From: owner-hist_text-digest@lists.xmission.com (hist_text-digest) To: hist_text-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: hist_text-digest V1 #159 Reply-To: hist_text Sender: owner-hist_text-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-hist_text-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk hist_text-digest Wednesday, October 21 1998 Volume 01 : Number 159 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 18 Oct 1998 19:34:35 -0700 From: Roger Lahti Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Tinning Ron, Hello your self. I got started making copper boilers this year and have worked out the process. I'll make it short and sweet and if you have other questions you are more than welcome to contact me off list. I haven't been able to find "tin" at affordable prices and just finding it has been frustrating so what I use is "lead free Silver bearing Plumbers Solder". It goes for about $10 per roll and that is enough to do many pots. Your copper must be very clean and free of blemishes that might keep the solder from adhering. I like to steel wool the copper if it is not in real good shape and I always use the best (cleanest) side on the inside. I have found that paste fluxes tend to make a big mess and so I have been using liquid flux and a cotton swab on a stick to lightly but thoroughly paint the inside of the pot with flux. Do not let it puddle! Just enough to completely cover the inside with no missed spots! Getting some in the seams is a good idea too. I use my Coleman Stove as a heat source and cut up about a foot of the solder into the bottom of the pot. Make a small (thumb size) swab of steel wool on a coat hanger wire (use course steel wool) and squirt some flux on the steel wool swab. Bend the wire over the ball of Steel wool and crimp tight. Heat up the pot using heavy gloves and the bail to hold the pot on the stove until the solder is flowing freely. Use the swab to wash the solder around inside the pot. With the pot on its side at a sharp angle pull liquid solder up the sides and let it flush down as you slowly turn the pot to expose all sides to your efforts. When you have the insides of the pot well coated, and while the solder is still hot, pour off the excess into the lid if you are doing one and try to CAREFULLY sweep out any excess solder so it isn't puddled in the bottom. This last act is a bit tricky and I found I needed to go back on some pots to get it right. Persevere. I put the pot in the washer so it gets scrubbed out well. You can wash it by hand but try to get all the black residue from the flux out. A trip with some steel wool may be needed if you didn't do a perfect job. That should get you a 'tinned' pot. I remain.... YMOS Capt. Lahti'. #1719 and damn proud too! Ron wrote: > Hello the list! > > How would I go about tinning a copper pot? Where can I buy cubes of tin? ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Oct 1998 20:45:40 +0000 From: randybublitz@juno.com (RANDAL J BUBLITZ) Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Reading Material Steve, I would recommend Stephen Ambrose's 'Undaunted Courage', Bil Gilbert's 'Westering Man' (Joseph Walker), Bernard DeVeto's 'Across the Wide Missouri', Zenas Leonard's 'Adventures of a Mountain Man: The Narrative of Zenas Leonard', and Hiram Martin Chittenden's 'The American Fur Trade of The Far West' Vol 1 & 2. There are so many more, but these are a few of my favorites. Enjoy the winter, stay warm...... Hardtack ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 01:14:09 EDT From: EmmaPeel2@aol.com Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Recommended Reading Material I would like to recommend "Ritual Ground", a smashing book by Douglas C Comer (1996, University of California Press). Incorporating the findings of archaeological research at Bent's Fort, it provides not just another routine historical overview, but goes into an anthropological view or the cultures that collided at Bents Fort, and how they prospered or declined. Nice biographical sketches of the people there too. I discovered this book by accident, at the back of Borders section of western history. A delightful book, chock full of information. As they say in my home country, simply smashing. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 10:50:58 -0600 From: agottfre@telusplanet.net (Angela Gottfred) Subject: MtMan-List: Re: The Scottish, and Scottish costume Dennis Fisher wrote: >>All that being said, I never heard of fur trappers who worked the Great Lakes area, Hudson's Bay, or even the Canadian Rockies for the HBC or the NWC referred to as mountain men. Maybe Angela has some source material on the subject.>> I don't recall ever seeing the term "mountain man" in my reading on the HBC & NWC fur traders, but I focus on the 1774-1821 period, which is just before the Oregon territory "mountain man" era got started. However, Canadians (NWC) were the first fur traders to operate in the Rocky Mountains, starting in the mid-1790's. Since, in looking at Scots in the fur trade, we've touched on an old and confusing thread, I thought I'd repost an old e-mail of mine: Yes, there were a bunch of Highland Scots in the Canadian fur trade--some names from the North West Company: Alexander Mackenzie (who led the first expedition to cross North America by land, in 1793), Simon Fraser (both Fraser and Mackenzie spent many years operating in & around the Rocky Mountains, by the way), William McGillivray, Archibald Norman McLeod, John Macdonald of Garth, and many more. In my reading of a bunch of pre-1821 journals which focus on the HBC & NWC, I have yet to find any suggestion of them wearing Highland dress. (But they were proud Scots, and often gave their men St. Andrews' Day as a holiday.) Many of these men were rich enough to have their portraits painted when they were living in Montreal, but none had themselves painted in _anything_ tartan, let alone wearing kilts or plaids. (The artist who did most of these fur traders' portraits was William Berczy; check out the book _Berczy_ by Mary Macaulay Allodi, Peter N. Moogk, & Beate Stock, published by the National Gallery of Canada, 1991.) There is one exception to this: John Mackenzie, the mixed-blood son of Roderick Mackenzie and his Native wife, was painted by Berczy wearing a red-and-green tartan jacket, white ruffled shirt, black cravat, and a Highland feather bonnet. For what it's worth, at the time that the portrait was painted (1811), John Mackenzie was a lietenant in the Canadian Fencibles. Roderick Mackenzie also had his portrait painted by Berczy--he is not wearing any sort of Highland dress or tartan. John Mackenzie was born about 1788, and in 1801 his father took him to Terrebonne (near Montreal), where he spent the rest of his life (died 1871). So it's unclear how much his clothing in this portrait would reflect what was worn back in the Northwest. After about 1825, IIRC, Highland dress suddenly became fashionable in the U.K. Sir George Simpson's only Scottish fashion accessory, however, was his newly-acquired piper, Colin Fraser, who was hired to accompany Simpson to the HBC's western posts in 1828. From 1835 to 1850, Fraser managed the HBC's Jasper House, in the Rocky Mountains (now within Jasper National Park). (This info from _Northwind Dreaming : Fort Chipewyan 1788-1988_ by Patricia A. McCormack, published by Provincial Museum of Alberta, 1988, ISBN 1-55006-121-6.) Some other Scots in the fur trade: starting in 1814 (if I recall correctly), the Earl of Selkirk, Thomas Douglas, arranged for Highland Scots evicted in the Clearances to be taken by the HBC to settle at the forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers (modern Winnipeg). This project continued for the next ten years, and some of the men joined the HBC as employees. Selkirk himself came out to Red River in 1816. However, in Peter Rindisbacher's numerous sketches of life in & around the Selkirk settlement, not a single Scot in Highland dress is shown. In one sketch, made to show the various types of Selkirk settlers, he shows Swiss colonists (of which Rindisbacher was one), Canadians, and a Scotsman. The only article of Highland dress which can be identified is a close-fitting watch cap with a tartan trim around the edge (or perhaps a turned-up tartan lining?). The HBC also employed a large number of men from Scotland's Orkney Islands from the 1780's onwards, but these men were _not_ Highland Scots; the Orkney tradition owes a lot more to the Vikings than to the Highlanders. Someone else mentioned that all the Scottish HBC & NWC men listed thus far were all bourgeois anyhow. This is true. However, the mixed-blood descendants of the Scottish bourgeois were only rarely bourgeois themselves; the problem was that they rarely learned how to read & write, so they couldn't take on the clerical responsibilities of the job. There was also a lot of prejudice against them by high-ranking upstarts like George Simpson. Nevertheless, like their fathers, they _may_ have taken their Highland heritage seriously enough to adopt some elements of Highland dress. So what's my suggestion? Tartan trews (trousers) might be a better choice for a costume than a kilt or plaid, and more practical for the cold weather of the Rockies & Great Plains. As well, there's a much better chance of tartan trousers going unrecorded than of more elaborate Highland dress. Or you could, like John Mackenzie, wear a tartan jacket or coat, for the same reason. Despite all this rambling, I don't claim to be an expert in this field--not by a long shot! I know there was a so-called "Tartan Revival" in England & Scotland in the mid-1820's, but I have no idea whether that translated into more folks wearing Highland dress in the fur trade. Perhaps someone else can fill us in? Your humble & obedient servant, Angela Gottfred agottfre@telusplanet.net ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 18:02:39 -0700 From: j2hearts@juno.com (John C Funk) Subject: MtMan-List: Joseph Bridger OK camp! Here's a question for you. Did Jim Bridger have any relative by the name of....Joseph Bridger???? Yes, it's a real person, but was he a relative? John Funk ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 18:09:49 -0700 From: j2hearts@juno.com (John C Funk) Subject: MtMan-List: Re: The Scottish, and Scottish costume Angela, GREAT dissertation of Canadian Scots!!!!!! John (form the Ramsay Clan) Funk ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Oct 1998 01:19:03 EDT From: NaugaMok@aol.com Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Tinning In a message dated 98-10-19 00:45:46 EDT, you write: << I haven't been able to find "tin" at affordable prices and just finding it has been frustrating so what I use is "lead free Silver bearing Plumbers Solder". It goes for about $10 per roll and that is enough to do many pots. >> You can also use "95-5" solder which is 95% tin & 5% antimony. The antimony makes the tin flow better & is not toxic. Runs about the same price or a bit cheaper as the lead free stuff. Seems to flow & adhere better than the lead free stuff. The old tinners used asbestos pads to swab the tin/solder around inside the pots, but as we now know, asbestos ain't good for us, so it's nearly impossible to find, & hazardous to use. I've read that some used heavy leather pads, but I think the steel wool trick might be easier -- especialy on smaller pots where you can't get your gloved hand inside with enough room to move freely. Some autobody sypply houses still carry the pads for "leading" which was the process used for autobody repairs before "Bondo" came along. It was a process in which melted lead was wiped on the body metal to fill in the imperfections/dents. For large pots the pads used for this process should work well because you're workng sith simular temperatures. The small stainless steel "tooth brush" (so named for it's size & shape) might work well in some applications. Some fluxes remove easier with alchohol -- the plain old "rubbing" variety seems to work as well as ethanol & methanol & is easier to find (local grocery store) & much cheaper. Above all -- remember you're working with molten tin / solder that's in the 600 degree range & ANY contact with bare skin is imediate pain!!! Be careful!!! Any contact between this molten metal & water has explosive results that usualy splatters the hot tin & generates large amounts of super heated steam. As Capt recommended heavy gloves are a must -- check your local welding supply. I'd also recommend long sleeved cotton shirts & heavy canvas or leather work aprons. I learned the hard way & have the scars to prove it!! I've done a lot of radiator work & some "leaded" body work & had recently gotten the urge to make a pot too, but I was intending on using brass shim stock. This question came at a good time for me because I was doing some heavy thinking about how to spread the tin inside the corn boiler sized pot knowing I couldn't get my hand + glove + pad inside to do the spreading. I'd already decided simply sloshing the tin around inside wasn't a good idea with questionable results. I DO know heat is the secret to getting the tin to flow properly & have it leave a usable thickness of tin deposited on the surface the wife won't scratch through it the first time she scrubs the pot out. You want the pot just hot enough for the tin to flow & stick -- too hot & the resulting coating will be pretty thin. NM ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Oct 1998 09:50:42 -0700 From: Gary Bell Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Tinning CAUTION!!!!! Antimony IS toxic, and the alloy with tin you mentioned could still provide some soluble antimony -- not enough to knock you down dead right away, but maybe enough to make you ill slowly, or initiate a serious health problem sometime later (where the cause is less clear and remedies pretty much unavailable). Antimony compounds were used in medicines in the 19th century and before, just as lead, mercury and arsenic were, with similar results. In the past,antimony was used medicinally in numerous forms, but in the late 18th and early 19th centuries it was particularly common in the form of "Tartar emetic" (hydrated potassium antimonyl tartrate, in case you wanted to know that), and used (with little or no success) to treat fevers. It produced vomiting, sweating and catharsis (purgative, forcing the body to expell undesired materials especially from the bowels in order to purify and relieve it). Pure tin is the metal to use in cookware, and if the price seems too high consider the cost, discomfort and inconvenience of medical care today..... and the small amount of tin needed for mending or making your pot. Seriously, the price shouldn;t be all that bad for the amount needed, as the prices for all the high tin content alloy products (including your 95-5 solder) are based on three things: the open market cost of tin (which should be similar no matter what form and what other metals are alloyed in small amounts), plus the cost of fabricating it into a useful form for us (cast in bars, very cheap), plus the cost of distributing it to us (that is likely the source of the high pricing you found -- suggest checking around for a 'commercial' or 'industrial' source of pure tin). By the way, guess where the term 'tinker' for an itinerant mender of pots came from... YMHAOS, Gary Bell NaugaMok@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 98-10-19 00:45:46 EDT, you write: > > << I haven't been > able to find "tin" at affordable prices and just finding it has been > frustrating so what I use is "lead free Silver bearing Plumbers Solder". It > goes for about $10 per roll and that is enough to do many pots. >> > > You can also use "95-5" solder which is 95% tin & 5% antimony. The antimony > makes the tin flow better & is not toxic. Runs about the same price or a bit > cheaper as the lead free stuff. Seems to flow & adhere better than the lead > free stuff. > > The old tinners used asbestos pads to swab the tin/solder around inside the > pots, but as we now know, asbestos ain't good for us, so it's nearly > impossible to find, & hazardous to use. I've read that some used heavy > leather pads, but I think the steel wool trick might be easier -- especialy on > smaller pots where you can't get your gloved hand inside with enough room to > move freely. Some autobody sypply houses still carry the pads for "leading" > which was the process used for autobody repairs before "Bondo" came along. It > was a process in which melted lead was wiped on the body metal to fill in the > imperfections/dents. For large pots the pads used for this process should > work well because you're workng sith simular temperatures. The small > stainless steel "tooth brush" (so named for it's size & shape) might work well > in some applications. Some fluxes remove easier with alchohol -- the plain > old "rubbing" variety seems to work as well as ethanol & methanol & is easier > to find (local grocery store) & much cheaper. > > Above all -- remember you're working with molten tin / solder that's in the > 600 degree range & ANY contact with bare skin is imediate pain!!! Be > careful!!! Any contact between this molten metal & water has explosive > results that usualy splatters the hot tin & generates large amounts of super > heated steam. As Capt recommended heavy gloves are a must -- check your local > welding supply. I'd also recommend long sleeved cotton shirts & heavy canvas > or leather work aprons. I learned the hard way & have the scars to prove it!! > > I've done a lot of radiator work & some "leaded" body work & had recently > gotten the urge to make a pot too, but I was intending on using brass shim > stock. This question came at a good time for me because I was doing some > heavy thinking about how to spread the tin inside the corn boiler sized pot > knowing I couldn't get my hand + glove + pad inside to do the spreading. I'd > already decided simply sloshing the tin around inside wasn't a good idea with > questionable results. I DO know heat is the secret to getting the tin to flow > properly & have it leave a usable thickness of tin deposited on the surface > the wife won't scratch through it the first time she scrubs the pot out. You > want the pot just hot enough for the tin to flow & stick -- too hot & the > resulting coating will be pretty thin. > > NM ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Oct 1998 14:47:07 -0500 From: John Kramer Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Tinning The old recipes and instructions I've seen call for using wads & swabs made= of "oakum" -- it should still be available from a plumbing supply house -- if= not try marine suppliers to wooden boat builders. John... At 01:19 AM 10/20/98 -0400, you wrote: >In a message dated 98-10-19 00:45:46 EDT, you write: > ><<=A0 I haven't been > able to find "tin" at affordable prices and just finding it has been > frustrating so what I use is "lead free Silver bearing Plumbers Solder".= It > goes for about $10 per roll and that is enough=A0 to do many pots. >> > >You can also use "95-5" solder which is 95% tin & 5% antimony.=A0 The= antimony >makes the tin flow better & is not toxic.=A0 Runs about the same price or a= bit >cheaper as the lead free stuff.=A0 Seems to flow & adhere better than the= lead >free stuff.=A0=20 > >The old tinners used asbestos pads to swab the tin/solder around inside the >pots, but as we now know, asbestos ain't good for us, so it's nearly >impossible to find, & hazardous to use.=A0 I've read that some used heavy >leather pads, but I think the steel wool trick might be easier -- especialy on >smaller pots where you can't get your gloved hand inside with enough room= to >move freely.=A0 Some autobody sypply houses still carry the pads for= "leading" >which was the process used for autobody repairs before "Bondo" came along.=A0 It >was a process in which melted lead was wiped on the body metal to fill in= the >imperfections/dents.=A0 For large pots the pads used for this process= should >work well because you're workng sith simular temperatures.=A0 The small >stainless steel "tooth brush" (so named for it's size & shape) might work well >in some applications.=A0 Some fluxes remove easier with alchohol -- the= plain >old "rubbing" variety seems to work as well as ethanol & methanol & is= easier >to find (local grocery store) & much cheaper. > >Above all -- remember you're working with molten tin / solder that's in the >600 degree range & ANY contact with bare skin is imediate pain!!!=A0 Be >careful!!!=A0 Any contact between this molten metal & water has explosive >results that usualy splatters the hot tin & generates large amounts of= super >heated steam.=A0 As Capt recommended heavy gloves are a must -- check your local >welding supply.=A0 I'd also recommend long sleeved cotton shirts & heavy= canvas >or leather work aprons.=A0 I learned the hard way & have the scars to prove it!! > >I've done a lot of radiator work & some "leaded" body work & had recently >gotten the urge to make a pot too, but I was intending on using brass shim >stock.=A0 This question came at a good time for me because I was doing some >heavy thinking about how to spread the tin inside the corn boiler sized pot >knowing I couldn't get my hand + glove + pad inside to do the spreading.=A0= I'd >already decided simply sloshing the tin around inside wasn't a good idea= with >questionable results.=A0 I DO know heat is the secret to getting the tin to flow >properly & have it leave a usable thickness of tin deposited on the surface >the wife won't scratch through it the first time she scrubs the pot out.=A0= You >want the pot just hot enough for the tin to flow & stick -- too hot & the >resulting coating will be pretty thin.=20 > >NM >=20 John T. Kramer, maker of:=A0 Kramer's Best Antique Improver >>>It makes wood wonderful<<< =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 >>>As good as old!<<< mail to: =20 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Oct 1998 20:44:10 -0700 From: Roger Lahti Subject: MtMan-List: Re:Tinning-A clarification! Dear list mates, John is adding some good advise to the original post of how to tin the inside of a copper pot. I do want to make VERY CLEAR that I do not recommend that you use 95/5 solder for this type of job. I say this because the attachment below implies that I do. It is an innocent coping of several posts and I do not take offense. I use lead free silver bearing solder and consider it safe and not THAT DIFFICULT to use. I do not know if 95/5 solder is safe and so will not use it or recommend its use. No offense is intended to any contributor to this thread. John Kramer wrote: > The old recipes and instructions I've seen call for using wads & swabs made of > "oakum" -- it should still be available from a plumbing supply house -- if not > try marine suppliers to wooden boat builders. > > John... > > At 01:19 AM 10/20/98 -0400, you wrote: > >In a message dated 98-10-19 00:45:46 EDT, you write: > > > ><< I haven't been > > able to find "tin" at affordable prices and just finding it has been > > frustrating so what I use is "lead free Silver bearing Plumbers Solder". It > > goes for about $10 per roll and that is enough to do many pots. >>(This is > an excert from Capt. Lahti's' original post) > > > >You can also use "95-5" solder which is 95% tin & 5% antimony. The antimony > >makes the tin flow better & is not toxic. Runs about the same price or a bit > >cheaper as the lead free stuff. Seems to flow & adhere better than the lead > >free stuff. > > > >The old tinners used asbestos pads to swab the tin/solder around inside the > >pots, but as we now know, asbestos ain't good for us, so it's nearly > >impossible to find, & hazardous to use. I've read that some used heavy > >leather pads, but I think the steel wool trick might be easier -- > especialy on > >smaller pots where you can't get your gloved hand inside with enough room to > >move freely. Some autobody sypply houses still carry the pads for "leading" > >which was the process used for autobody repairs before "Bondo" came > along. It > >was a process in which melted lead was wiped on the body metal to fill in the > >imperfections/dents. For large pots the pads used for this process should > >work well because you're workng sith simular temperatures. The small > >stainless steel "tooth brush" (so named for it's size & shape) might work > well > >in some applications. Some fluxes remove easier with alchohol -- the plain > >old "rubbing" variety seems to work as well as ethanol & methanol & is easier > >to find (local grocery store) & much cheaper. > > > >Above all -- remember you're working with molten tin / solder that's in the > >600 degree range & ANY contact with bare skin is imediate pain!!! Be > >careful!!! Any contact between this molten metal & water has explosive > >results that usualy splatters the hot tin & generates large amounts of super > >heated steam. As Capt recommended heavy gloves are a must -- check your > local > >welding supply. I'd also recommend long sleeved cotton shirts & heavy canvas > >or leather work aprons. I learned the hard way & have the scars to prove > it!! > > > >I've done a lot of radiator work & some "leaded" body work & had recently > >gotten the urge to make a pot too, but I was intending on using brass shim > >stock. This question came at a good time for me because I was doing some > >heavy thinking about how to spread the tin inside the corn boiler sized pot > >knowing I couldn't get my hand + glove + pad inside to do the spreading. I'd > >already decided simply sloshing the tin around inside wasn't a good idea with > >questionable results. I DO know heat is the secret to getting the tin to > flow > >properly & have it leave a usable thickness of tin deposited on the surface > >the wife won't scratch through it the first time she scrubs the pot out. You > >want the pot just hot enough for the tin to flow & stick -- too hot & the > >resulting coating will be pretty thin. > > > >NM > > > John T. Kramer, maker of: > > Kramer's Best Antique Improver > >>>It makes wood wonderful<<< > >>>As good as old!<<< > > > > mail to: ------------------------------ End of hist_text-digest V1 #159 ******************************* - To unsubscribe to hist_text-digest, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe hist_text-digest" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message.