to screw it, finger tight, back into the hole.
Fuel next.
The liquid you need here is Methylated Spirit or methyl alcohol.
Now you are nearly ready to fire up.
Now check that your Safety Valve (and Water Level Plug) is tight and your water level is correct.
Place the burner close to the engine and ready to insert under the boiler.
Gradually the water will begin to get hot and then raise a head of steam.
Everything should now be running smoothly and you can let it run until the fuel runs out.
When you have had enough of running the engine, drain the water and just put it away - clean it if you want to but it's not absolutely necessary.
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