s ▁than ▁modern ▁mach in ists , ▁and ▁were ▁unable ▁to ▁produce ▁the ▁components ▁with ▁sufficient ▁precision . ▁Much ▁capital ▁was ▁spent ▁in ▁purs uing ▁a ▁pat ent ▁on ▁W att ' s ▁in vention . ▁Stra pped ▁for ▁resources , ▁W att ▁was ▁forced ▁to ▁take ▁up ▁employ ment — first ▁as ▁a ▁survey or , ▁then ▁as ▁a ▁civil ▁engineer — for ▁eight ▁years . ▁ ▁Ro eb uck ▁went ▁bank rupt , ▁and ▁Matthew ▁B oul ton , ▁who ▁owned ▁the ▁So ho ▁Man uf actory ▁works ▁near ▁B irmingham , ▁acquired ▁his ▁pat ent ▁rights . ▁An ▁extension ▁of ▁the ▁pat ent ▁to ▁ 1 8 0 0 ▁was ▁successfully ▁obtained ▁in ▁ 1 7 7 5 . ▁ ▁Through ▁B oul ton , ▁W att ▁finally ▁had ▁access ▁to ▁some ▁of ▁the ▁best ▁iron ▁workers ▁in ▁the ▁world . ▁The ▁difficulty ▁of ▁the ▁manufact ure ▁of ▁a ▁large ▁cyl inder ▁with ▁a ▁tight ly ▁fitting ▁p ist on ▁was ▁solved ▁by ▁John ▁Wil kin son , ▁who ▁had ▁developed ▁precision ▁b oring ▁techniques ▁for ▁can non ▁making ▁at ▁B ers ham , ▁near ▁W re x ham , ▁North ▁Wales . ▁W att ▁and ▁B oul ton ▁formed ▁a ▁h ug ely ▁successful ▁partners hip , ▁B oul ton ▁and ▁W att , ▁which ▁last ed ▁for ▁the ▁next ▁twenty - five ▁years . ▁ ▁First ▁engines ▁ ▁In ▁ 1 7 7 6 , ▁the ▁first ▁engines ▁were ▁installed ▁and ▁working ▁in ▁commercial ▁enter pr ises .