SHOP TOOLS.

II3

are placed on one side of a. sliop, with gas furnaces on tlie other,for testing the various plates, angle, and channel irons ol iron-clads.

The machine shown in plan and side elevation on Plate 19is for angle iron bending at the Toulon Dockyard. The ramA forces the block B against the iron D to be bent, and thepositions of the blocks CC (adjustable by the screw-spindle E)determine the curve to be formed. The vertical-screwed rodV has its upper end pinned to the starting lever, and its lowerend passes through an eye in the extremity of a horizontal armcarried by the ram of the machine. On the screw are twonuts, one above and the other below the arm, which serve thefollowing purpose :—On the ram rising, the arm strikes theupper nut, and acts on the standing lever with greater forcethan a inan could exert. The exhaust is thus closed, and theupstroke of the ram is arrested. When the ram descends, thearm strikes the lower nut on the screw, which closes the start-ing valve, and stops the ram in its descent. By adjusting thepositions of these nuts, the length of the upward or downwardstroke may be regulated to suit the work to be done.

Many years ago, Mr. E. A. Cowper employed a hydraulicreservoir, in conjunction with a press, at the works of SirCharles Eox, to squeeze wrought iron into shape. Some heavylinks for the Kief Suspension Bridge were made by means ofthis press. They were 7 feet 6 inches long, 1 foot 4 incheswide, and 1 inch thick, the eyes and long slots being cut outby the press.

In 1861, Mr. John Haswell employed a hydraulic press of 800tons for forging parts of locomotives in cast iron dies, and tohim is due the introduction of a press on the Bramah principle,with the addition of a motor, by which a squeeze can be givento the metal.

In 1862, Mr. James Tangye described (in a paper read beforethe Institution of Mechanical Engineers ) a simple applicationof the hydraulic press to shearing and puuching. Eor the

former Operation, a press carrying a lcnife edge was connected

H