| Description | Cornish Mine Engines (15 items).
1326. Dolcoath Rotative / Wheal Maid Rotative. May, Jun., Nov. 1783, Nov. 1785, Jan. 1786. 15 items.
Single-acting sun & planet engine, with 18 inch cylinder, 4 foot stroke, chain connection.
Drawings for Dolcoath, 1783:
Rotative shaft, wheels and connecting rod - reverse drawing marked "sent to Cornwall"; side view of the winding spiral; front and side views of the working gear - reverse drawing; levers and curve for disengaging the catch, ends of links and arms for working gear, drawing showing position of different parts of the working gear - reverse drawings; cross bar and cross pin; sections and plan of the boiler marked "copy of drawing sent to Cornwall".
Drawings for Wheal Maid, 1785:
Plan of the engine and boiler and winding spiral - reverse drawing; outside front view of the engine and side view of the winding spiral - original and reverse drawing; outside front view of the engine and side view of the winding spiral - reverse drawing marked "Wheal Maid Chacewater" and showing a different connection between the engine and the winding apparatus; plan and side view of the winding spiral - reverse drawing; rotative [?] wheel; unmarked side view and plan of the winding spiral showing a different layout.
Original Portfolio or 'Book' No. 41. Catalogue of Old Engines p. 302.
For Dolcoath Mine. The engine was never worked at Dolcoath, but was transferred to Wheal Maid, part of Consolidated Mines, which formed in 1782. According to the List of Engines made at Soho, the engine began work at Wheal Maid in May 1784, (although this would appear to be contradicted by the date on the drawings) and was stopped in Sep. 1793. It was then sold to the Neath Abbey Iron Co., but was never used by them, and was later sold to Herland Mine, where it was at work in May 1798. The engine may have been substantially re-built with a new cylinder and various other parts, as Herland ordered an 18 inch cylinder and other engine materials in May 1798 [see Portfolio 5/1294a, Engine Order Book No. 1]. According to F. Trevithick's Life of Richard Trevithick [p. 91] the engine was later sold to Dolcoath Mine, for whom it had been originally intended.
The drawing marked "Wheal Maid Chacewater" may have been used for the engine bought by Chacewater Mine from Crane Mine and made into a rotative winding engine in 1785 [see Portfolio 5/1303]. |