Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

you're exactly right, Gil and I were just talking about that very thing , it's very time-consuming to get those upright bearing supports as parallel as possible...but worth it for a lifetime of Superior performance 😉👍

As long as the bearing supports are reasonably close to upright you can use this technique described in the old forum:

Drill and ream the holes for a slip fit on the bearings.  I do this in one setup to guarantee everything is in-line.  Then install the winding with shaft and then the bearings on the shaft.  Use Loctite to secure the bearings to the frame.  Done. 

The drive shaft will align the bearings perfectly and this procedure has worked great every time I've tried it.  Works for the drive shaft bearings on the engine (#25) as well.