Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-01-23
PROCESS OF MAKING SHOT.
How the Globules Are Formed In Their
Fall Through the Tower.

Every person who has walked about
the lower part Of this city must have
noticed high. round tower, as high as
itself above the surrounding buildings,
and has small windows at different
places. This tower is in Centre street,
near Worth street, and belongs to the
Colwell Lead company. There are sew
eral of these towers in this city. They
are places built especially for the cast
ing and manufacture of shot. The
tower rises to a height of l76 feet, and
is fifty feet in diameter at the base. 1t
diminishes in diameter as it ascends, be-
ing about thirty feet across at the top.
1t is divided into several stories. A cir
cular stairway, made of iron, extends
to the summit, giving access to the sew
eral stories. Great height is essential
for casting, as the lead must cool in the
descent, and thus assume q spherical
shape. II hot, it would fatten when it
strikes the water into which it falls.
The first method is making what is
called temper" This is q mixture of
arsenic and lead The mixture is melt
ed in large kettles, and is constantly
skinned and stirred. 1t is cast in bars,
the same as lead. When the temper is
made, it is carried to the top floor,
where there are kettles and q furnace
for melting it. The temper is mixed
with lead, as pure lead would assume
various shapes in casting; but when
mixed with the temper in the proper
ton of three tons Of lead to one ton of
temper, it takes the shape Of globules
when 1t is cast.
The casting-pans are large colanders
round pans with holes perforated in
the bottom. The casting is done ON the
top floor, and the collander is suspend
ed over an opening in the floor, which
goes through the entire height of the
building to the ground, where there is
q well Of water. The lead is melted in
large kettles, and is dipped out and
poured into the colander with ladies
which have long handles. 1t oozes
through the holes in the bottom of
the cOlander and falls through the
opening to the ground floor into the
well. The shot is taken out of the well
by small buckets fastened to an endless
belt, which runs over wheel which
carries it from the well up to long hot
metal table. Here the shot is constant
ly stirred by men with long rakes, and
the heat rapidly dispels the moisture,
and the shot soon becomes perfectly dry.
1t is taken from the "drying-tsble'
to the ''screeners," series of tables
with narrow openings between them,
the tables being set at slight angle. If
the shot is round and perfect, it rolls
rapidly along these tables, skipping the
openings, until it reaches a box at the
extreme end, into which it falls. If it is
imperfect, it cannot roll fast, and falls
into the openings, under which boxes
are placed.
The shot then goes to the '.separa-
tors" which are series of drawers,
not unlike bureau, which rocks back
ward and forward by machinery. The
shot Is poured into the upper drawer,
which has an iron bottom perforated
with holes of q certain size. The Sec
ond drawer has holes of smaller size,
and so on down to the lowest drawer,
the bottom of each drawer being per-
fOrated with holes of size smaller than
those in the drawer above it. The back
ward and forward motion throws the
shot from side to side, letting all the
shot the size Of the holes or smaller
pass through into the second drawer,
while all larger than the holes remain
in the drawer. The same is repeated
down to the lowest drawer. so that each
drawer contains smaller size of shot
than the one Immediately above it.
The next process is polishing The
shot is put into irregular-shaped iron
boxes, which continually revolve. When
the box is nearly full, powdered black
lead is put in. The irregular motion of
the box throws the shot from side to side,
and the blacklead is so ground into it that
it can not be rubbed off. And it is this
that gives it the beautiful shiny appear
ance.-AeW York Tribune.