The Canton advocate. [volume] (Canton, D.T. [S.D.]) 1877-1897, 1881-10-20
How Shot is Made.

Lead snOt, tnOugn sOmetlmeS mace
of lead alone, are almost always formed
of an alloy of arsenic and lead, the ar
senic being introduced in the form of
arsenious acid or the sulphuret (orpi-
ment). The object of the arsenic is 70
render the hard, brittle qualities Of the
lead, which is contaminated by iron
and anthony, softer and more ductile
and of the proper consistence, when
melted, for taking the globular form.
Up in the lofty apartment, from
which descends the stream of lead,
stand two men, their hands encased in
thick bags, and grasping heavy iron Ia
dies with which they dip out the molten
metal from the kettle and pour it into
the collenders. Blistering as the mott.
en- lead is, the men dash their ladies
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 be.
come little chilled in the bottom Of
the vessel, then the holes are stopped
and the careless workmen have ne
easy job in cleaning them. Five tons
of lead are often thrown down in hall
an hour in the establishment visited
The collender is simply copper PAN
the bottom of which is perforated, and
which rests in an iron ring. In falling
to the base of the tower the particles o.
semi-huid lead, acted upon alike over
their whole surface by a current of air
are made to assume the globular form
and by the time they reach the bottom
they are sufficiently hardened by cool
ing to bear the shock of striking 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 always uniform, perhaps half a doz-
en- sizes are produced from the same
sieve. Again, large sized shot require
to be dropped from greater height
than small sized, and while in some
cases 100 feet is sufficient, in others ar
elevation of $50 feet is hardly enough
After the shot have reached the bot
tom of the well, they are at once lifted
out by an elevator and thrown upon ar
inclined drying table, over which they
slide falling ultimately into wire gauze
rotating cylinder. Here they are roll
ed and ground together, and in this
way the minute burrs upon them al,
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 thu
end of the highest plane will, if perfect
roll from one plane to another. jump
ing over the intermediate spaces; if i'm
perfect, however. the latter become
pitfalls into which, sooner or later, i
tumbles and is carried off into a recep
tacle, the contents of which 60 back t.
he melting kettle. The good shot, at
er passing this ordeal, reach the sepa
rators. This is for convenience in fu
ture separating. The shot are mex
elevated to the top cylinder of series
arranged on an incline. They are
conical in form and inclined, and are
covered with perforated sheet brass
Each cylinder serves as sieve for s
particular size of shot, retaining tina
and allowing all smaller sizes to escape
The shot, as the cylinder revolves, ira
verse its entire length and then the
small ones run out into the next cyEn
der below, and thus the sitting goes or
until each cylinder has picked out the
particular class of shot to which it il
adapted.
The sizes of shot are standard. The
smallest is known as "dust," and ther
comes No. u, which is COS inch ii
diameter, 1926 shotgoing to the ounce
The sizes then increase by one-hun
dredths of an inch to up to twenty
three hundredths, of which there are
twenty-four shot to the ounce.
The shot being now assorted, polish
ing alone remains to be done. This is
accomplished by placing the shot to-
gether with plumbago in a box, which
is rapidly rotated. This imparts the
glossy black smoothness demanded by