A 
 
 DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT 
 
 OP THB 
 
 SEVERAL PROCESSES 
 
 WHICH ARE 
 
 USUALLY PURSUED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF THE 
 ARTICLE KNOWN IN COMMERCE 
 
 BY THE NAME OP 
 
 — — «««©I<S^1®«®«»•— 
 BY 
 
 SAMUEL PARKES, F, L. S, ^c. 
 
 FROM THE MEMOIRS OF THE LITERARY AND PHILO- 
 SOPHICAL SOCIETY OF MANCHESTER, VOL, III, 
 SECOND SERIES, 1818. 
 
 PRINTED FOR 
 R. BICKERSTAFF, ESSEX-STREET, STRAND, LONDON, 
 By the Executors of S, Russell, Manchester. 
 1S18. 
 
N. B. Gentlemen indulged with separate copies of their 
 papers are requested to prevent the reprinting of them before 
 the publication of the volume of Memoirs • 
 
( 3 ) 
 
 A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT 
 
 OP THE 
 
 SEVERAL PROCESSES 
 
 WHICH ARE 
 
 USUALLY PURSUED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF THE 
 ARTICLE KNOWN IN COMMERCE 
 
 SAMUEL PARKES, F.L.S^ Sfc 
 
 IN A LETTER TO BENJAMIN NAYLOR, ESQ, 
 (Read Feb. 20th, 1818.) 
 
 As the processes in this manufacture are 
 more numerous and complicated than is ge- 
 nerally imagined, it may be advisable to 
 preface the account with an enumeration of 
 some of those properties of tin which will 
 be most likely to explain the rationale of the 
 principal operations. 
 
 Tin has a great affinity for several of the 
 other metals — particularly for zinc, mercury, 
 copper, antimony, lead and iron — and owing 
 to these affinities, its employment in the arts 
 is very considerable. 
 
 Tin, with zinc forms a metal of close 
 grain, very useful for many purposes, espe- 
 cially for the formation of pewter. The zinc 
 
 BY THE NAME OF 
 
 TIN-PLATE. 
 
 BY 
 
4 On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 
 
 is found to impart great hardness to the tin, 
 without lessening its ductility. 
 
 The combination of mercury and tin, in 
 which the tin is dissolved by the mercury into 
 a very soft amalgam, is largely employed, 
 as is well known, in silvering the backs of 
 mirrors, and for other purposes in the arts. 
 An amalgam of tin of greater consistence 
 was formerly in use in the museums of Paris 
 for closing the mouths of glass-bottles con- 
 taining sundry curious and valuable prepa- 
 rations. 
 
 Copper is also alloyed with tin for various 
 purposes of manufacture. This metallic mix- 
 ture is employed in making what are called 
 bronze statues ; for casting bells, and pieces 
 of artillery, and also for the fabrication of 
 medals and medallions. In some of these 
 cases the tin is mixed with copper, on ac- 
 count of its property of rendering the cop- 
 per more fusible ; and this was probably the 
 reason why the ancient Romans used that 
 metal in the greater part of their brass coin- 
 age. It is owing to the affinity of tin for 
 copper, that vessels of capacity, made with 
 the latter metal, for culinary and other pur- 
 poses, are so readily covered with a coating 
 of tin, to preserve them from the action of 
 substances which would not fail to erode 
 
On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 5 
 
 copper, if unprotected by some such cover- 
 ing. The affinity of tin for copper is far- 
 ther exemplified by the process of whitening" 
 pins^ which is effected by boiling the pins 
 with granulated tin, in a lie made with alum 
 and tartar.* 
 
 A useful alloy is likewise formed by the 
 mixture of tin and antimony. This metallic 
 compound is very white — extremely hard^ — 
 and will bear a very fine polish. On these 
 accounts it is employed in making specula 
 for telescopes, and also for the manufacture 
 of rolled plates to engrave music upon. 
 
 The next metal which I have mentioned 
 as uniting readily with tin — is lead. This me- 
 tal will combine with tin in any proportion — 
 and in most proportions the lead acquires a 
 greater degree of fusibility by its union with 
 the tin. It is this alloy which forms plum- 
 bers' solder — but that compound is prepared 
 with different proportions of tin, according 
 to the purpose for which it is intended. The 
 article called tin-foil, used for lining tea cad- 
 dies, for coating electrical jars, and for other 
 purposes, is also made from a mixture of 
 these two metals. 
 
 * An interesting Memoir on the tinning of common 
 Pins, (by M. Gadolin) will be found in the Journal de 
 Physique for the year 1789. 
 
6 On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 
 
 But what is more relevant to the subject of 
 this paper, is the chemical affinity which sub- 
 sists between tin and iron. One of the strong- 
 est proofs of this affinity is derived from 
 the circumstance that even cast-\vo\\ may be 
 tinned in the same manner as wrought-iron. 
 Of late years, cast-iron saucepans, and pots 
 of a large size, are permanently tinned on 
 their inner surfaces, to prevent the liquors 
 which are boiled in them from acquiring any 
 stain by a partial dissolution of the iron. 
 Many other articles, such as bridle- bits, com- 
 mon stirrups, small nails, &c. are now made 
 much cheaper than formerly, by first fabri- 
 cating them in cast-iron, and then covering 
 them with a thin coat of tin, by the immer- 
 sion of them in a hot mass of that fluid 
 metal. 
 
 That these efl^ects are owing to chemical 
 affinity, cannot be doubted, when it is con- 
 sidered, that in all these cases the pores of 
 the iron are in some degree actually penetra- 
 ted by the tin. 
 
 In the manufacture of tin-plate^ which I 
 am now about to describe, a similar eff'ect 
 is produced, and also by the same means. 
 Plates of iron properly prepared, are immer- 
 sed in a large mass of melted tin, which is 
 kept hot by a fire constantly burning under- 
 
On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 7 
 
 neath it ; — the consequence of which is, 
 that the tin in some measure penetrates the 
 iron, and this attaches other tin to it, so that 
 the whole surface of the iron acquires, by 
 this means, a complete covering of that 
 metal. 
 
 As no accurate account has ever yet been 
 given of the various processes by which this 
 is effected, the following outline may pro- 
 bably be acceptable to the members of your 
 very respectable Society. 
 
 English bar iron of the finest quality, call- 
 ed tin-iron, and which is generally prepared 
 with charcoal instead of mineral coak, and 
 made with the greatest care, for this parti- 
 cular purpose, is first cut to the necessary 
 length, and then rolled at the mill, by a pro- 
 cess which is peculiar to this manufacture,* 
 into plates of the requisite thinness, and of 
 such form as is suitable for the business. 
 These plates are then cut by hand-shears to 
 
 * It would extend this paper to too great a length, or 
 I should like to have given a description of this process^ 
 as it is extremely curious. Should the members of the 
 society wish it, I will furnish it. 
 
8 On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 
 
 the sizes suitable to the different markets.* 
 And as the shearer shears the plates, he piles 
 them in heaps, occasionally putting one plate 
 the cross way, to keep each box separate. 
 Two hundred and twenty-five plates are call- 
 ed a box, but they are not put into boxes of 
 wood in this stage of the operation. The 
 iron plates now go into the hands of the 
 scaler^ who takes them from the shear-house, 
 and bends each of them singly across the 
 middle, into this form ^, preparatory to their 
 being cleaned for tinning, and for the con- 
 veniency of putting them into the scaling 
 furnace, as will be more fully explained 
 hereafter. 
 
 This furnace, or oven, is heated by flame 
 thrown into it from a fire place of a peculiar 
 construction, and it is this flame that scales 
 the plates, which are put into the oven in 
 rows, and arranged three in each row, until 
 the oven is full. It will be obvious that if 
 they lay flat on the floor of the oven, the 
 
 * These plates are generally cut hy hand^ but an inge- 
 nious Whitesmith in Glamorganshire, a few years ago in- 
 vented a method of shearing them by a machine. This 
 machine is worked by a water-wheel, and will shear 100 
 boxes per day— whereas a hand-shearer cannot complete 
 more than 25 boxes in the same period of time. 
 
On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 9 
 
 flame could play only on one side of each 
 plate, whereas, by being bent in the form 
 already described, the flame can operate 
 equally on both sides. It may here be re- 
 marked that the form of all tin-plates, one 
 sort excepted, is that of a parallelogram, 
 and that if a piece of stiff paper, or paste- 
 board, 13| inches long, and 10 inches wide, 
 be bent in the centre at an anole of about 
 sixty degrees, and then put to stand on the 
 two ends, we shall have the form of a plate 
 No. ]. properly bent for the scaling oven. 
 
 The operation of cleansing^ as it is called, 
 and which is preparatory to the process of 
 scaling, is commenced by steeping the plates 
 for the space of four or five minutes, in a 
 mixture of muriatic acid and water, in the 
 proportion of four pounds of acid to three 
 gallons of water. This quantity of the di- 
 luted acid will generally be sufficient for 
 eighteen hundred plates, or eight boxes of 
 225 plates each. 
 
 When the plates have been steeped for the 
 time prescribed, they are taken out of the 
 liquor, and placed upon the floor, three in a 
 row, and then by means of an iron rod put 
 under them, they are conveyed to a furnace 
 heated red-hot, where they remain until the 
 heat takes off the sc;ale, the removal of which 
 
 VOL. III. B 
 
10 On the Manvfacture of Tin-plate. 
 
 was the object in submitting them to that 
 high temperature. 
 
 When this is effected, the plates are taken 
 to a floor, where they are suffered to cool— 
 they are then straightened, and beaten smooth 
 upon a cast-iron block. The workman knows 
 by the appearance of the plates during this 
 operation, whether they have beett well scal- 
 ed—for if they have, that is, if the rust or 
 oxide which was attached to the iron, has 
 been properly removed, they will appear 
 mottled with blue and white, something like 
 marbled paper. The operation we have been 
 describing is called scaling. 
 
 As it is impossible the plates can go through 
 this process without being in some measure 
 warped, or otherwise disfigured, they are 
 now rolled a second time, between a pair of 
 cast-iron rollers, properly hardened and finely 
 polished. This operation makes both sides 
 of the plates perfectly smooth, and imparts 
 a sort of polish to their surfacies. These 
 rollers are each about 17 inches long, and 
 12 or 13 inches in diameter — but I am in- 
 clined to think that if the diameter was 
 greater,* they would set the plates flatter, 
 and do the work better in every respect. 
 
 * Since the above was written, I have submitted the 
 manuscript to a gentleman who is very largely engaged in 
 
On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 1 1 
 
 The technical name of this apparatus is 
 rollsj not rollers. All the rolls which are 
 employed in rolling plates, either hot or cold, 
 in this manufactory, are A^r^Z rolls — and there 
 is as much difference between a pair of hard 
 cast iron rolls, and a pair of soft rollSy al- 
 though they may both be run out of the 
 same pot of metal, as there is between iron 
 and steel. The workmen inform me that 
 the difference is entirely occasioned by the 
 manner of casting them — the soft rolls being 
 cast in sand, whereas the hard rolls are form- 
 ed by pouring the metal- into a thick cast iron 
 box — and that the metal, by coming in con- 
 tact with the cold box is sufficiently chilled 
 to render the whole face of the roll entirely 
 hard. The difference in the temper of these 
 two kinds of rolls is so great, that when they 
 are put into the lathe to be turned perfectly 
 true, the turnings from the one will be jth of 
 an inch in thickness, whilst the turnings 
 which come from the other are not larger 
 than very fine needles. The temper of cast 
 iron thus varying according to the nature of 
 the mould into which it is poured, is a cir- 
 
 the manufacture of tin-plates^ and he tells me that the 
 cold rolls ^^hicfa are employed in his yiovk., are 30 inches in 
 diameter. 
 
12 On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 
 
 cumstance that appears to me to be deserv- 
 ing of attention in the manufacture of a 
 variety of other utensils employed in the 
 arts.* 
 
 These rollers are used without heat, but 
 they are screwed down very close one upon 
 the other, only leaving bare room for the 
 plates to pass, that the utmost attainable de- 
 gree of pressure may be given to them. 
 This last operation is called col,d holding. 
 
 When the plates have undergone this pro- 
 cess, they are put one by one into troughs 
 filled with a liquid preparation called the lies. 
 
 This is merely water, in which bran has 
 been steeped for nine or ten days, until it 
 has acquired a sufficient acidity for the pur- 
 pose. The design of putting the plates into 
 the troughs ^in^/y, is, that there may be more 
 certainty of the liquor getting between them, 
 
 * The art of making good hard rolls appears to be 
 very imperfectly understood, because the difficulty of 
 producing them is very great. Not one in three can be 
 called thoroughly good. For if they are not sufficiently 
 hardened on the surface, they will not wear, whereas if 
 they are made hard throughout, or struck hard to the 
 centre, as the workmen call it, they will generally crack 
 across the middle and become useless. This fault is quite 
 independent of air bubbles or flaws, which are always dis- 
 coverable in turning by the lathe. 
 
On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 13 
 
 and both the sides of every plate being soak- 
 ed alike in the lies. In this liquor they re- 
 main for ten or twelve hours standing on the 
 edges, but they are turned, or inverted, once 
 during that time. This operation is called 
 working in the lies. 
 
 The next operation is that of steeping in 
 a mixture of sulphuric acid and water, in 
 proportions which vary according to the 
 judgment of the workmen. 
 
 The trough in which this operation is con- 
 ducted, is made with thick lead, and the 
 interior is divided by partitions of lead. Each 
 of these divisions is by the workmen called 
 a hole, and each of them w^ill contain about 
 one box of plates. In the diluted sulphuric 
 acid which is in the dilFerent compartments 
 of this vessel, the plates are agitated for 
 about an hour, or until they have become 
 perfectly bright, and entirely free from the 
 black spots which are always upon them 
 when they are first immersed in it. 
 
 Some nicety however is required in this 
 operation, for if they remain too long in the 
 acid, they will become stained, or blistered 
 by it, as the workmen term it ; but practice 
 enables a careful operator to judge of the 
 time when they ought to be removed. This, 
 however, is one of the most difficult parts 
 
14 On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 
 
 of the business, as few men like to work in 
 it ; though I understand that a good Pickler 
 is highly valued by his employers, and ob- 
 tains great wages. It is necessary to notify 
 that this, and the former process with the 
 acidulated water, are both hastened by giv^ 
 ing to those menstrua an increase of tempe- 
 rature^ — and this is effected by means of 
 heated flues which run under each trough. 
 Little additional heat is necessary in summer, 
 however, as 90^ or lOO'* of Fahrenheit is a 
 temperature sufficiently high for either of 
 these operations. 
 
 When the plates come out of the pickle, 
 they are put into pure w^ater, and scoured in 
 it with hemp and sand, to remove any re* 
 maining oxide, or rust of iron that may be 
 still attached to them, for wherever there 
 is a particle of rust, or even dust upon 
 them, there the tin will not fix ; and they 
 are then put into fresh water to be there pre- 
 served for the process of tinning. The de- 
 sign of putting the plates into pure water, 
 after they come out of the sours, is to pre- 
 vent their becoming again oxidated — for it 
 has been found that after these operations, 
 they will acquire no rest, although they should 
 be kept twelve months immersed in water. 
 
 It will be perceived that all these processes 
 
On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 15 
 
 are nothing* more than preparatory measures 
 for the operation which is to succeed, viz, 
 
 that of TINNING. 
 
 For this purpose an iron pot is nearly filled 
 Tvith a mixture of block and grain tin, in a 
 melted state ; and a quantity of tallow or 
 grease, sufficient, when melted, to cover the 
 fluid metal to the thickness of four inches, 
 is put to it. However, as some gentlemen 
 may not be acquainted with the difference 
 between block and graiJi tin, it may be re- 
 marked, before we proceed, that the metal 
 known in commerce by the name of block 
 tin, is prepared either from the mineral call- 
 ed tinstone, or the one known in Cornwall 
 by the name of tin-pyrites, whilst the article 
 called ^ram tin is smelted from an ore which 
 is found in grains called stream tin ore, under 
 beds of alluvial soil, in low situations, whi- 
 ther in the course of ages, it has been washed 
 from the hills by a succession of torrents of 
 rain. The former, which is produced in the 
 greatest abundance, is always contaminated 
 with a portion of iron, sulphur, and other 
 injurious substances, and is therefore only 
 employed for common purposes — while the 
 grain tin, which is nearly free from every 
 impurity, and usually from twenty to thirty 
 shillings per hundred weight dearer, is used 
 
16 On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 
 
 in the processes of dyeing*, and in all other 
 cases where pure tin is required. I am also 
 desirous of remarking, that in my opinion, 
 it would be more profitable to the proprietor 
 of a tin-plate work, if he were to use (/rain 
 tin alone, or grain tin mixed with that kind 
 which is known by the name of Refined 
 Tin," because these kinds not only contain 
 less dross, but they melt, as I know by my 
 own experience, into a more fluid metal; 
 and consequently, more would run oflf the 
 plates in the operation of tinning-, and less 
 tin would be consumed. At present these 
 manufacturers use the block and grain tin, 
 in equal proportions. 
 
 When the tin-pot has been charged in the 
 way above mentioned, the metal is heated 
 from a fire-place underneath it, and by flues 
 which go round the pot, until it is as hot as 
 it can be made without actually inflaming the 
 grease which swims upon its surface. The 
 use of the grease is to preserve the tin from 
 the action of the atmosphere, and consequently 
 to prevent it from oxidating. By melting a 
 little tin or lead in an iron ladle, and, when 
 the dross is skimmed off, putting a morsel of 
 tallow upon the metallic fluid, the effect of 
 the tallow in cleansing the face of the metal 
 will be evident. The workmen also say, that 
 
On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 17 
 
 increases the affinity of the iron for the tin, 
 or, as they express it, that it makes the iron 
 plates take the tin better. 
 
 It is curious that burnt grease^ or any kind 
 of empyreumatic fat, effects this purpose bet- 
 ter than pure fresh tallow. 
 
 Another pot, which is fixed by the side of 
 the tin-pot, is filled with grease only ; and in 
 this the prepared plates are immersed, one 
 by one, before they are treated with the tin ; 
 and when the pot is filled with them, they 
 are suffered to remain in it so long as the su- 
 perintendant thinks necessary. If they re- 
 main in the grease an hour, they are found 
 to tin better than when a shorter time is al- 
 lowed them. 
 
 From this pot they are removed, with the 
 grease still adhering to them, into the pot 
 just before spoken of, which contains the body 
 of melted tin ; and in this they are placed 
 in a vertical position. Three hundred and 
 thirty-eight, or three hundred and forty plates 
 are usually put into this pot at once ;* and 
 
 * It is immaterial how many plates are pat into the tin- 
 pot at once — but this number is usually fixed upon, because 
 it amounts to about one box and a half of plates ; though, 
 as they are put in edgewise, it is necessary the pot 
 
 VOL. III. C 
 
18 On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 
 
 for the sake of their being thoroughly tin- 
 ned, they usually remain in it one hour and 
 a half ; but occasionally more time is required 
 to complete this operation. 
 
 When the plates have lain a sufficient time 
 immersed in the melted tin, they are taken 
 out and placed upon an iron grating-, that 
 the superfluous metal may drain from them ; 
 but, notwithstanding this precaution, when 
 they become cold there is always more me- 
 tal found adhering to them than is necessary ; 
 and this is taken off by a subsequent process, 
 called weighing. As this process is rather 
 complicated, it will be necessary to describe 
 it with some minuteness. 
 
 In the first place, the wash-man prepares 
 an iron pot which he nearly fills with the 
 best grain tin in a melted state — another pot 
 of clean melted tallow, or lard free from 
 salt — a third pot with nothing within it but 
 a grating to receive the plates — and a fourth, 
 called the Usting-poty with a little melted tin 
 in it, about enough to cover the bottom to 
 the depth of a quarter of an inch. The 
 whole will however be better understood by 
 
 should be nearly filled, to prevent their falling do^n — in 
 \7hich case they could not be got out, through so heavy 
 a body of metal, without much difficulty. 
 
On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 1 9 
 
 referring' to the following" drawing, which 
 exhibits the several vessels in the order in 
 which they stand in the manufactory, all 
 supported by substantial brick work. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 •J4- 
 
 The building in which the pots are fixed 
 is called the Stom. The plates are worked 
 from the right to the left of the stow, as will 
 be evident by attending to the uses of the 
 separate pots. 
 
 No. 1. represents the tin-pot. 
 
 2. The wash-pot with the parting with- 
 
 in it. 
 
 3. The grease-pot. 
 
 4. The pan, containing a grating at 
 
 the bottom.* 
 
 5. The list-pot. 
 
 * This pan is designed for the reception of the plates as 
 the boy takes them out of the grease-pot. It has no fire 
 iinderneath it. 
 
20 On the Manufacture of Tin-plate, 
 
 The drawing" represents the surface of the 
 pots. The asterisks shew the places where 
 the workmen stand, and also mark those pots 
 which have heated flues under them. No. 4. 
 has no fire under it. 
 
 The parting in the wash-pot No. 2, is a 
 late improvement. The design of it is to keep 
 the dross of the tin from lodging* in that part 
 of the vessel where the last dip is given to 
 the plates. By using the common tin in the 
 first process of tinning, much oxide, or dross, 
 adheres to the surface of the plates, and this 
 runs off in the wash-pot, and comes to the 
 face of the new metal — but this parting ena- 
 bles the operator to prevent it from spreading 
 over the whole surface of the pot. Were it 
 not for this parting, the wash-man must skim 
 the oxide off the fluid metal every time he 
 puts plates into it. 
 
 The pots of which I have given a sketch 
 being all in a state of fitness, the wash-man 
 commences his part of what remains of the 
 business, by putting the plates which have 
 undergone the various operations hitherto 
 described into the vessel of grain-tin, called 
 the wash-pot.* The heat of this large body 
 
 * None but grain-tin is ever put into this vessel, for 
 the ¥^hole of the common tin \?hich is consumed in such 
 
On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 21 
 
 of melted metal soon melts all the loose tin on 
 the surface of these plates, and so deteriorates 
 the quality of the whole mass, that it is usual, 
 when sixty or seventy boxes have been washed 
 in the grain tin, to take out the quantity of 
 a block, say three hundred weight, and re- 
 plenish the wash-pot with a fresh block of 
 pure ffrain-t'in. These vessels generally hold 
 three blocks each, or about half a ton weight 
 of metal. That which is taken out of the 
 wash-pot when it is replenished with pure 
 metal, is given to the tin-man to put into his 
 pot. 
 
 When the plates are taken out of the wash- 
 pot, they are carefully brushed on each side 
 with a brush of hemp of a peculiar kind, and 
 made expressly for the purpose. As this part 
 of the business requires considerable adroit- 
 ness and expedition, it may be worth while to 
 explain it a little more in detail. 
 
 The wash-man first takes a few plates out 
 of the wash-pot, and lays them together be- 
 fore him on the stow, — he then takes one 
 plate up with a pair of tongs, which he holds 
 in his left hand, and with a brush held in his 
 right hand brushes one side of the plate — he 
 
 manufactories, is used in the Jirst process, viz., that which 
 is called tinning'. 
 
22 On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 
 
 then turns it, and brushes the other side, and 
 immediately dips it once more into the hot 
 fluid metal in the wash-pot, and without let- 
 ting it out of the tongs, instantly withdraws 
 it again, and plunges it into the grease-pot 
 (marked No. 3.) adjoining to the wash pot 
 from whence he had just taken it. 
 
 A person who has not seen the operation, 
 can form but a very inadequate idea of the 
 adroitness with which this is performed — 
 practice, however, gives the workman so much 
 expedition, that he is enabled to make good 
 wages, although he obtains only three pence 
 for the brushing and metallic-washing of 225 
 plates. I am informed that an expert wash^ 
 man, if he makes the best of his time, will 
 wash 25 boxes, consisting of 5625 plates in 
 twelve hours; notwithstanding every plate 
 must be brushed on both sides, and dipped 
 twice into the pot of melted tin. 
 
 Why the plates should be dipped twice 
 during this part of their manufacture, may 
 perhaps require some explanation. It must 
 be recollected that they are brushed quite hot, 
 and before the tin is set, therefore, if they had 
 not the last dip, the marks of the brush would 
 be visible. Moreover, the brush takes the 
 greatest part of the tin off them, so that if 
 they were removed to the grease-pot without 
 
On the Manvfacture of Tin-plate. 23 
 
 being re.clipped, the hot grease would take 
 off what remained. 
 
 The only use of the grease-pot is to take 
 off any superfluous metal that may be upon 
 the plates— but this is an operation that re^ 
 quires great attention, because, as the plate 
 is immersed in the grease while the tin is in 
 a melting, or at least in a soft, state upon it, 
 apartmie^f off,"^^d?:the remainder become 
 less and less while the plate continues in it ; 
 therefore, if these plates should ever be left 
 in the melted tallow longer than is absolutely 
 necessary, they will doubtless require to be 
 dipped a third time in the tin. On the other 
 hand, if the plates were to be finished with- 
 out passing through the grease, they would 
 retain too much of the tin, which would be 
 a loss to the manufacturer; and besides, the 
 whole of the tin would appear to be in waves 
 upon the iron. 
 
 It is also equally necessary to attend to 
 the temperature of the melted tallow, which 
 must be colder or hotter in proportion as the 
 plates are thicker or thinner ; for if, when the 
 tallow is of a proper temperature for a thin 
 plate, a thick one was to be put into it, it 
 would come out, not of the colour of tin as 
 it ought to be, but as yellow as gold. The 
 reason of this is evident. The thick plate 
 contains more heat than a thin one, and con- 
 
24 On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 
 
 sequently requires the tallow to be at a lower 
 temperature. On the contrary, if a parcel 
 of thin plates were to be worked in a pot of 
 tallow which had been prepared for thick 
 plates, such a pot would not be hot enough 
 to effect the intended purpose. 
 
 It is a common observation that in most of 
 our manufactures, and in all chemical specu- 
 lations, theory and practice are generally at 
 variance — but there are few manufactures 
 perhaps, where there are so many minutiae 
 which would escape the notice of a casual 
 observer, and yet that require to be carefully 
 attended to, in order to produce a good result, 
 as in that which we have now been describ- 
 ing — and should the perusal of this paper oc- 
 casion but one individual to pause, who was 
 about to enter into a new concern with which 
 he was only partially acquainted, I shall have 
 w^'itten to a good purpose. 
 
 But to return to the process. When the 
 plates are sufficiently brushed, they are again 
 immersed one by one in the pot of melted 
 tin, as has already been remarked, and im- 
 mediately from this they are put into the pot 
 of tallow above mentioned. This pot has 
 pins fixed within it, in such a manner as to 
 prevent the plates from touching each other ; 
 and this part of the process is conducted in 
 the following manner. 
 
On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 25 
 
 When the wash-man has passed Jive of the 
 plates through the melted tin, and from 
 thence into the pot of tallow above men- 
 tioned, a boy takes out one of them and puts 
 it into the empty pot to cool, and the wash- 
 man puts in the sixth plate. The boy then 
 takes out a second plate, and lays it to cool 
 likewise ; when the man puts in his seventh, 
 and so they go on, in this regular manner, 
 until the whole of the parcel is finished. 
 
 In consequence of the plates being immer- 
 5^ed in the melted tin in a vertical position, 
 there is always, when they have become cold, 
 a wire of tin on the lower edge of every 
 plate which is necessary to be removed, and 
 this is done in the following manner. 
 
 A boy, called the list-boy, takes the plates 
 when they are cool enough to handle, and 
 puts the lower edge of each, one by one, 
 into the li«t-pot, which is the vessel that was 
 before described, as containing a very small 
 quantity of melted tin, and the same as that 
 which I have marked No. 5. When the wire 
 of tin is melted by this last immersion, the 
 boy takes out the plate, and gives it a smart 
 blow with a thin stick, which disengages the 
 wire of superfluous metal, and this falling ofl^, 
 leaves only a faint stripe in the place where it 
 was attached. This mark may be discovered 
 
 VOL. III. D 
 
26 On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 
 
 on every tin plate which is exposed for sale — 
 the workmen, in the manufactory of them, 
 call it the list. 
 
 Nothing' now remains but to cleanse the 
 plates from the tallow. This is done by 
 means of bran, and as they are cleansed they 
 are put into strong wooden boxes, or boxes 
 of sheet'iron, made exactly to fit them ; and 
 this completes the whole business. Each box 
 contains a determinate number of plates, and 
 the following table will shew the different 
 sizes of tin plate which are made in Great 
 Britain, and the marks by which each kind 
 is known in Commerce. 
 
 Names 
 
 Sizes 
 
 No. ill 
 a Box 
 
 Weight of 
 each Box 
 
 Marks put 
 on the Boxes 
 
 
 Inch 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13J by 10 
 
 by 91 
 
 225 
 
 1 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 CI 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 21 
 
 Oil 
 
 Do 3. 
 
 12|by 9i 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 16 
 
 cm 
 
 
 13| by 10 
 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 0 
 21 
 
 XI 
 XXI 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 14 
 
 XXXI 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 XXXXI 
 
 Common Doubles.. 
 
 16|byl2i 
 
 100 
 
 
 3 
 
 21 
 
 CD 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 0 
 
 14 
 
 XD 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 XXD 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 0 
 
 XXXD 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 21 
 
 XXXXD 
 
 Cora, small Doubles 
 
 15 by n 
 
 200 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 0 
 
 CSD 
 
 Cross do. ...do 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 21 
 
 XSD 
 
 Two Cross ...do .... 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 14 
 
 XXSD 
 
 Three do do 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 0 
 
 7 
 
 XXXSD 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 0 
 
 XXXXSD 
 
 Wasters Com. No. 1. 
 
 13i by 10 
 13| by 10 
 
 225 
 
 1 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 WCI 
 
 Do. Cross.... 1. 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 0 
 
 WXI 
 
On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 27 
 
 A List of the Current Wholesale Prices of Tin-Plate 
 in September 1817, in London, 
 
 Sorts 
 
 Weights 
 
 Prices per 
 Box 
 
 
 lb. 
 
 
 lb. 
 
 s. 
 
 C No. ] 
 
 112 
 
 to 
 
 115 
 
 41 
 
 C 2 
 
 103 
 
 
 106 
 
 39 
 
 C 3 
 
 98 
 
 
 ♦ 101 
 
 37 
 
 X No. 1 
 
 140 
 
 
 142 
 
 49 
 
 XX 1 
 
 160 
 
 
 163 
 
 55 
 
 XXX 1 
 
 182 
 
 
 185 
 
 61 
 
 CD 
 
 98 
 
 
 103 
 
 37 
 
 XD 
 
 126 
 
 
 129 
 
 45 
 
 XXD 
 
 147 
 
 • • • 
 
 150 
 
 51 
 
 XXXD 
 
 168 
 
 
 171 
 
 57 
 
 CSD 
 
 167 
 
 
 170 
 
 63 
 
 XSD 
 
 188 
 
 
 191 
 
 69 
 
 XXSD ..... 
 
 209 
 
 
 212 
 
 75 
 
 
 112 
 
 
 115 
 
 35 
 
 Do.XI 
 
 140 
 
 
 143 
 
 43 
 
 No. ill each 
 Box 
 
 -225 
 
 100 
 
 Having given so detailed an account of 
 the manufacture of tin-plate, it may be ex- 
 pected that I should say a iew words on the 
 origin of the art. 
 
 Formerly none of the English workers in 
 iron or tin had any knowledge whatever of 
 the methods by which this useful article could 
 be produced ; our ancestors, from time imme- 
 morial, having supplied themselves with it 
 from Bohemia and Saxony. The establish- 
 ment of this manufacture in those districts, 
 was doubtless owing to their vicinity to the 
 tin mines in the circle of Ersgebirg, which, 
 
28 On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 
 
 next to those of Cornwall, are the laro-est in 
 Europe. The ore which is found there is not 
 the tin pyrites y but the mineral called tinstone \ 
 and it is curious that it should occur in abun- 
 dance, both on the Bohemian and Saxon sides 
 of the mountain group — accordingly, manu- 
 factories of tinned iron have been established 
 in both those kingdoms. Alluvial deposits 
 of grain-tin are also found in the same vici- 
 nity. 
 
 . From the time of the invention of tin-plate 
 to the end of the seventeenth century, not 
 only England, but also the whole of Europe 
 depended upon the manufactures of Bohe- 
 mia and Saxony for their supply. However, 
 about the year 1665 one Andrew Yarranton, 
 encouraged by some persons of property un- 
 dertook, to go over to Saxony to acquire a 
 knowledge of the art~-and on his return, se- 
 veral parcels of tin-plate were made of a su- 
 perior quality to those which we had been ac- 
 customed to import from Saxony ; but owing 
 to some unfortunate and unforeseen circumr 
 stances, which are all detailed by Mr. Yar- 
 ranton,* the manufactory was not at that 
 
 * England's Improvement by Sea and Land/* with 
 many plates of Plans, Charts, &c. in two parts, by Andrew 
 Yarranton, Gent. Part I. Quarto. London, 1677. Part IL 
 London, 1681. 
 
On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 29 
 
 time established in any part of Great Bri-^ 
 tain. 
 
 As it is now difficult to procure a copy of 
 the work from which I have obtained a 
 knowledge of the manner in which this 
 manufactory was brought into England, an 
 abridgment of the author's own account of 
 the transaction may perhaps be interesting to 
 some of the members of the Society. 
 
 Knowing," sa}'s Mr. Yarranton, the 
 usefulness of tin-plates, and the goodness of 
 our metals for that purpose, I did (about six- 
 teen years since*) endeavour to find out the 
 way for making thereof ; whereupon, I ac- 
 quainted a person of much riches, and one 
 that was very understanding in the iron manu- 
 facture ; who was pleased to say, that he had 
 often designed to get the trade into England, 
 but never could find out the way. Upon 
 which it was agreed, that a sum of monies 
 should be advanced, by several persons, for 
 the defraying my charge of travelling to the 
 place where these plates were made; and 
 from thence to bring away the art of making 
 them. Upon which, an able fire-man, that 
 
 * This account is dated February 2ad, 1681 ; I therefore 
 conclade that Mr, Yarranton's journey to Saxony must 
 have been about the year 1665. 
 
30 On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 
 
 well understood the whole nature of iron, 
 was made choice of to accompany me; and 
 being fitted with an engenious interpreter, 
 that well understood the language, and that 
 had dealt much in that commodity, we 
 marched first for Hamburg, then to Lips- 
 7vick ; and from thence to Draisden, the duke 
 of Saxomes Court, where we had notice of 
 the place where the plates were made ; which 
 was in a large tract of mountainous land, 
 running from a place called Seger-Hutton, 
 unto a town called Awe^ hem^ in length 
 about twenty miles ; the tin-works being 
 there fixed upon a great river running clear 
 along the valley, and also upon some little 
 rivulets that run out of the mountains of 
 Bohemia and Saxony ; and coming to the 
 works, we were very civilly treated, and, 
 contrary to our expectation, we had much 
 liberty to view, and see the works go — with 
 the way and manner of their working and ex- 
 tending the plates, as also the perfect view of 
 such materials as they used in clearing the 
 plates, to make them fit to take tin, with 
 the way they use in tinning them over, 
 when cleared from their rust and blackness. 
 And having (as we judged) sufficiently ob- 
 tained the whole art of making and tinning 
 the plates, we then came for England, where 
 
On the Manufacture of Tin plate. 31 
 
 the several persons concerned in the affair 
 thought fit to make some trial in making- 
 some small quantities of plates and tinning 
 them, which was done ; and all workmen 
 that wrought upon them agreeing that the 
 plates were much better than those which 
 were made in Germany ; upon which, pre- 
 paration was making to set this beneficial 
 thing at work ; — but, it being understood at 
 London, A patent was trumpt up, and the 
 patentee was countenanced by some persons 
 of quality — and what, with the patent being 
 in our wa)% and the richest of our partners 
 being afraid to offend great men in power, 
 who had their eye upon us, it caused the 
 thing to cool, and the making thereof was 
 neither proceeded in by us, nor possibly could 
 be by him that had the patent ; because nei- 
 ther he that hath the patent, nor those that 
 have countenanced him, can make one plate 
 fit for use."* 
 
 This enterprising individual, who spentf 
 the greater part of his life in promoting 
 schemes for the good of his country, and 
 who, in the opinion of Bishop Watson, ought 
 to have had a statue erected to his memory,f 
 
 * England's Improvement, &c. page 149 — 152 Part II. 
 f The following particulars which I have collected res- 
 pecting Mr.Yarranton, will tend to justify the good Bishop 
 
32 On the Mamfacture of Tin-plate. 
 
 proceeds to inform us that before they were 
 stopped by the patent, they had raade " many 
 thousand plates from iron raised in the forest 
 of Dean, and tinned them over with Cornish 
 tin, and the plates proved far better than the 
 German plates, by reason of the toughness 
 and flexibleness of our forest iron. One Mr. 
 DisOn, says he, a tinman in Worcester, one 
 
 in this opinion. He was bound as an apprentice, early in 
 life, to a linen draper, but after some years he left that 
 situation in disgust. In the year 1652 he took some iron 
 works, which he carried on for several years ; and during 
 this period, he made regular surveys of the three great 
 rivers in England, and by means of associations which 
 were formed by himself, he rendered three other rivers na- 
 i?igable-— he studied agriculture with such effect, that 
 many of the arable estates in the midland counties were 
 rendered doubly productive by the new methods of hus- 
 bandry which he either brought from abroad, or disco- 
 vered; — he laid a plan for the junction of the Thames and 
 Severn at that spot where of late years this very scheme 
 has been effected ; — he proposed the cutting of several 
 navigable canals, half a century before any such project 
 had been executed in this country. He made the neces- 
 sary surveys and planned docks for the cities of London 
 and Dublin; — besides his journey to Saxony already men- 
 tioned, he went to Holland, under the patronage of the 
 ancestors of some of our present nobility, to examine the 
 inland navigations of the Dutch, and to investige the 
 nature of their linen manufactures; — and on his return 
 promulgated the plan for a new manufacture of linens, 
 which he calculated would employ all the poor of England^ 
 
On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 33 
 
 Mr. Lydiate near Fleet-bridge, and one Mr. 
 Harrison near ^e Kingsbench, have wrought 
 many, and they know their goodness."* 
 
 In another place this interesting writer in- 
 forms us that when he was in Saxony, the 
 diflferent establishments for making tin-plates 
 were very numerous, and that most of them 
 belonged to the duke."t " The trade/' 
 says he, is so great, that by computation, no 
 less than 80,000 men depend upon it, and 
 when the plates are finished, they are sent 
 by land to Lipsick, from thence to the Elbe 
 river, and so down to Hamburg^ and from 
 thence sent by sea as far as trade is known." J 
 
 There was," says he, *^ no tin any where in 
 Europe, except in Cornwall, until a Cornish 
 man found tin in the mountains of Saxony, 
 near a town called Awe, where his statue is 
 yet to be seen. The tin works are fixed upon 
 
 He published schemes for the improvement of our national 
 fisheries ; he made several tours through Ireland, for the 
 express purpose of planting new manufactures and devi- 
 sing the increase of the staple trades of that country ; — 
 He made a regular survey and estimate of the expence of 
 rendering the river Slane in Ireland navigable, for the 
 purpose of bringing timber down to the coast for his Ma- 
 jesty^s navy ; and rendered many other signal services to 
 his country. 
 
 * Page 173. f Page 155. % Page 172. 
 VOL. III. E 
 
34 On the Manvfacture of Tin-plate. 
 
 a great river running' down the valley — and 
 the tin, iron and veoods, grow in and upon 
 the mountains adjoining to both sides the 
 river; and those tin-works have proved so 
 beneficial to the place, that there are several 
 fine cities raised by the riches proceeding 
 therefrom."* He adds, ^*the trade of making 
 tin-plates was about sixty years since fixt in 
 Bohemia, and had there long continued, but 
 the woods decaying, and there being at that 
 time a wise duke of Saxony, willing and 
 ready to improve his own revenue, and his 
 subjects, did accept of directions how this 
 trade might be brought away and fixt in the 
 duke of Saxony's territoriesf — A Romish 
 Priest, converted to be a Lutheran, was the 
 chief instrument in the whole affair, until it 
 was perfected — and a Cornish miner, a Pro- 
 testant, who had been banished out of Eng- 
 land for his religion, found out the tin in 
 Saxony — both which persons proved instru- 
 ments of great wealth to that duke and 
 country. "J 
 
 Notwithstanding Mr. Yarranton had so 
 completely introduced the knowledge of 
 
 * Yarranton, part II. page 176. f Ibid, page 178. 
 
 X Saxony is only separated from Boliemia by a chain of 
 mountains called the Erzegeberg ; which in German sig- 
 nifies hills that contain mines. 
 
On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 35 
 
 making' tin-plate into this country, I do not 
 find that any manufacture of that article was 
 established in these kingdonis until some time 
 between the years 1720 and 1730, which 
 must have been long after Mr. Yarranton's 
 death. The first establishment of this kind 
 was, I believe, fixed in Monmouthshire, 
 where it continued to flourish many years.^ 
 
 About the time that this Manufactory was 
 established, the amiable and intelligent M. 
 Reaumur, to whom the French are indebted 
 for a new mode of graduating the thermo- 
 meter, and for many discoveries and improve- 
 ments in the arts,t — undertook to discover 
 the method of making tin-plates for the 
 
 * Upon further enquiry, I find that this was at the 
 town of Ponty Pool; and it is remarkable, that after the 
 lapse of nearly 100 years the manufacture has recently 
 been re-established at the same town, on a very extensive 
 scale. 
 
 I It was Mons. Reaumur who was the means of intro- 
 ducing into France the methods of making Porcelain . 
 for when Francis D'Entrocolles, who had resided many 
 years in China as a Christian Missionary, sent to France 
 specimens of the materials used by the Chinese in their 
 Porcelain, M. Reaumur immediately instituted a series of 
 experiments to discover the method of imitating their pro- 
 ductions, and in the years 1727 and 1729, communicated 
 the result of hii, researches to the Academy of Sciences; 
 and his two memoirs were published by the Society, in 
 their Transactions, 
 
36 On the Manufacture of Tin-plate. 
 
 French people. This eminent man, whose 
 mind was cast in a mould very similar to that 
 of Mr. Yarranton, but who possessed more 
 science, never relinquished any thing* which 
 he undertook ; and accordingly, notwithstand- 
 ing the innumerable difficulties which he had 
 to encounter, at length succeeded in acquiring 
 such a knowledge of the principles of the 
 manufacture, as enabled him to instruct se- 
 veral people in the vicinity of Paris, in an 
 art which, until then, had never been prac- 
 tised in that country. 
 
 Soon after the time of which I am speak- 
 ing, several similar manufactories w^ere erec- 
 ted in Great Britain, and now the establish- 
 ments of this nature are so numerous and ex- 
 tensive in many parts of these kingdoms, 
 that the manufacture of tin-plate is become 
 of great national importance, and more than 
 one hundred thousand boxes of these plates 
 are annually exported. 
 
 January 12th, 1818.