To activate you need to hand crank the steam engine at least once, and after that it will never need another interaction. It will overtress if you don't cut the connection (with a shaft) to the drills before cranking.
Make sure to supply with:
One infiinite water source for steam engines.
2 buckets of lava.
3 buckets of honey. (corners and middle)
TROUBLESHOOTING
The steam engine may be rotating on the wrong direction, so change it whenever supplying the steam engine,