Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1877-11-29
Up in that lofty apartment the visitor


finds two men, their hands ineised in
thick bags, and grasping heavy iron la
dies with which they dip out the molten
metal from the kettle, and pour it into
the collenders. Here is the source of
that dazzling stream, which, passing
down through the center of the struc-
ture, salutes the climber Of the narrow
stairs at every turn. Blistering as the
molten metal is, the men dash their Ia
dies into it as if it were water. This is
hard labor, and rapid besides, for the
lead runs through the collender almost
like quicksilver; while if it is allowed to
become little chilled in the bottom of
the vessel, then the holes are stopped,
and the careless workmen have no easy
job i'm cleaning them. Five tons of lead
are often thrown down in half an hour
in the establishment we visited. 'rhe
collender is simply copper pan, the
bottom of which isperforated and which
rests in am iron ring. A long handle
from the latter allows OF the collender
being fastened over the well. In the
bottom of the collenderis placed layer
of the dross which rises to the surface
of the lead during melting. This in a
measure checks the too rapid escape of
the melted metal, and is thought to
have the effect of increasing the rotun-
dity of the saot, possibly by expediting
its cooling as it passes thr ugh. The
holes in the collenders vary from 1-50 TO
1850 of an inch, but the shot are of
larger diameter than the orifices. In
falling to the base ofthe tower the p. r
ticles of semi-nuid lead, acted upon
alike over their whole surface by a cur
rent OF air, are made to assume the
globular form, and by the time they
reach the bottom they are sufficiently
hardened by cooling to bear the shock
of striking the surface of the water in
the well below.
The SIZE of the shot is only approxi-
mately fixed by the sizes of the holes in
the collenders. The mass is always
larger than the hole from which it ex-
udes, and as the period Of dropping is
not exactly uniform, perhaps half a
dozen sizes are produced from the same
.ieve. Again. large sized shot require
to be dropped from greater height
than small sized. and while i'm some
cases 100 feet is sufficient, in others an
elevation of $50 feet is hardly enough.
Buck shot are not made by the dropping
process at all, owing TO their size. Va
r;ous devices have been proposed for
slot-making, having for their object
the abolition of the tower. One process
consists i'm pouring lead upon revolv-
ing table on which is placed cylinder
of perforated sheet brass. The table is
revolyed with a velocity of 1000 feet
per minute on the periphery, and the
lead is thrown through the perforations
on the side, forming round shot, which
strike against linen screen placed to
intercept them. A method has also
been patented i'm this country for drop
ping shot through short distances tut
subjecting them meanwhile to IA power
full air current which cools them.
After the shot have reached the hot
tom of the well, they are at once lifted
out by an elevator and thrown upon an
inclined drying table over which they
slide, falling ultimately INTO a wire
gauze rotating cylinder. Here they ere
rolled and ground together, and in this
way the minute burrs upon them are
removed. From the cylinder another
elevator lifts the shot upon screening
table. This consists of series OF planes
arranged at gradually decreasing
heights. Between each there is an in
terval. The shot being started at the
end OF the highest plane will, il perfect,
roll from one plane 10 another, jumping
over the intermediate spaces; If imper-
feet, however, the latter become pit
falls, into which, sooner or later, it tum-
bles and is carried off into a receptacle,
the contents of which go back TO the
melting Kettle. The good shot, after
passing this ordeal, reach the separa-
tors. 1t should be explained that there
are usually several tables, each being
devoted to a different size Of shot and
its approximating sizes. This is for
convenience in full separating. The
shot are next elevated to the top cylin-
der of series, arranged on an incline.
T,,ey are conicdi in form and inclined,
and are covered with perforated sheet
brass. Each cylinder serves as IA sieve
for particular size of shot, retaining
that and allowing all smaller sizes TO
escape. The shot, as the cylinder re-
wolves, traverse its entire length, and
then the small ones run out into the
next cylinder below, and thus the sift-
ing goes on until each cylinder has
picked out the particular class OF shot to
which it is adapted.
The shot being now assorted, polish
ing aloe remains to be done. This is
accomplished by placing the shot to-
gether with plumbago in a box, which
is rapidly rotated. This imparls the
glossy black smootmess demanded by
sportsmen. The shot are then weighed,
bagged, and are ready for commerce.