steam hammer

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A forging-hammer operated by steam-power. It has assumed several forms, but now consists of a vertical and inverted steam-cylinder with piston and piston-rod (the rod passing through the lower cylinder-head and carrying at the end a mass of metal which forms the hammer), an anvil directly beneath the hammer and cylinder, a supporting framework, and suitable valves for the control of the steam. Steam is used to raise and may also be used to drive down the hammer. By means of the valve-system, steam is admitted below the piston to raise the hammer and to sustain it while the metal to be forged is placed on the anvil. To deliver a blow, the steam is exhausted below the piston, and the hammer is allowed to fall by its own weight. To augment the blow, live steam may be admitted above the piston to assist in driving it downward. To deliver a gentle blow, the exhaust-steam below the piston may be retained to act as a cushion. Blows can be delivered at any point of the stroke, quickly or slowly, lightly or with the full power of the combined weight of the hammer and force of steam-pressure; or the machine may be used as a vise or squeezer. All modern steam-hammers of the type described are modifications of the original Nasmyth steam-hammer illustrated in the cut. Steam hammers of the largest class have been made with hammers weighing eighty tons. Another type of steam-hammer consists of two horizontal steam-cylinders placed in line, the hammers meeting over an anvil on which the forging rests.

Wiktionary

1. n. An industrial machine designed to produce a hammer action through steam power.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. a hammer for forging, which is worked directly by steam; especially, a hammer which is guided vertically and operated by a vertical steam cylinder located directly over an anvil. In the variety known as Nasmyth's, the cylinder is fixed, and the hammer is attached to the piston rod. In that known as Condie's, the piston is fixed, and the hammer attached to the lower end of the cylinder.