After being employed for two years as a 'powder monkey' in the dockyard, that is, in making and filling cartridges, Maudslay was placed, at the age of fourteen, in the carpenter's shop. He however infinitely preferred the blacksmith's shop, availing himself of every opportunity to escape from his proper place, and steal off to the smithy. His propensity was in fact so strong that it was thought better to yield to it, and he was accordingly removed there in his fifteenth year. He now made rapid progress, and soon became so expert a smith and metal-worker as to attract considerable notice. Even in after life, when at the head of the well-known firm which he founded, nothing pleased him more than to set to work upon a difficult piece of forging and to overcome the difficulties which it presented, which few could do so well as he. The reputation which Maudslay acquired here, led to his introduction and ultimate employment by Bramah, who was at that time engaged in constructing his celebrated lock. One of the chief obstacles which Bramah had to contend with in getting his lock into general use, was, the difficulty he experienced in having it manufactured with sufficient precision and at such a price as to render it an article of successful commerce. Maudslay's[23] ability as a workman and sound mechanical knowledge was of great service to Bramah in this particular; the most difficult and delicate jobs were entrusted to him, and among others he constructed the identical lock, the picking of which so severely tested the skill and ability of Mr. Hobbs in the year 1851. He also, according to the testimony of Mr. J. Nasmyth, supplied Bramah with the key to the practical success of the hydraulic press, viz., the self-tightening leather collar.[24]