Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1885-02-26
TALKS WITH THE BOYS.
Something About Which Every
body Ought 10 Know.
The secrets Of a Paint Factory Famili2rfy
E1pttined-Ho~ White Lead - Maa-
zf4ctared-So Nothing Like
Putty.


is the basis OF nearly all paints
Don't know"
It would be odd If you did. Now and
then you may hnd some one ID tell you
that the same lead you mold into bailets Is
the white lead you ses in the paint pots,
bat you will ask a great many people be-
fore you dad one To explain the process of
manu- ulacture Let Us follow IL out.
Iron is melted into what Is called pigs"
for shipment aud for convenient use. IL is
the same with lead, only the pigs" are
not as large and heavy. The first step in
the manufacture is To cOrrOde the lead.
We will take what is called the ''olf Dutch
process" because that makes the best arti-
Gle. The pigs" are tossed into a melting
furnace, aud when reduced To IA liquid
state the metal Is drawn of into molds
which are called "buckle molds." The
lead thus nodded is called "buckle," be-
Ing little round cake nearly as large as
saucer, but not so thick, and perforated in
many places.
These buckles are carried by an end
less belt and dropped into earthen jars of
various sizes. At the bottom of each jar is
a small quantity of acetic acid. When a
Jar is full OF buckles" which have been
dropped in without regard To order, it is
removed 10 the corroding house. Here the
jars are placed in row, covered by boards,
the boards covered by two inches of tan
bark and then another course of jars is
added until all the room is taken up.
There is nothing more 10 do for ninety days
except TO wait. The acid at once begins its
work on the 'buckles," and corrOsion is the
result. IL isn't the acid direct, but its
fumes, aud the perforations of which
spoke permit the fumes TO go TO all parts of
the little cake.
At the end of ninety days the lead
should be corroded. The buckles are
then bleached out until they look like
crackers and will crumble to pieces at the
touch. The same acid which has defended
Us i'm the cOrrOsiOn is now our worst enemy,
and must be got rid of. Haven't you
rubbed your hands along the clapboards of
a house and found it sneared with white
powder. Well, that house was painted
with lead from which the acetic acid was
not thoroughly washed out, and the paint
killed and powdered up.
The jars are taken to the washing
troughs and their contents emptied in, an1
the water is then let in and the batch is
sluiced until we have mixture the color
of milk and scarcely heavier. After deal
of washing the water is drawn off and the
lead is found at the bottom of the troughs.
If the acid has been taken out it is SHOW
eled into jars again, and these are carried
into a hot-air room and left for the water
70 has
plished the contents of the jars are emptied
on copper drying-pa heated by steam.
The stuff now looks like ice cream, but soon
dries until it is as fine and almost as white
as -four. To make paint it simply has to
be ground in oil.
Let me ask you if that wasn't curious
discovery? Who could have got the idea
into his head as he looked at bar of lead
that it would preserve and beautfy the
buildings OF the world? And the process
requires so much time that men must have
spent years in experimenting to get the
right acid and the proper method of using
Now, TO prove TO you that this white
paint was once metal, Wen take this piece
of charcoal, dig out a small hole in the CEN
ter, and fill the cavity with paint. Now
light your coal and put the blow pipe at
work, and what is the result? ragged
button of lead Acid made it paint-6re
turns it back to its original state.
The corroder ships to the paint factories
by the barrel. At the factories the dry
stuff is poured into paint mills, oil added,
and the stuff is ground through three diff
fereut mills before it comes out as you see
a sI.. Al
making pure lead he adds nothing. II he
so desires the lead is adulterated while
grinding. There is a species of quartz rock
called barytes. When this is pulverized II
closely resembles lead, and is largely used
to adulterate it.
Did you ever call a boy putty heady"
Well, you did it without knowing any thing
about putty. Here is where it is made SO
many pounds of whiting are placed i'm this
great iron basin. so much oil added, and
then the machinery is set in motion. Iron
knives kept mixing the stuff up and turn
ing il over and over. and a grind stone,
weighing 1000 pounds and faced with iron,
rolls around the basin twenty times min
ute. This stone Is called chaser" and
it mashes the putty down as fast as the
knives can fling it over. Pure putty is
made almost entirely of whiting and lin
seed oil. although a small quantity OF cot
ton-seed oil is used in every grade 70 pre-
vent il from drying too soon. The next
grade contains about half marble dust. and
fhe poorest grade. which is good enough
for all outdoor work, ia five-sevenths mar
ble-dust 70 two Of whiting.
Is But what i whitinufff
Ask your father that question and SEQ n
be can come within forty rods Of a correct
answer. I've many a time been told that
IL vas clay. Il il chalk-the very same
chalk YOU use on the blackboard. only
ground q ine powder.
Now. about other paints Red lead Is
the white lead burned on che copper pans
spoke ~ until it il rel. yellow ochsr is
mineral. black is made from lamp black.
which - simply soot, and there are several
kinds ~ paint which are simply mineral
clay purified AMI burned. Msst of she eol-
ftr.f f.afofa q. ffss~ rr~-~ t,foh -.