18th
Century Small Bar-Lead For Making Round Ball.
To write down all the
processes of producing bar lead from lead ore would take up a lot of room here,
so I will keep it brief. The lead ore is mined from the ground, it is sorted
from dead rock, and the rock with Galena in it is then crushed using a flat
headed hammer called a “Bucker”. This work was carried out by children 10 years
of age, and some elderly adults.
A Bucker was used to
crush the pure Galena to uniform pea sized chunks. Photograph © 2006 Carol
Haynes. http://www.mylearning.org/lead-mining-in-the-yorkshire-dales/p-414/;
After the ore was
sorted and crushed it went into a furnace, where the lead was melted out and
run out of the furnace into lead ingot moulds or pig moulds. These varied in
shape and size depending on the individual mine and the country that mine was
in.
Large 18th century lead pig.
From here these lead
pigs or ingots were taken by pony to a smelter for further refining. Sometimes
the made product was silver and the lead was a secondary product. At the
smelter the moulten lead was again poured into moulds of a particular size, and
again depending on the smelter there were a variety of shapes and sizes.
Lead Processing at
Leadhills Weighing the Lead Bars By David Allan.
Although I can find no
information regarding the production of “small bar-lead”, I believe that it was
probably made as part of the process at the smelter. The large ingots and pigs
were then sold, some going overseas. These large lead pigs were used as ship’s
ballast to save on shipping expenses. NOTE: The terms ingot and pig also referred
to bars of lead regardless of size
Dutch East Indiaman Kennemerland wrecked at Stoura Stack December 1664. Carrying 100 lead pigs. http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/hmpa-outskerries.pdf
Dutch East Indiaman Kennemerland wrecked at Stoura Stack December 1664. Carrying 100 lead pigs. http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/hmpa-outskerries.pdf
Small bar-lead was used in the 17th and 18th and 19th century fur trade, it was
also used by the military and on occasion issued to the soldiers.
, 30 bars of lead, 30 pounds of powder, 30 awls, 30
glasses, 30 tobacco boxes, 3 papersof beads, 44 pounds of red lead, 30 pair of
hawks' bells, 6 drawing knives, 6 caps,
12 hoes: Do by these presents grant, bargain and sell, &c., all right, title and iinterest, http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/~rstephen/livingeaston/local_history/Penn/Penn_family_part_1.html
12 hoes: Do by these presents grant, bargain and sell, &c., all right, title and iinterest, http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/~rstephen/livingeaston/local_history/Penn/Penn_family_part_1.html
During the 1744 treaty conference, the
British commissioners traded with the Iroquois goods they held to be worth 220
pounds sterling and 15 shillings, including 200 shirts, four duffle blankets, forty-seven
guns, one pound of vermillion, 1000 flints, four dozen Jews Harps, 202 bars of
lead, two quarters shot, and two half-barrels of gun powder.
Small Bar Lead--@ 18\3 --
Other
equipment mentioned was ladles for transferring the smelted lead from the
fore-hearth into the one "greate iron moulde" and the 12 "small
mouldes".
Bar lead sizes and Images.
On average, the ingots measure 27.0-28.1cm long and are 1.9-2.1cm wide maximum.
On average, the ingots measure 27.0-28.1cm
long and are 1.9-2.1cm wide maximum.
19thc. http://odysseysvirtualmuseum.com/products/Lead-Ingot.html;
17th century pigs of lead from shipwreck.
Lead Pigs 18th century.
Collector's Illustrated Encyclopedia of the
American Revolution. Pigs of lead.;17th century pigs of lead from shipwreck.
The Archaeology of Lead Mining. 18th
century mining.
Lead mining in Cymru/Wales.
Lead sinkers made from bar lead.
PDF: Composite lead & iron round ball.
http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/media/735.pdf
http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/media/735.pdf
Fort
Edward and Roger’s Island sites information.
Dutch
East Indiaman Kennemerland wrecked at Stoura Stack December 1664. Carrying 100
lead pigs.
Spanish
lead pigs were rectangular, and French lead pigs were salmon shaped. English
lead pigs had a boat-like structure.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=RZna-xKapDIC&pg=PA117&lpg=PA117&dq=online+american+museum+collections-lead+pigs+or+ingots&source=bl&ots=9ykUEGLIzj&sig=yLf2aqWbG3HQQiVMMfCt7yUU0zA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=W2J5UseSMpGaiQeyvYGABg&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=online%20american%20museum%20collections-lead%20pigs%20or%20ingots&am
p;f=false
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=RZna-xKapDIC&pg=PA117&lpg=PA117&dq=online+american+museum+collections-lead+pigs+or+ingots&source=bl&ots=9ykUEGLIzj&sig=yLf2aqWbG3HQQiVMMfCt7yUU0zA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=W2J5UseSMpGaiQeyvYGABg&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=online%20american%20museum%20collections-lead%20pigs%20or%20ingots&am
p;f=false
"pigs of lead to make shot" A Journal Kept
byCaptain John Narbrough, &c. John Narbrough.
http://www.rockvillepress.com/tierra/texts/NARBROUGH.HTM
Bar-lead and Galena owned by the author. Image copyright Keith H. Burgess.
Galena or lead ore. Image and copyright: Keith H. Burgess.
Bar-lead and Galena owned by the author. Image copyright Keith H. Burgess.
Galena or lead ore. Image and copyright: Keith H. Burgess.
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