Boulton & Watt bell-crank engine

A Boulton and Watt bell-crank engine, built to the Anthony Mount design, based on one of the earliest steam engines built by the company, designed by William Murdock.

A rarely modelled design, this engine has been built from one of the first ten sets of castings featuring prototypically correct iron flywheel and cam ring. Later sets had these part in gunmetal which was perhaps easier to cast, although in our view detracted from the appearance.

Interesting to watch in operation, the single cylinder engine drives through a bell crank with its valve actuated by a cam ring and follower. The lifting water pump is driven from the the lower link of the crank, delivering into a trough.

The engine turns over freely and runs on air in somewhat desultory fashion, with leakage past the valve.

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