Automatic Hammer Machine

Metalworking is difficult. Blacksmiths labor in intense heat, repeatedly pounding red-hot metal on an anvil to make swords and tools. Leonardo saw the opportunity to use a cam to make the smith’s job easier.

In this design, an oddly shaped cam (a wheel with bumps on it) turns, while the bumps translate the circular motion into an in-and-out or up-and-down motion. By turning this cam, the smith can make the hammer strike the anvil repeatedly. The device becomes fully automatic when the cams connect to a paddle wheel moved by water current. With Leonardo’s machine, the blacksmith could take it easy!

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