With the rapid and crushing popularity of hydraulic presses — popularized by now massive YouTube channels like this one — you have probably already seen everything under the sun get smooshed with tens of thousands of pounds of pressure. What if I told you you could get the same effect from another mechanical marvel, but it’s a lot more violent. Interested? Meet the power hammer.
In the video above, the Hydraulic Power Press channel does what you’d expect from a guy with a big machine that makes things smaller: It crushes stuff. A stack of change becomes a single mass of hot metal after the power hammer is through with it. It’s hot because anything that changes volume that quickly is going to heat up as atoms and molecules slam into each other. It’s a single hunk of metal because, well, look at the size of that hammer!
A power press or power hammer is used as a replacement for human-powered hammering during the forging process. Sure, you could let some guy in a smock pound away at a steel beam or sword forever, but why not let a giant automated hammer do the work for you? Power hammers have been around since the 1880s, first dropping heavy masses onto red hot metal and then adding steam and hydraulic power to the mix.
What do you think, does the power hammer beat the hydraulic press? Which do you prefer or want to see smooshed? Let us know in the comments below.
Images: Hydraulic Power Press
