History
Historically, metal was shaped by hand using a hammer. Later, larger hammers were constructed to press more metal at once, or to press thicker materials. Often a smith would employ a helper or apprentice to swing the sledgehammer while the smith concentrated on positioning the workpiece. Adding windmill or steam power yielded still larger hammers such as steam hammers. Most modern machine presses use a combination of electric motors and hydraulics to achieve the necessary pressure. Along with the evolution of presses came the evolution of the dies used within them.
Read more about this topic: Machine Press
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