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86-457: Steamhammer may refer to: Steam hammer , an industrial steam-powered hammer Steam hammer, a phenomenon related to water hammer Steamhammer (band) , an English rock band Steamhammer (album) a 1969 album by Steamhammer Steamhammer ( Transformers ) , a fictional character in the Transformers franchise Steamhammer Records,

172-483: A circular arc . This was patented in 1784. A throttle valve to control the power of the engine, and a centrifugal governor , patented in 1788, to keep it from "running away" were very important. These improvements taken together produced an engine which was up to five times as fuel efficient as the Newcomen engine. Because of the danger of exploding boilers, which were in a very primitive stage of development, and

258-479: A deist . Watt's grandfather, Thomas Watt (1642–1734), was a teacher of mathematics, surveying and navigation and baillie to the Baron of Cartsburn . Initially, Watt was educated at home by his mother, later going on to attend Greenock Grammar School. There he exhibited an aptitude for mathematics , while Latin and Greek failed to interest him. Watt is said to have suffered prolonged bouts of ill-health as

344-479: A surveyor , then as a civil engineer —for 8 years. Roebuck went bankrupt , and Matthew Boulton , who owned the Soho Manufactory works near Birmingham , acquired his patent rights. An extension of the patent to 1800 was successfully obtained in 1775. Through Boulton, Watt finally had access to some of the best iron workers in the world. The difficulty of the manufacture of a large cylinder with

430-471: A Glasgow dye -maker, with whom he had 2 children: Gregory (1777–1804), who became a geologist and mineralogist, and Janet (1779–1794). Ann died in 1832. Between 1777 and 1790 he lived in Regent Place, Birmingham . There is a popular story that Watt was inspired to invent the steam engine by seeing a kettle boiling, the steam forcing the lid to rise and thus showing Watt the power of steam. This story

516-520: A child and from frequent headaches all his life. After leaving school, Watt worked in the workshops of his father's businesses, demonstrating considerable dexterity and skill in creating engineering models. After his father suffered unsuccessful business ventures, Watt left Greenock to seek employment in Glasgow as a mathematical instrument maker . When he was 18, Watt's mother died and his father's health began to fail. Watt travelled to London and

602-515: A commercially viable process. He discovered that a mixture of salt, manganese dioxide and sulphuric acid could produce chlorine, which Watt believed might be a cheaper method. He passed the chlorine into a weak solution of alkali , and obtained a turbid solution that appeared to have good bleaching properties. He soon communicated these results to James McGrigor, his father-in-law, who was a bleacher in Glasgow. Otherwise, he tried to keep his method

688-406: A cylinder with a diameter of 50 inches and an overall height of about 24 feet, and required the construction of a dedicated building to house it. Boulton and Watt charged an annual payment, equal to one-third of the value of the coal saved in comparison to a Newcomen engine performing the same work. The field of application for the invention was greatly widened when Boulton urged Watt to convert

774-422: A dramatic contest was carried out. His engine drove a pile in four and half minutes compared with the twelve hours that the conventional method required. It was soon found that a hammer with a relatively short fall height was more effective than a taller machine. The shorter machine could deliver many more blows in a given time, driving the pile faster even though each blow was smaller. It also caused less damage to

860-900: A firm called James Watt and Co. The perfection of the invention required much more development work before it could be routinely used by others, but this was carried out over the next few years. Boulton and Watt gave up their shares to their sons in 1794. It became a commercial success and was widely used in offices even into the 20th century. From an early age, Watt was very interested in chemistry. In late 1786, while in Paris, he witnessed an experiment by Claude Louis Berthollet in which he reacted hydrochloric acid with manganese dioxide to produce chlorine . He had already found that an aqueous solution of chlorine could bleach textiles, and had published his findings, which aroused great interest among many potential rivals. When Watt returned to Britain, he began experiments along these lines with hopes of finding

946-459: A full-scale engine. This required more capital , some of which came from Black. More substantial backing came from John Roebuck , the founder of the celebrated Carron Iron Works near Falkirk , with whom he now formed a partnership. Roebuck lived at Kinneil House in Bo'ness , during which time Watt worked at perfecting his steam engine in a cottage adjacent to the house. The shell of the cottage, and

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1032-470: A hammer to drive holes in the rock of a quarry to hold gunpowder charges. An 1883 book on modern steam practice said The direct application of steam to forging hammers is beyond question the greatest improvement that has ever been made in forging machinery; not only has it simplified the operations that were carried on before its invention, but it has added many branches, and extended the art of forging, to purposes that could never have been attained except by

1118-410: A kettle as a boiler to generate steam. In 1759, Watt's friend, John Robison , called his attention to the use of steam as a source of motive power . The design of the Newcomen engine, in use for almost 50 years for pumping water from mines, had hardly changed from its first implementation. Watt began to experiment with steam, though he had never seen an operating steam engine. He tried constructing

1204-411: A loaded cannon than settle an account or make a bargain." Until he retired, he was always very concerned about his financial affairs, and was something of a worrier. His health was often poor and he suffered frequent nervous headaches and depression. When he retired in 1800, he became a rich enough man to pass the business on to his sons. At first, the partnership made the drawings and specifications for

1290-399: A model; it failed to work satisfactorily, but he continued his experiments and began to read everything he could about the subject. He came to realise the importance of latent heat —the thermal energy released or absorbed during a constant-temperature process—in understanding the engine, which, unknown to Watt, his friend Joseph Black had previously discovered years before. Understanding of

1376-515: A monument in the Creusot town square. An original Nasmyth hammer stands facing his foundry buildings (now a "business park"). A larger Nasmyth & Wilson steam hammer stands in the campus of the University of Bolton . Steam hammers continue to be used for driving piles into the ground. Steam supplied by a circulating steam generator is more efficient than air. However, today compressed air

1462-463: A moving cylinder to which the hammer was attached. The piston was hollow, and was used to deliver steam to the cylinder and then remove it. The hammer weighed 6.5 tons with a stroke of 7.5 feet (2.3 m). Condie steam hammers were used to forge the shafts of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's SS Great Eastern . A high-speed compressed-air hammer was described in The Mechanics' Magazine in 1865,

1548-471: A number of improvements including an arrangement so the steam acted from above, increasing the striking force, improved valve arrangements and the use of springs and material to absorb the shock and prevent breakage. John Ramsbottom invented a duplex hammer, with two rams moving horizontally towards a forging placed between them. Using the same principles of operation, Nasmyth developed a steam-powered pile-driving machine . At its first use at Devonport ,

1634-424: A number of parts bolted together. This made it cheaper to replace broken parts, and also gave it a degree of elasticity that made fractures less likely. A steam hammer may have one or two supporting frames. The single frame design lets the operator move around the dies more easily, while the double frame can support a more powerful hammer. The frame(s) and the anvil block are mounted on wooden beams that protect

1720-661: A partnership with John Craig, an architect and businessman, to manufacture and sell a line of products including musical instruments and toys. This partnership lasted for the next six years, and employed up to 16 workers. Craig died in 1765. One employee, Alex Gardner, eventually took over the business, which lasted into the 20th century. In 1764, Watt married his cousin Margaret (Peggy) Miller, with whom he had 5 children, 2 of whom lived to adulthood: James Jr. (1769–1848) and Margaret (1767–1796). His wife died in childbirth in 1773. In 1777, he married again, to Ann MacGregor, daughter of

1806-425: A piston rod contained in a cylinder. Steam from a boiler would be let in under the piston, raising it and compressing the air above it. The steam would then be released and the compressed air would force the piston down. In August 1827 John Hague was awarded a patent for a method of working cranes and tilt-hammers driven by a piston in an oscillating cylinder where air power supplied the motive force. A partial vacuum

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1892-407: A regiment at Waterloo..." Nasmyth's steam hammers could now vary the force of the blow across a wide range. Nasmyth was fond of breaking an egg placed in a wineglass without breaking the glass, followed by a blow that shook the building. By 1868 engineers had introduced further improvements to the original design. John Condie's steam hammer, built for Fulton in Glasgow, had a stationary piston and

1978-460: A secret. With McGrigor and his wife Annie, he started to scale up the process, and in March 1788, McGrigor was able to bleach 1,500 yards (4,500 feet) of cloth to his satisfaction. About this time, Berthollet discovered the salt and sulphuric acid process, and published it, so it became public knowledge. Many others began to experiment with improving the process, which still had many shortcomings, not

2064-432: A self-acting gear. Robert Wilson (1803–1882), who had also invented the screw propeller and was manager of Nasmyth's Bridgewater works, invented the self-acting motion that made it possible to adjust the force of the blow delivered by the hammer – a critically important improvement. An early writer said of Wilson's gear, "... I would be prouder to say that I was the inventor of that motion, then to say I had commanded

2150-481: A sketch dated 24 November 1839, but the immediate need disappeared when the practicality of screw propellers was demonstrated and the Great Britain was converted to that design. Nasmyth showed his design to all visitors. Bourdon came up with the idea of what he called a "Pilon" in 1839 and made detailed drawings of his design, which he also showed to all engineers who visited the works at Le Creusot owned by

2236-639: A small workshop within the university. It was initiated in 1757 and two of the professors, the physicist and chemist Joseph Black as well as the famed economist Adam Smith , became Watt's friends. At first, he worked on maintaining and repairing scientific instruments used in the university, helping with demonstrations, and expanding the production of quadrants . He made and repaired brass reflecting quadrants , parallel rulers , scales , parts for telescopes , and barometers , among other things. Biographers such as Samuel Smiles assert that Watt struggled to establish himself in Glasgow due to opposition from

2322-547: A subsidiary of the German record label SPV GmbH Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Steamhammer . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Steamhammer&oldid=1255098048 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

2408-457: A tightly fitting piston was solved by John Wilkinson , who had developed precision boring techniques for cannon making at Bersham , near Wrexham , North Wales . Watt and Boulton formed a hugely successful partnership, Boulton and Watt , which lasted for the next 25 years. In 1776, the first engines were installed and working in commercial enterprises. These first engines were used to power pumps and produced only reciprocating motion to move

2494-746: A trip on the paddle-steamer Comet , a product of his inventions, to revisit his home town of Greenock. He died on 25 August 1819 at his home " Heathfield Hall " near Handsworth in Staffordshire (now part of Birmingham) at the age of 83. He was buried on 2 September in the graveyard of St Mary's Church, Handsworth . The church has since been extended and his grave is now inside the church. On 14 July 1764, Watt married his cousin Margaret Miller (d. 1773). They had two children, Margaret (1767–1796) and James (1769–1848). In 1791, their daughter married James Miller. In September 1773, while Watt

2580-436: A variant of the steam hammer for use where steam power was not available or a very dry environment was required. The Bowling Ironworks steam hammers had the steam cylinder bolted to the back of the hammer, thus reducing the height of the machine. These were designed by John Charles Pearce, who took out a patent for his steam hammer design several years before Nasmyth's patent expired. Marie-Joseph Farcot of Paris proposed

2666-560: A very erroneous idea of his character; he was equally distinguished as a natural philosopher and a chemist, and his inventions demonstrate his profound knowledge of those sciences, and that peculiar characteristic of genius, the union of them for practical application". He was greatly respected by other prominent men of the Industrial Revolution . He was an important member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham , and

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2752-424: A very large part of one of his projects, still exist to the rear. The principal difficulty was in machining the piston and cylinder. Iron workers of the day were more like blacksmiths than modern machinists , and were unable to produce the components with sufficient precision. Much capital was spent in pursuing a patent on Watt's invention. Strapped for resources, Watt was forced to take up employment—first as

2838-518: A wealthy man. In his retirement, Watt continued to develop new inventions though none was as significant as his steam engine work. As Watt developed the concept of horsepower , the SI unit of power, the watt , was named after him. James Watt was born on 19 January 1736 in Greenock , Renfrewshire , the eldest of the five surviving children of Agnes Muirhead (1703–1755) and James Watt (1698–1782). Watt

2924-428: Is also used to push the ram down, giving a more powerful blow at the die. The weight of the ram may range from 225 to 22,500 kg (500 to 50,000 lb). The piece being worked is placed between a bottom die resting on an anvil block and a top die attached to the ram (hammer). Hammers are subject to repeated concussion, which could cause fracturing of cast iron components. The early hammers were therefore made from

3010-471: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Steam hammer The concept of the steam hammer was described by James Watt in 1784, but it was not until 1840 that the first working steam hammer was built to meet the needs of forging increasingly large iron or steel components. In 1843 there was an acrimonious dispute between François Bourdon of France and James Nasmyth of Britain over who had invented

3096-408: Is often used rather than steam. As of 2013 manufacturers continued to sell air/steam pile-driving hammers. Forging services suppliers also continue to use steam hammers of varying sizes based on classical designs. Citations Sources External links James Watt James Watt FRS , FRSE ( / w ɒ t / ; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS ) – 25 August 1819)

3182-415: Is told in many forms; in some Watt is a young lad, in others he is older, sometimes it's his mother's kettle, sometimes his aunt's, suggesting that it may be apocryphal. In any event, Watt did not invent the steam engine, but significantly improved the efficiency of the existing Newcomen engine by adding a separate condenser , consistent with the now-familiar principles of thermal efficiency . The story

3268-759: The Bethlehem Iron Company of the United States purchased patent rights from Schneider and built a steam hammer of almost identical design but capable of delivering a 125-ton blow. Eventually the great steam hammers became obsolete, displaced by hydraulic and mechanical presses. The presses applied force slowly and at a uniform rate, ensuring that the internal structure of the forging was uniform, without hidden internal flaws. They were also cheaper to operate, not requiring steam to be blown off, and much cheaper to build, not requiring huge strong foundations. The 1877 Creusot steam hammer now stands as

3354-555: The Bridgewater Canal . In 1843 a dispute broke out between Nasmyth and Bourdon over priority of invention of the steam hammer. Nasmyth, an excellent publicist, managed to convince many people that he was the first. Nasmyth's first steam hammer, described in his patent of 9 December 1842, was built for the Low Moor Works at Bradford. They rejected the machine, but on 18 August 1843 accepted an improved version with

3440-578: The Trades House , but this has been disputed by other historians, such as Harry Lumsden . The records from this period are fragmentary, but while it is clear that Watt encountered opposition, he was nevertheless able to work and trade as a skilled metal worker , suggesting that the Incorporation of Hammermen were satisfied that he met their requirements for membership, or that Watt managed to avoid their outright opposition. In 1759, he formed

3526-466: The engine cylinder on every cycle. This energy was wasted because, later in the cycle, cold water was injected into the cylinder to condense the steam to reduce its pressure. Thus, by repeatedly heating and cooling the cylinder, the engine wasted most of its thermal energy rather than converting it into mechanical energy . Watt's critical insight, arrived at in May 1765 as he crossed Glasgow Green park,

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3612-619: The "Fritz" steam hammer came into operation at the Krupp works in Essen , Germany. With a 50-ton blow, for many years it was the most powerful in the world. There is a story that the Fritz steam hammer took its name from a machinist named Fritz whom Alfred Krupp presented to the Emperor William when he visited the works in 1877. Krupp told the emperor that Fritz had such perfect control of

3698-443: The 20th century steam hammers were gradually displaced in forging by mechanical and hydraulic presses, but some are still in use. Compressed air power hammers, descendants of the early steam hammers, are still manufactured. A single-acting steam hammer is raised by the pressure of steam injected into the lower part of a cylinder and drops under gravity when the pressure is released. With the more common double-acting steam hammer, steam

3784-560: The United States, but are common in Europe. With some early steam hammers an operator moved the valves by hand, controlling each blow. With others the valve action was automatic, allowing for rapid repetitive hammering. Automatic hammers could give an elastic blow, where steam cushioned the piston towards the end of the down stroke, or a dead blow with no cushioning. The elastic blow gave a quicker rate of hammering, but less force than

3870-522: The banks of the Birmingham Canal , to establish a new foundry for the manufacture of the engines. The Soho Foundry formally opened in 1796 at a time when Watt's sons, Gregory and James Jr. were heavily involved in the management of the enterprise. In 1800, the year of Watt's retirement, the firm made a total of 41 engines. Watt retired in 1800, the same year that his fundamental patent and partnership with Boulton expired. The famous partnership

3956-758: The brothers Adolphe and Eugène Schneider . However, the Schneiders hesitated to build Bourdon's radical new machine. Bourdon and Eugène Schneider visited the Nasmyth works in England in the middle of 1840, where they were shown Nasmyth's sketch. This confirmed the feasibility of the concept to Schneider. In 1840 Bourdon built the first steam hammer in the world at the Schneider & Cie works at Le Creusot. It weighed 2,500 kilograms (5,500 lb) and lifted to 2 metres (6 ft 7 in). The Schneiders patented

4042-542: The concrete foundations by absorbing the shock. Deep foundations are needed, but a large steam drop hammer will still shake the building that holds it. This may be solved with a counterblow steam hammer, in which two converging rams drive the top and bottom dies together. The upper ram is driven down and the lower ram is pulled or driven up. These hammers produce a large impact and can make large forgings. They can be installed with smaller foundations than anvil hammers of similar force. Counterblow hammers are not often used in

4128-529: The dead blow. Machines were built that could run in either mode according to the job requirement. The force of the blow could be controlled by varying the amount of steam introduced to cushion the blow. A modern air/steam hammer can deliver up to 300 blows per minute. The possibility of a steam hammer was noted by James Watt (1736–1819) in his 28 April 1784 patent for an improved steam engine. Watt described "Heavy Hammers or Stampers, for forging or stamping iron, copper, or other metals, or other matters without

4214-548: The design in 1841. Nasmyth visited Le Creusot in April 1842. By his account, Bourdon took him to the forge department so he might, as he said, "see his own child". Nasmyth said "there it was, in truth–a thumping child of my brain!" After returning from France in 1842 Nasmyth built his first steam hammer in his Patricroft foundry in Manchester , England , adjacent to the (then new) Liverpool and Manchester Railway and

4300-595: The engines, and supervised the work to erect them on the customers' property. They produced almost none of the parts themselves. Watt did most of his work at his home in Harper's Hill in Birmingham, while Boulton worked at the Soho Manufactory . Gradually, the partners began to actually manufacture more and more of the parts, and by 1795, they purchased a property about a mile away from the Soho Manufactory, on

4386-598: The first sculptures he produced with the machine was a small head of his old professor friend Adam Smith . He maintained his interest in civil engineering and was a consultant on several significant projects. He proposed, for example, a method for constructing a flexible pipe to be used for pumping water under the River Clyde at Glasgow. He and his second wife travelled to France and Germany, and he purchased an estate in mid-Wales at Doldowlod House, one mile south of Llanwrthwl , which he much improved. In 1816, he took

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4472-561: The hammer. The Schneiders eventually saw a need for a hammer of colossal proportions. 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 largest and most powerful in the world. A wooden replica was built for the Exposition Universelle (1878) in Paris. In 1891

4558-538: The infringement in 1796. Boulton and Watt never collected all that was owed them, but the disputes were all settled directly between the parties or through arbitration . These trials were extremely costly in both money and time, but ultimately were successful for the firm. Before 1780, there was no good method for making copies of letters or drawings. The only method sometimes used was a mechanical one using multiple linked pens. Watt at first experimented with improving this method, but soon gave up on this approach because it

4644-412: The infringers, except for Jonathan Hornblower, all began to settle their cases. Hornblower was soon brought to trial in 1799, and the verdict of the four was decisively in favour of Watt. Their friend John Wilkinson, who had solved the problem of boring an accurate cylinder, was a particularly grievous case. He had erected about 20 engines without Boulton's and Watts' knowledge. They finally agreed to settle

4730-399: The ink, select the thin paper, to devise a method for wetting the special thin paper, and to make a press suitable for applying the correct pressure to effect the transfer. All of these required much experimentation, but he soon had enough success to patent the process a year later. Watt formed another partnership with Boulton (who provided financing) and James Keir (to manage the business) in

4816-496: The intervention of rotative motions or wheels, by fixing the Hammer or Stamper to be so worked, either directly to the piston or piston rod of the engine." Watt's design had the cylinder at one end of a wooden beam and the hammer at the other. The hammer did not move vertically, but in the arc of a circle. On 6 June 1806 W. Deverell, engineer of Surrey, filed a patent for a steam-powered hammer or stamper. The hammer would be welded to

4902-450: The least of which was the problem of transporting the liquid product. Watt's rivals soon overtook him in developing the process, and he dropped out of the race. It was not until 1799, when Charles Tennant patented a process for producing solid bleaching powder ( calcium hypochlorite ) that it became a commercial success. By 1794, Watt had been chosen by Thomas Beddoes to manufacture apparatuses to produce, clean and store gases for use in

4988-437: The machine that he could let the hammer drop without harming an object placed on the center of the block. The Emperor immediately put his watch, which was studded with diamonds, on the block and motioned Fritz to start the hammer. When the machinist hesitated, Krupp told him "Fritz let fly!" He did as he was told, the watch was unharmed, and the emperor gave Fritz the watch as a gift. Krupp had the words "Fritz let fly!" engraved on

5074-404: The machine. Bourdon had built the first working machine, but Nasmyth claimed it was built from a copy of his design. Steam hammers proved to be invaluable in many industrial processes. Technical improvements gave greater control over the force delivered, greater longevity, greater efficiency and greater power. A steam hammer built in 1891 by the Bethlehem Iron Company delivered a 125-ton blow. In

5160-461: The new Pneumatic Institution at Hotwells in Bristol . Watt continued to experiment with various gases, but by 1797, the medical uses for the " factitious airs " (artificial gases) had come to a dead end. Watt combined theoretical knowledge of science with the ability to apply it practically. Chemist Humphry Davy said of him, "Those who consider James Watt only as a great practical mechanic form

5246-559: The next six years, he made other improvements and modifications to the steam engine. A double-acting engine, in which the steam acted alternately on both sides of the piston, was one. He described methods for working the steam "expansively" (i.e., using steam at pressures well above atmospheric). A compound engine , which connected two or more engines, was described. Two more patents were granted for these in 1781 and 1782. Numerous other improvements that made for easier manufacture and installation were continually implemented. One of these included

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5332-526: The ongoing issues with leaks, Watt restricted his use of high pressure steam – all of his engines used steam at near atmospheric pressure. Edward Bull started constructing engines for Boulton and Watt in Cornwall in 1781. By 1792, he had started making engines of his own design, but which contained a separate condenser, and so infringed Watt's patents. Two brothers, Jabez Carter Hornblower and Jonathan Hornblower Jnr also started to build engines about

5418-552: The pile. Riveting machines designed by Garforth and Cook were based on the steam hammer. The catalog for the Great Exhibition held in London in 1851 said of Garforth's design, "With this machine, one man and three boys can rivet with perfect ease, and in the firmest manner, at the rate of six rivets per minute, or three hundred and sixty per hour." Other variants included crushers to help extract iron ore from quartz and

5504-415: The power, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of steam engines. Eventually, he adapted his engine to produce rotary motion, greatly broadening its use beyond pumping water. Watt attempted to commercialise his invention, but experienced great financial difficulties until he entered a partnership with Matthew Boulton in 1775. The new firm of Boulton and Watt was eventually highly successful and Watt became

5590-483: The pump rods at the bottom of the shaft. The design was commercially successful, and for the next five years, Watt was very busy installing more engines, mostly in Cornwall , for pumping water out of mines. These early engines were not manufactured by Boulton and Watt, but were made by others according to drawings made by Watt, who served in the role of consulting engineer . The erection of the engine and its shakedown

5676-400: The question of whether or not the original specification of the patent was valid was left to another trial. In the meantime, injunctions were issued against the infringers , forcing their payments of the royalties to be placed in escrow . The trial on determining the validity of the specifications which was held in the following year was inconclusive, but the injunctions remained in force and

5762-428: The reciprocating motion of the piston to produce rotational power for grinding, weaving and milling. Although a crank seemed the obvious solution to the conversion, Watt and Boulton were stymied by a patent for this, whose holder, James Pickard and his associates proposed to cross-license the external condenser. Watt adamantly opposed this and they circumvented the patent by their sun and planet gear in 1781. Over

5848-473: The same time. Others began to modify Newcomen engines by adding a condenser, and the mine owners in Cornwall became convinced that Watt's patent could not be enforced. They started to withhold payments to Boulton and Watt, which by 1795 had fallen on hard times. Of the total £21,000 (equivalent to £2,740,000 as of 2023) owed, only £2,500 had been received. Watt was forced to go to court to enforce his claims. He first sued Bull in 1793. The jury found for Watt, but

5934-409: The steam engine was in a very primitive state, for the science of thermodynamics would not be formalised for nearly another 100 years. In 1763, Watt was asked to repair a model Newcomen engine belonging to the university. Even after repair, the engine barely worked. After much experimentation, Watt demonstrated that about three-quarters of the thermal energy of the steam was being consumed in heating

6020-524: The steam hammer independently in 1839, both trying to solve the same problem of forging shafts and cranks for the increasingly large steam engines used in locomotives and paddle boats. In Nasmyth's 1883 "autobiography", written by Samuel Smiles , he described how the need arose for a paddle shaft for Isambard Kingdom Brunel 's new transatlantic steamer SS Great Britain , with a 30 inches (760 mm) diameter shaft, larger than any that had been previously forged. He came up with his steam hammer design, making

6106-457: The steam hammer. ... The steam hammer ... seems to be so perfectly adapted to fill the different conditions of power hammering that there seems nothing left to be desired... Schneider & Co. built 110 steam hammers between 1843 and 1867 with different sizes and strike rates, but trending towards ever larger machines to handle the demands of large cannon, engine shafts and armor plate, with steel increasingly used in place of wrought iron. In 1861

6192-426: The technology of steam engines . At the time engineers such as John Smeaton were aware of the inefficiencies of Newcomen's engine and aimed to improve it. Watt's insight was to realize that contemporary engine designs wasted a great deal of energy by repeatedly cooling and reheating the cylinder . Watt introduced a design enhancement, the separate condenser , which avoided this waste of energy and radically improved

6278-429: The use of the steam indicator which produced an informative plot of the pressure in the cylinder against its volume, which he kept as a trade secret . Another important invention, one which Watt was most proud of, was the parallel motion linkage , which was essential in double-acting engines as it produced the straight line motion required for the cylinder rod and pump, from the connected rocking beam, whose end moves in

6364-400: Was a Scottish inventor , mechanical engineer , and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen 's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world. While working as an instrument maker at the University of Glasgow , Watt became interested in

6450-532: Was a much sought-after conversationalist and companion, always interested in expanding his horizons. His personal relationships with his friends and business partners were always congenial and long-lasting. According to Lord Liverpool (Prime Minister of the UK), A more excllent and amikable man in all the relations of life I believe never existed. Watt was a prolific correspondent. During his years in Cornwall , he wrote long letters to Boulton several times per week. He

6536-408: Was able to obtain a period of training as an instrument maker for a year (1755–56), then returned to Scotland, settling in the major commercial city of Glasgow , intent on setting up his own instrument-making business. He was still very young and, having not had a full apprenticeship , did not have the usual connections via a former master to establish himself as a journeyman instrument maker. Watt

6622-575: Was averse to publishing his results in, for example, the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society however, and instead preferred to communicate his ideas in patents . He was an excellent draughtsman . He was a rather poor businessman, and especially hated bargaining and negotiating terms with those who sought to use the steam engine. In a letter to William Small in 1772, Watt confessed that "he would rather face

6708-564: Was baptised on 25 January 1736 at Old West Kirk , in Greenock. His mother came from a distinguished family, was well educated and said to be of forceful character, while his father was a shipwright , ship owner and contractor, and served as the Greenock's chief baillie in 1751. The Watt family's wealth came in part from Watt's father's trading in slaves and slave-produced goods. Watt's parents were Presbyterians and strong Covenanters , but despite his religious upbringing he later became

6794-450: Was made in one end of a long cylinder by an air pump worked by a steam engine or some other power source, and atmospheric pressure drove the piston into that end of the cylinder. When a valve was reversed, the vacuum was formed in the other end and the piston forced in the opposite direction. Hague made a hammer to this design for planishing frying pans. Many years later, when discussing the advantages of air over steam for delivering power, it

6880-496: Was possibly created by Watt's son, James Watt, Jr. , who was determined to preserve and embellish his father's legacy. In this light, it can be seen as akin to the story of Isaac Newton and the falling apple and his discovery of gravity . Although likely a myth, the story of Watt and the kettle has a basis in fact. In trying to understand the thermodynamics of heat and steam, James Watt carried out many laboratory experiments and his diaries record that in conducting these, he used

6966-509: Was recalled that Hague's air hammer "worked with such an extraordinary rapidity that it was impossible to see where the hammer was in working, and the effect was seemed more like giving one continuous pressure." However, it was not possible to regulate the force of the blows. It seems probable that the Scottish Engineer James Nasmyth (1808–1890) and his French counterpart François Bourdon (1797–1865) reinvented

7052-479: Was saved from this impasse by the arrival from Jamaica of astronomical instruments bequeathed by Alexander MacFarlane to the University of Glasgow – instruments that required expert attention. Watt restored them to working order and was remunerated . These instruments were eventually installed in the Macfarlane Observatory . Subsequently, three professors offered him the opportunity to set up

7138-428: Was so cumbersome. He instead decided to try to physically transfer ink from the front of the original to the back of another sheet, moistened with a solvent, and pressed to the original. The second sheet had to be thin, so that the ink could be seen through it when the copy was held up to the light, thus reproducing the original exactly. Watt started to develop the process in 1779, and made many experiments to formulate

7224-400: Was supervised by Watt, at first, and then by men in the firm's employ, with the actual work being accomplished by the purchaser of the engine. Supervising erectors included at various times William Murdoch , John Rennie , William Playfair , John Southern , Logan Henderson , James Lawson , William Brunton , Isaac Perrins and others. These were large machines. The first, for example, had

7310-478: Was to cause the steam to condense in a separate chamber apart from the piston , and to maintain the temperature of the cylinder at the same temperature as the injected steam by surrounding it with a "steam jacket". Thus, very little energy was absorbed by the cylinder on each cycle, making more available to perform useful work. Watt had a working model later that same year. Despite a potentially workable design, there were still substantial difficulties in constructing

7396-624: Was transferred to the men's sons, Matthew Robinson Boulton and James Watt, Junior . Longtime firm engineer William Murdoch was soon made a partner and the firm prospered. Watt continued to invent other things before and during his semi-retirement. Within his home in Handsworth , Staffordshire, Watt made use of a garret room as a workshop, and it was here that he worked on many of his inventions. Among other things, he invented and constructed machines for copying sculptures and medallions which worked very well, but which he never patented. One of

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