wrote:
On Friday, February 1, 2019 at 1:11:19 AM UTC-5, Cydrome Leader wrote:
It's some sort of press with a heavy wheel that spins back and forth and
presses on the work using a heavy screw.

No audio needed, just watch about 10 seconds

https://youtu.be/CLcAms8GgeM?t=427

What's the history of these, any is it something uncommon in the US?

That's a "fly press": a flywheel screw press. No, they aren't common in the US. Apparently they've been around for a long time in forge shops in other parts of the world, including Europe.

I never saw one but I remember seeing photos when I was an editor at American Machinist, back in the '70s.

Interesting.

Are there other regional variations of "basic" machines like presses that
still do the same job in the end?

Sort of like how germans were obsessed with slotted screws for absolutely
everything forever?