The Bolton -Bertinat -Bailey Triple expansion engine

[steam guy willy]

the width of the bid ends have now been turned to the dimension and I have done this by holding them in a mandrel in the collet chuck that was drilled and tapped 6mm then sawn down and a grub screw inserted to hold the rod in place .the rod was then turned at quite a slow speed as there is no counter weight in place...

Willy

[steam guy willy]

The con rods are done and the crossheads are now awaiting their slippers. Sad news over here with news that the Strumpshaw steam rally has been cancelled for 2026 and here is the press release. The museum will still be opening and a few other events next year, this has allways been a fantastic event and all the relevant stalls will be sadly missed

Willy

[Michael S.]

Hi Willy,

The three connecting rods look good 👍.

Too bad about the cancelled event.

Regards, Michael

[steam guy willy]

thanks Mike, and yes one of the stalls at the site had masses of offcuts of desirable materials and another stall was full of tools and other stuff too ...fortuntely I have stocked up with these items over the years...there was always lots of items that the chap had no idea what they were used for ??!!!
cheers

willy

[steam guy willy]

The slippers are now being made ..I used a length of brass 5/8th X 1/4 " and the slot for the crossheads  3/8th was milled first and  apiece of square brass was soldered in place , it was then turned over and the 7/16th slot was milled..the small slot was milled to be able to hold in the milling vice using the protruding 3/8 brass piece..The slippers will be held in the crosshead  to drill the retaining screws accurately and the protuding parts will be removed later....
Willy

[crueby]

Nice way to make all those slippers.   

[steam guy willy]

Hi all and thanks Chris ..the first crosshead is coming along fine and looks the part....so ..the other two need finishing off and a trial set up will be undertaken ..........

Willy

[steam guy willy]

I am now back in the WKSP after working on my Morris van getting it through its MOT ..and am assembling the parts and doing some preliminary fitting to get everything lining up..Ihave also been bit ill with things but getting better

Willy

[steam guy willy]

I have been assembling all the parts Conrad, crosshead, piston rods etc etc but there  does seem to bee some inaccuracy with the separately constructed parts ...so I have made an accurately turned shaft to realign the crosshead . I have removed the top of the crosshead and silver soldered a new cap ready to be redrilled from the cylinder head . hopefully this will work and I should have done this to begin with. T potato was used to stop the centre drill loosing its temper !!

Willy

[Roger B]

Lots of fiddly bits to align and set up    Looking good 

I like the idea of using a potato to protect the drill   

[steam guy willy]

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_WNOfT8Yjw" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_WNOfT8Yjw</a>    here is the video showing the centre drilling rig for the accurate connection to the piston ..I seems to have worked ok and also the vid sowing the pistons moving quite freely from the crankshaft ....so more progress....


Willy

[steam guy willy]

and the pistons rising and falling from the crankshaft
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5Pg1sXwipI" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5Pg1sXwipI</a>

Willy

[steam guy willy]

Lots of fiddly bits to align and set up    Looking good 

I like the idea of using a potato to protect the drill   

High Roger, thanks and I have been using the potato trick for quite a long time ...!! cheers
Willy

[crueby]

All moving nicely now! Great!

[steam guy willy]

Thanks Chris ,still lots more work to do and this is proving to be quite a thought provoking exercise in engine construction .And the not quite centralised crosshead with the new position for the piston rod .to be drilled and tapped.....

willy