Part 19 (1/2)

All that was then required to produce a most effective hammer was simply to admit steam of sufficient pressure into the cylinder, so as to act on the under-side of the piston, and thus to raise the hammer-block attached to the end of the piston rod. By a very simple arrangement of a slide valve, under the control of all attendant, the steam was allowed to escape and thus permit the ma.s.sive block of iron rapidly to descend by its own gravity upon the work then upon the anvil.

Thus, by the more or less rapid manner in which the attendant allowed the steam to enter or escape from the cylinder, any required number or any intensity of blows could be delivered. Their succession might be modified in an instant. The hammer might be arrested and suspended according to the requirements of the work. The workman might thus, as it were, think in blows. He might deal them out on to the ponderous glowing ma.s.s, and mould or knead it into the desired form as if it were a lump of clay; or pat it with gentle taps according to his will, or at the desire of the forgeman.

Rude and rapidly sketched out as it was, this, my first delineation of the steam hammer, will be found to comprise all the essential elements of the invention. Every detail of the drawing retains to this day the form and arrangement which I gave to it forty-three years ago.

I believed that the steam hammer would prove practically successful; and I looked forward to its general employment in the forging of heavy ma.s.ses of iron. It is no small gratification to me now, when I look over my rude and hasty first sketch, to find that I hit the mark so exactly, not only in the general structure but in the details; and that the invention as I then conceived it and put it into shape, still retains its form and arrangements intact in the thousands of steam hammers that are now doing good service in the mechanical arts throughout the civilised world.

But to return to my correspondence with the Great Western Steams.h.i.+p Company. I wrote at once to Mr. Humphries, and sent him a sketch of my proposed steam hammer. I told him that I felt a.s.sured he would now be able to overcome his difficulty, and that the paddle-shaft of the Great Britain might now be forged. Mr. Humphries was delighted with my design. He submitted it to Mr. Brunel, engineer-in-chief of the steams.h.i.+p: to Mr. Guppy, the managing director; and to other persons interested in the undertaking,--by all of whom it was heartily approved. I accordingly gave the Company permission to communicate my design to such forge proprietors as might feel disposed to erect the steam hammer, the only condition that I made being, that in the event of its being adopted I was to be allowed to supply it in accordance with my design.

But the paddle-shaft of the Great Britain was never forged. About that time the subst.i.tution of the Screw for the paddle-wheel as a means of propulsion was attracting much attention. The performances of the Archimedes, as arranged by Mr. Francis P. Smith, were so satisfactory that Mr. Brunel, after he had made an excursion in that vessel, recommended the directors to adopt the new propelling power. After much discussion, they yielded to his strongly-urged advice. The consequence was, that the great engines which Mr. Humphries had so elaborately designed, and which were far advanced in construction, were given up, to his inexpressible regret and mortification, as he had pinned his highest hopes as a practical engineer on the results of their performance. And, to crown his distress, he was ordered to produce fresh designs of engines specially suited for screw propulsion.

Mr. Humphries was a man of the most sensitive and sanguine const.i.tution of mind. The labour and the anxiety which he had already undergone, and perhaps the disappointment of his hopes, proved too much for him; and a brain fever carried him off after a few days' illness.

There was thus, for a time, an end of the steam hammer required for forging the paddle-shaft of the Great Britain.

Very bad times for the iron-trade, and for all mechanical undertakings, set in about this time. A wide-spread depression affected all conditions of industry Although I wrote to the heads of all the great firms, urging the importance of my invention, and forwarding designs of my steam hammer, I was unable to obtain a single order. It is true, they cordially approved of my plan, and were greatly struck by its simplicity, unity, and apparent power.*

[footnote...

Among the heads of firms who sent me cordial congratulations on my design, were Benjamin Hick, of the Soho Ironworks, Bolton, a man, whose judgment in all matters connected with engineering and mechanical construction was held in the very highest regard; Messrs. Rushton and Eckersley, Bolton Ironworks; Messrs. Howard and Ravenhill, Rotherhithe Ironworks, London; Messrs. Hawkes, Crashaw, and Company, Newcastle-upon-Tyne; George Thorneycroft, Wolverhampton; and others.

But the substance of their replies was, that they had not sufficient orders to keep the forge hammers they already possessed in work.

They promised, however, that in the event of trade recovering from its depression, they would probably adopt the new power.

In the meantime my invention was taken up in an entirely new and unexpected quarter. I had for some years been supplying foreign customers with self-acting machine tools. The princ.i.p.als of continental manufacturing establishments were accustomed to make frequent visits to England for the purpose of purchasing various machine tools required for the production of the ponderous as well as the lighter parts of their machinery. We gave our foreign visitors every facility and opportunity for seeing our own tools at work, and they were often so much pleased that, when they came to order one special tool, they ended by ordering many,--the machine tools in full activity thus acting as their most effective advertis.e.m.e.nts.

In like manner I freely opened my Scheme Book to any foreign visitors.*

[footnote...

Some establishments in the same line of business were jealous of the visit of foreigners; but to our views, restriction in the communication of new ideas on mechanical subjects to foreigners of intelligence and enterprising spirit served no good purpose, as the foreign engineer was certain to obtain all the information he was in quest of from the drawings in the Patent Office, or from the admirable engravings contained in the engineering publications of the day. It was better to derive the advantage of supplying them with the machines they were in quest of, than to wait until the demand was supplied by foreigners themselves.

There I let them see the mechanical thoughts that were pa.s.sing through my mind, reduced to pen and ink drawings. I did not hesitate to advocate the advantage of my steam hammer over every other method of forging heavy ma.s.ses of iron; and I pointed out the drawing in my Scheme Book in confirmation of my views. The book was kept in the office to be handy for such occasions; and in many cases it was the means of suggesting ideas of machine tools to our customers, and thus led to orders which might not have been obtained without this effective method of prompting them. Amongst our foreign visitors was M. Schneider, proprietor of the great ironworks at Creuzot, in France.

We had supplied him with various machine tools, and he was so pleased with their action that the next time he came to England he called at our office at Patricroft. M. Bourdon, his mechanical manager, accompanied him.

I happened to be absent on a journey at the time; but my partner, Mr. Gaskell, was present. After showing them over the works, as an act of courtesy he brought them my Scheme Book and allowed them to examine it. He pointed out the drawing of my steam hammer, and told them the purpose for which it was intended. They were impressed with its simplicity and apparent practical utility,--so much so, that M. Bourdon took careful notes and sketches of the constructive details of the hammer.

I was informed on my return of the visit of MM.Schneider and Bourdon, but the circ.u.mstance of their having inspected the designs in my Scheme Book, and especially my original design of the steam hammer, was regarded by my partner as too ordinary and trivial an incident of their visit to be mentioned to me. The exhibition of my mechanical designs to visitors at the Foundry was a matter of almost daily occurrence.

I was, therefore, in entire ignorance of the fact that these foreign visitors had taken with them to France a copy of the plan and details of my steam hammer.

It was not until my visit to France in April 1842 that the upshot of their visit was brought under my notice in an extraordinary manner.

I was requested by M. Bouchier, Minister of Marine, to visit the French dockyards and a.r.s.enals for the purpose of conferring with the director of each with reference to the supply of various machine tools for the proper equipment of the marine engine factories in connection with the Royal Dockyards. In order to render this journey more effective and instructive, I visited most of the French engineering establishments which had been supplied with machine tools by our firm.

Amongst these was of course the famous firm of Schneider, whose works at Creuzot lay not far out of the way of my return journey accordingly made my way thither, and found M. Bourdon at his post, though M. Schneider was absent.

M. Bourdon received me with much cordiality. As he spoke English with fluency I was fortunate in finding him present, in order to show me over the works; on entering which, one of the things that particularly struck me was the excellence of a large wrought-iron marine engine single crank, forged with a remarkable degree of exactness in its general form. I observed also that the large eye of the crank had been punched and drifted with extraordinary smoothness and truth.

I inquired of M. Bourdon ”how that crank had been forged?”

His immediate reply was, ”It was forged by your steam hammer!”

Great was my surprise and pleasure at hearing this statement.

I asked him how he had come to be acquainted with my steam hammer?

He then narrated the circ.u.mstance of his visit to the Bridgewater Foundry during my absence. He told me of my partner having exhibited to him the original design, and how much he was struck by its simplicity and probable efficiency; that he had taken careful note and sketches on the spot; that among the first things he did after his return to Creuzot was to put in hand the necessary work for the erection of a steam hammer; and that the results had in all respects realised the high expectations he had formed of it.

M. Bourdon conducted me to the forge department of the works, that I might, as he said, ”see my own child;” and there it was, in truth--a thumping child of my brain. Until then it had only existed in my scheme book; and yet it had often and often been before my mind's eye in full action. On inspecting the steam hammer I found that Bourdon had omitted some important details, which had led to a few mishaps, especially with respect to the frequent breaking of the piston-rod at its junction with the hammer block. He had effected this, in the usual way, by means of a cutter wedge through the rod; but he told me that it often broke through the severe jar during the action of the hammer. I sketched for him, then and there, in full size on a board,the elastic packing under the end of the piston-rod, which acted, as I told him, like the cartilage between the bones of the vertebrae, preventing the destructive effects of violent jars.

I also communicated to him a few other important details, which he had missed in his hasty inspection of my design. Indeed, I felt great pleasure in doing so, as I found Bourdon to be a most intelligent mechanic, and thoroughly able to appreciate the practical value of the information I communicated to him. He expressed his obligation to me in the warmest terms, and the alterations which he shortly afterwards effected in the steam hammer, in accordance with my plans, enabled it to accomplish everything that he could desire.

I had not yet taken out a patent for the steam hammer. The reason was this. The cost of a patent at the time I invented it was little short of #500, all expenses included. My partner was unwilling to lay out so large a sum upon an invention for which there seemed to be so little demand at that time; and I myself had the whole of my capital embarked in the concern. Besides, the general depression still continued in the iron trade; and we had use for every farthing of money we possessed.

I had been warned of the risk I ran by freely exhibiting my original design, as well as by sending drawings of it to those who I thought were most likely to bring the invention into use. But nothing had as yet been done in England. It was left for France, as I have described, to embody my invention in an actual steam hammer. I now became alarmed, and feared lest I should lose the benefits of my invention.

As my partner declined to help me, I applied to my brother-in-law, William Bennett. He was a practical engineer, and had expressed himself as highly satisfied with its value. He had also many times cautioned me against ”publis.h.i.+ng” its advantages so widely, without having first protected it by a patent. He was therefore quite ready to come to my a.s.sistance. He helped me with the necessary money, and the invention was placed in a position of safety so far as my interests were concerned. In return for his kindness I stipulated that the reimburs.e.m.e.nt of his loan should be a first charge upon any profits arising from the manufacture of the steam hammer; and also that he should have a share in the profits during the period of the patent rights. Mr. Bennett lived for many years, rejoicing in the results of his kindness to me in the time of my difficulty. I may add that the patent was secured in June 1842, or less than two months after my return from France.