Steam hammer

Steam hammer

A steam hammer is a power-driven hammer used to shape forgings. It consists of a hammer-like piston located within a cylinder. The hammer is raised by the pressure of steam injected into the lower part of a cylinder and falls down with a force by removing the steam. Usually, the hammer is made to fall faster by injecting steam into the upper part of the cylinder. Steam hammers that fall by their own weight are called "steam drop hammers". Steam hammers vary greatly in weight from 45 kilograms to 90 metric tons.

The steam hammer was invented around 1837 by the Scot James Nasmyth, in Manchester, England and produced in his Patricroft foundry which he built adjacent to the (then new) Liverpool to Manchester railway and the Bridgewater canal: an original Nasmyth hammer stands facing his foundry buildings (now a 'business park'). A larger Nasmyth & Wilson steam hammer stands in the campus of Bolton Institute UK.

The intended first use of the steam hammer lay in forging the paddle shaft of the SS Great Britain. However, the paddle technology was replaced with the screw propeller, and implementation of the hammer was left to the Schneider Electric, Creusot foundry in Le Creusot, France.

The steam hammer was one of many machine tools invented around this time which allowed for large scale industrialisation and the use of machines to build machines. Using the same principles of operation, Nasmyth also developed a steam powered pile-driving machine.

External links

* [http://files.asme.org/asmeorg/Communities/History/Landmarks/10265.pdf Creusot steam hammer] , American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
"Excellent reference article which also explains the reasons for the demise of the steam hammer."

See also

*Creusot steam hammer
*Trip hammer
*Power hammer


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Steam hammer — Steam Steam (st[=e]m), n. [OE. stem, steem, vapor, flame, AS. ste[ a]m vapor, smoke, odor; akin to D. stoom steam, perhaps originally, a pillar, or something rising like a pillar; cf. Gr. sty ein to erect, sty^los a pillar, and E. stand.] 1. The… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • steam hammer — ► NOUN ▪ a large steam powered hammer used in forging …   English terms dictionary

  • Steam hammer — Steam hammer. См. Паровой молот. (Источник: «Металлы и сплавы. Справочник.» Под редакцией Ю.П. Солнцева; НПО Профессионал , НПО Мир и семья ; Санкт Петербург, 2003 г.) …   Словарь металлургических терминов

  • steam hammer — noun : a power forging hammer worked directly by steam; especially : a hammer guided vertically and operated by a vertical steam cylinder located directly over an anvil …   Useful english dictionary

  • steam hammer — a hammer for forging, operated by steam. [1835 45] * * * …   Universalium

  • steam hammer — noun An industrial machine designed to produce a hammer action through steam power …   Wiktionary

  • steam hammer — noun a large steam powered hammer used in forging …   English new terms dictionary

  • steam hammer — /ˈstim hæmə/ (say steem hamuh) noun a heavy, steam operated, mechanical hammer, used in forges …  

  • Creusot steam hammer — today The Creusot steam hammer was a giant steam hammer built in 1877 by Schneider and Co. in the French industrial town of Le Creusot. With the ability to deliver a blow of up to 100 tons, the Creusot hammer was the most powerful in the world… …   Wikipedia

  • Steam — (st[=e]m), n. [OE. stem, steem, vapor, flame, AS. ste[ a]m vapor, smoke, odor; akin to D. stoom steam, perhaps originally, a pillar, or something rising like a pillar; cf. Gr. sty ein to erect, sty^los a pillar, and E. stand.] 1. The elastic, a[… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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