Maybe not though – the guys that used them would likely pick up lots of free drinks for various feats of strength. "Ooer I'll bet tha can't lift the bull in next field over yer head young hammer man!" "Done – fer a pint! – let's go…"

After steam hammer arrival they'd get out of shape fast for that sort of caper , although you would still need to be pretty strong to work on a steam hammer crew as well.

Ah the good old days – superhuman work in terrible hot smoky conditions for 37 shillings a week and no health care plan whatsoever.

Not "MODEL" engineering maybe but this fearsome beastie has helped me a few times! When it did it was certainly MY "best tool of the day"! ( Not too suitable for the delicate bits though!)

Norman

Bit off-topic, but its interesting reading about the ability to swing big hammers – I believe it is all down to technique, not all brute force.

When we moved to our current location, we found we had to use wood heating, and this meant chopping between 10 and 20 tons of logs, mostly oak and ash. It usually is done around Easter, so the logs can be stacked to dry for the winter. If the wood is left for a long time, ash in particular becomes very difficult to chop.

My first attempts were feeble – I could maybe chop about three or four wheelbarrow loads, then had a 'collapse' until the next day. It would take me maybe three or four weeks to chop it all, and it was painful, to say the least.

Nowadays, after doing it for 8 years, I can chainsaw the logs into 2 foot lengths, then chop the lot in 2 or 3 days. I think its all down to technique – I learnt (the hard way), how to swing the axe properly, and I would never have believed that a 'technique' existed before I did it – but I couldn't say what is different now. I have watched skinny boys chop logs with no apparent effort. (I have just finished this years load, and I am now over 70, weigh about 70 kilos, and have no obvious muscles to speak of ).

During my apprenticeship we were taught to use a steam hammer which was nearly as big as our bungalow,the unofficial trade test was to shut a box of swan vestas without producing a sheet of flame, also to just crack an egg without squashing it, I'm sure others have done this

Mick