High-quality black-and-white photographs of large old machines and tools

[Toolmaker51]

10,000-ton forging press. Homestead Steel Works. 1890s.
Not awfully different from the press at Long Beach Naval Shipyard; despite promotion as property in one of US largest ever auctions, availability, fully operative condition and incredibly low price it went unsold and scrapped.

That set of conditions dovetails tightly with response found in post *641. That lamentation is somewhat past-tense, worse now than even possible before.

[Jon]

Wire mesh machine. Donora, PA. 1915-1917.

Fullsize image: https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...e_fullsize.jpg

[Toolmaker51]

Wow, all that feed and assembly mechanism, while maintaining wire under tension; lineshaft driven.

[Isambard]

I had a closer look and that mesh is spot welded! Lots of transformers there.

[Jon]

Puddling furnace. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation. November, 1886.

Fullsize image: https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...e_fullsize.jpg

[mcthistle007]

Come on I give up What on Gods Earth is a Puddleing Furnace??? and I'm not keen to guess.

[hemmjo]

I had never heard of a Puddling furnace before this.

[NeiljohnUK]

An explanation: https://www.revolutionaryplayers.org...dling-furnace/

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puddling_(metallurgy)

Henry Cort lived ~ 500 Yards from my home, and I was a governor of the school my son's attended named in his honour!

[jimfols]

An explanation: https://www.revolutionaryplayers.org...dling-furnace/

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puddling_(metallurgy)

Henry Cort lived ~ 500 Yards from my home, and I was a governor of the school my son's attended named in his honour!

Thanks for posting this.

This from the Wikipedia page: Puddling was never able to be automated because the puddler had to sense when the balls had "come to nature".

Quite a few years ago I purchased the book "Sloss Furnaces and the rise of the Birmingham District".
It was nice to dig the book out again and reread the parts I had glossed over about Puddling.

[marksbug]

Big hot balls of iron. thats pertty neet, and to be able to figure that out was a true stroke of a genius. and Eveolution continues.