The malleable deformation of metals and especially hot steel pressing is now a consolidated process for modern companies, yet one of the oldest processes in human history. Ever since the iron age, man has understood that, by bringing metal to a high temperature, it became malleable and could be shaped into elementary forms. Over the various eras, the forgers who struck hot iron with a hammer and anvil produced swords, armour and countless other articles. The hammer mills built on watercourses — the forerunners of the modern machines so numerous in our Brescian valleys — are now curiosities in museums, but, once upon a time, master forgers were true artists of iron deformation. The material heated in the coal forges was beaten and hammered with skill to obtain ever more complex objects for agriculture and everyday life. Now metalworkers have taken the place of master forgers, electric furnaces have replaced coal forges and, instead of mallets, there are sophisticated computer-controlled presses. But the basic process is still the same: steel is made flexible and malleable by bringing it to high temperatures and it is pressed into moulds to obtain more precise and sophisticated parts. With its state-of-the-art equipment, Bertoloni & Botturi is one of the leading companies in the hot steel pressing sector.