Bertram Steam Hammer c. 1939

Bertram Steam Hammer c. 1939. Built in Dundas - Operated at Bertram and Sons Co. and Stelco Hamilton. This steam hammer, made by the John Bertram and Sons Co. Ltd of Dundas circa 1939, was bought second hand by Stelco of Hamilton in 1954. At that time, Bertram's was the largest employer in Dundas and had been at the forefront of machine tool manufacturing for nearly a century. From its enormous factory on the south side of Hatt Street, Bertram's designed a wide array of large-scale machinery to be used in industrial manufacturing around the world., Steam hammers like this are designed to shape large pieces of iron just as a blacksmith's hammer can shape a red-hot ingot. The steam-driven piston exerted tremendous pressure on the malleable metal. The smashing hammer was so powerful that it had to rest on a special shock-absorbing pad to prevent it from shattering the concrete floor of the factory in which it operated. In the early days workers held the metal in place by suspending it from chains and guiding it with tongs, but eventually this system was replaced with a much safer hydraulic arm., This steam hammer was in use until the mid 1990s, when it was replaced by more advanced electronic machinery. It came to the Dundas Museum via the Hamilton Museum of Steam and Technology in 2018 and was restored to the 'Bertram Green' colour which was a trademark of the company.