The hydraulic press was once called a Bramah press after its inventor, Joseph Bramah, gained a patent for it back in 1790. It is a machine that crushes metal, or straightens or moulds it.
The metal is placed on a bed or a plate and the hydraulic lever exerts the necessary pressure for carrying out the task. The compressive force is produced by a cylinder fitted with a sliding piston exerting force upon a confined liquid.
A hydraulic press in simple terms is a machine that uses pressure exerted on fluids to crush something. Hydraulic presses can be small handheld units or large units weighing several thousand tons. There are also hydraulic presses that can be operated manually or by using air or electricity.
The science behind hydraulics is based on Pascal’s law or principle that says any pressure applied to a fluid inside a closed system will transmit that pressure equally in all directions throughout the fluid. Hydraulic presses are used for many different things. Examples include crushing cars and making swords by flattening steel.