Yorkshire Vertical Mill Engine

[Stewart HartParticipant @stewarthart90345]

[Stewart HartParticipant @stewarthart90345]

The cold has kept me out of the shop for the last few days or so, to keep my sanity i’ve drawn up this engine. It a type that found a lot of uses as in the yourkshire woolen mills, but it can trace in origins back to the North East coals feilds where it was one of the earliest types of winding engine. It uses a parallel motion invented by Phineas Crowther in 1800 the Beamish Musium have a running engine, and the Northern Mill Engine Society allso have a Kenyon Engine that uses this type of mostion http://www.nmes.org/

I’ve drawn it up to use a 4″ fly wheel and a 15mm dia cylinder withe 30mm stroke, it can be made as either a single or a twin cylinder.

Don’t know when I will get round to making one.

Stew

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

You are a Saint Stew!

 

I used to have a photo of a simpler engine with the same type of motion in an old ME, which appears to have gotten itself lost.

 

Having made a cylinder and flywheel from solid CI, an entablature and base plates together witha few bits, your picture gives me the info I need to carry on – the dimensions of the gear!

 

Mine will be tiny though – flywheel is about 2 1/4″

 

Neil

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Stub, there are a few photos of a similar linkage here so there is no stopping you now

 

Edit and another, third engine down

 

J

Edited By JasonB on 05/02/2012 19:47:13

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Thanks Jason

 

The foirst link comfirms the arms can be quite short – even though the second engine has bracket to allow the arms to be longer than the leg spacing.

 

Damn to-do list just keeps growing…

 

Neil

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

This also came up on another forum that Stew posts on, the second page shows another variation on the theam if you prefer longer linkages.

 

Funny enough I used to have the book that these engines were in and have still got photcopies from about 25yrs ago of that basic engine blown up to suit different flywheels, may be I’ll still get round to doing it oneday!!

 

Can someone remind me of the name of the shop that used to be near the Thames at Sheen where I got the book.

 

J

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

A google search for “Phineas Crowther parallel motion” came up with two google books from 1824 and 1826 both ‘histories of the steam engine’. More bedtime reading.

 

I’m waiting for them to scan ‘A New Catechism of the Steam Engine” – 1804.

 

Neil

[Roger BanksParticipant @rogerbanks33631]

Stewart,

 

You’re quite right about that type of engine being used for winding in the coal mines. Their use seems to have been confined to the mines in the North East of England. Most of them were single cylinder engines which must have made starting rather difficult – although there were some ingenious counterbalance systems employed.

 

There is a very informative book “Single Cylinder Vertical Lever Type Winding Engines as used in the North East of England” written by Alan Hill.

 

My grandfather (Roger Paul) had a model of such a winding engine and the attached photo (sorry about the quality) shows him demonstrating it at an exhibition in 1958. The prototype of the model was installed at Wingate Colliery in Co. Durham and was made by the Leeds Engineering and Hydraulic Co. in 1890.

 

 

[Stewart HartParticipant @stewarthart90345]

Hi Roger

 

Thanks for the lovely old photograph:- the two dignitaries in airforce uniforms look proper dapper, I’ve saved the pic in my folder for this engine.

 

Jason/Martin

 

Thanks for you’re interest in the engine,

 

There is a nice set of simple plans by Elmer on johntom for this type of engine.

 

For some reason I started this thread twice ?.

 

Cheers

 

Stew

 

 

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

I don’t know about the fly-types, but the chap leaning on the table looks a little worse for wear!

 

Magnificent model though – is it still in the family?

 

Neil

[Terry LaneParticipant @terrylane]

I thought you must be doing two of ’em!

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