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James Nasmyth, the inventor of the steam hammer, was born in Edinburgh. His
father was a landscape and portrait painter with an interest in civil engineering
and architecture, which he encouraged his son to share. His father had a
workshop, and James spent a great deal of time there in his childhood, learning
how to work with tools. His father was visited by famous scientists and engineers,
and James used to listen to their conversations. As he grew older, he became
determined to become a mechanical engineer.
Nasmyth was friends with a boy whose father owned an iron foundry, and he took every opportunity to visit there. At the age of 15, he began building and selling models of steam engines.
At that time, apprentices from all over Britain were flocking to work under Henry Maudslay. Nasmyth recounts in his autobiography how his father didn't have money for his apprenticeship fee, and in any case Maudslay had stopped taking fee-based apprentices, finding them more trouble than they were worth. In 1829, Nasmyth's father managed to get an interview with Maudslay and a tour of his factory. Maudslay was impressed by Nasmyth's determination, and agreed to look at his drawings and a model. Upon seeing them, he told Nasmyth that there was no need for him to be an apprentice; he was good enough to be hired on as Maudslay's assistant.
Maudslay died of a cold in 1831, and Nasmyth returned to Edinburgh to produce his own tools. He moved again to Manchester in 1834. He received so many orders that the floor of his workshop caved in due to the weight of the machines. He soon had a new factory, however, and here he invented the safety foundry ladle. Previous ladles (used to transport molten metal) had to be worked by a dozen men, and a slip by one could cause an accident. Nasmyth's screw ladle could be worked by one man.
Nasmyth's business continued to grow, and he took on a partner, Holbrook Gaskell. In 1840, he married the daughter of another ironworks manager. This was a time when locomotives were being constructed in great numbers, and Nasmyth's expertise in steam engines was in high demand. His connections to the Great Western Railway, a company that also owned steamships, led to a contract for machines to build their next great steamship, the "Great Britain." This ship's design called for a paddle-shaft with a diameter of 30 inches. At the time, no hammer existed that could forge a paddle-shaft this size. Existing tilt-hammers, though modified to operate on steam, weren't up to the job.
Nasmyth invented a steam-hammer to do the job, and this is the invention he is most noted for. The hammer consisted of an anvil on which to rest the work, and an iron block (the hammer) attached to a piston-rod inside an inverted steam-cylinder. This powerful hammer could produce a much more forceful blow than its predecessors.
The design was never required by the "Great Britain" in the end, so the plans languished for years before Nasmyth patented the design in 1840. Once he had his hammer working, however, it was in high demand, especially for forging the plates for war ships.
In 1845, Nasmyth used the same principles behind his steam hammer to invent a pile-driver used to construct bridges, quays and harbours. This invention was used in the construction of the high level bridge in Newcastle.
Shortly
after this last invention, Nasmyth retired in 1856. He lived many more years,
and died in 1890.
Sources:
GSN Machine Tools Group. “Pioneers of the Machine Tool Industry: James Nasmyth.” http://www.gsn.uk.com/nasmyth.htmlNasmyth, James. Autobiography (edited by Samuel Smiles). http://www.bibliomania.com/2/9/70/117/frameset.htm
Smiles, Samuel. Industrial Biography: Iron Workers and Tool Makers. Seattle: World Wide School, 1997 (Originally published in 1863).http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/hst/biography/IndustrialBiography/toc.htm
TiltHammer.com "Steel City Founders: James Nasmyth." http://www.tilthammer.com/bio/nas.html
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