THE INVENTOR OF THE STEAM HAMMER.

Waipawa Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 2499, 30 August 1890, Page 7 (Supplement)

THE INVENTOR OF THE STEAM HAMMER.

BEATII OF MK. JAMES NASMYTH. (WBJHfiLY BUDGET.)

James Nasmyth, the inventor of the steam-hammer, died at Kensington, .in the eighty-second year of his age, he having been bora in Edinburgh in 1808. For the j lust six months h© had been in failing health, ; although he used to say that until then he never knew what it was to have.an illness. Death cannot be ascribed to anything but old age. He left bis residence at Penshrrst, near Tunbridge Wells, about a month Since, and had been staying at Bailey’s hotel, where he has just died. Hfa life from beginning to end is full of incident. Ho was the youngest : son of Alexander Nasmyth, a well-known landscape painter, and gave very early evidence of a decided taste for mechanical . pursuits. HIS TRAINING AS AN ENGINEER. At the age of seventeen he had acquired a considerable amount of knowledge as to the use and handling of mechanical tools, which enabled him tp construct steam-engine and other models. His first real work was the making of a small working steamengine for the purpose of grinding his ; father’s colours. The result was so satisfactory that he received several orders for small workshop engines, and also for some ! models of steam-engines to illustrate the ! subjects taught at the earlier Mechanics’ j Institutions. From tlie proceeds of the : sale of some of the models he was able to par the fees for the chemistry, mathematical, | and natural philosophy classes at the Edin- i burgh University. fn 1829 he came to j London and offered his services to Mr Henry j Mandalay, the founder of the celebrated j engineering firm in London, who appointed I him as his assistant in his private workshop, j He received as salary—for he was not con- ; sidered as an apprentice—los. per week ; ! and, so as not to be a burden upon his father, he resolved by good management and strict j economy to_ make this sum pay all current ; expenses. THE FOUNDATION OF A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS. Upon the death of Mr. Maudslay, in 1831, j Mr. Nasmyth returned to Edinburgh for the j purpose of constructing a set of engineering ; tools, with which he started business in j Manchester in 1834, with a capital of £63. ; Here he soon found the work that poured j in upon him too much for his small J premises, and he secured a large plot of : ground at Patricroft, near Manchester. This , site of twelve acres was soon covered by a j vast series of workshops, which he called the j Bridgewater Foundry. In the purchase of j the site and the erection of tho buildings he ■ had considerable assistance from gentlemen j who saw the ability of the young engineer, j Here he invented and perfected a large • number of mechanical tools which are used in workshops all over the world. Tho most famous of them all is tho steam-hammer, which has done more than anything else to make his name known among those who know but little of engineering. THE INVENTION OF THE STE AH - lIAHHER. The steam-hammer was invented in the I year 1839, and the story of its origin is as follows: —Nasmyth had become connected \ with the Great Western Railway in making j their engines, and the oompany, being, so ! satisfied with his work, instructed him to i construct engines for a proposed ship to he 1 called the Great Britain. Works were erected j at Bristol for the accommodation of the ; requisite machinery, and the construction of | the engines was soon in full progress. An nnj expected difficulty, however, was encountered I with respect to the intermediate paddle- ; shaft, which was required to be of a size and diameter greater than any hitherto forged. The engineer of the company wrote fc© Nasmyth informing him of his . dilemma. ; This set him thinking. How was it that I ' the j existing hammers were incapable of forging ! a wrought-iron shaft of 30in. diamoterr | Simply because of their want of power of i blow, whioh he was soon convinced arose through rigidly adhering to tho old form of a I smith’s hand-hammer. The obvious remedy ; was to contrive some method by which a ! poudorous block of iron should be lifted l to a j sufficient height, and then lot fall upon the obi ject, guiding it in its descent by such simple j means as should give the required precision, i Following up this idea, he soon had out his ! echeme-book,” and in half an hour had | rapidly sketched out Lhis steam-hammer, : which eventually made his name so famous. It consisted of-—first, a massive anvil on j which to rest the work ; second, a block of j iron constituting the blow-giving portion ; j and third, an inverted steam cylinder, to 1 whose piston-rod the hammer block was ; attached. Rude and rapidly sketched out as :it was, this, the first delineation.of the I hi.mmor, will bo found to comprise all the ! essential elements of the invention.