The "MARTEAU PILON" of 100 tons

Let’s imagine a power hammer, more than 20 meters high and weighing 1200 tons. So powerful that it would be able to model huge blocks of the hardest metal, and so precise that it would break a cockleshell without  touching it. Those were the qualities of the 100 ton power hammer which was made and used in Le Creusot.

Its function

This revolutionary tool for the time, made in 1875 was used for the first time in 1877. It was created in order to forge pieces of metal, from the smallest  to the biggest.




Nowadays, this tool is still in Le Creusot, as it is exhibited at the entrance to the city

How it works

The water which is contained in the tank is heated up. The emanating steam goes through pipes to a valve case, which directs that steam either down the piston, in order to make it go up, or up the piston in order to make it go down faster.

All the precision of  the power hammer depends on the course of the steam. But this a man, the pilot, who directs this steam with the help of a control lever linked to the valve case.

Technical Charateristics
 

Striking power :                       500 T
Weight of hammer :                    100T
Total weight of power hammer : 1200T
Height :                                     21 m
Depth of foundations :                 8 m