Gold beater

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Università di Firenze, Facoltà di Ingegneria, Dipartimento di Meccanica e Tecnologie industriali

2003

Leonardo proposed different solutions for automating the process of beating precious metals, or in other words, the work that the gold-beater carried out manually in his workshop to reduce gold and silver down to very thin sheets, which would then be used for producing threads of precious metals, or for gilding frames, or for use in paintings.

One of his most remarkable designs was the mechanical gold-beater. The device was set into operation by turning a driving wheel capable of simultaneously actuating a series of synchronized devices and automated mechanisms, made up of pulleys, toothed wheels, and counterweights. The metal to be processed moved along at the base of the gold-beating machine, where it was beaten by a mallet actuated by a device connected with the upper part of the machine.

Leonardo’s intentions were probably to make use of the gold-beating machine in the production of auroseric threads, obtained by wrapping fine strips of silver or gold around a silk thread.