P L U

314

PL U

itself with the former length of pipe ; and the operationbeing repeated, a pipe of any required length may beobtained.

Pipes are made of sheet-lead, by beating it round woodencylinders of the length and thickness required ; and thensoldering up the edges.

Both these methods are now superseded, by the use of amachine, worked by steam, which produces a much neaterarticle, of almost any length, and at considerably lessexpense.

Solder is used by plumbers to secure the joints of lead-work, where other means would be improper, or impossible.It is a rule, that solder should be easier of fusion than themetal intended to be soldered ; and that it should be as nearlyas possible of the same colour. The plumber, therefore, useswhat is technically called soft solder , which is a compoundof equal parts of tin and lead, fused together, and run intomoulds, not much unlike, in shape, to a gridiron ; in whichstate it is sold to the manufacturer by the pound. In theoperation of soldering, the surfaces, or edges, intended to beunited are scraped very clean, and brought close up to eachother, in which state they are secured by an assistant, whilethe plumber lays a little resin, or borax, upon the joint, toprevent an oxidation of the metal. The heated solder is thenbrought in a ladle, and poured on the joint, after which it issmoothed and finished, by rubbing it about with a red-hotgrozing iron { and, when completed, it is made smooth byfiling.

For the method of laying embossed figures upon a leadengrbund, see the article Lead .

In covering terraces, or flats, with sheet-lead, a bottom, aslevel as possible, should be first laid of plaster, or of boards;if the latter, they should be of sufficient substance to preventtheir warping, or flying upwards ; for if this be not attendedto, the lead will soon become unsightly, and be liable to crack.As the sheets of lead never exceed in their breadth abovesix feet, it becomes necessary, in covering large surfaces, tohave joints, which are managed several ways ; but, in all,the main object is to have them water-tight. The preferablemode is by forming laps, or roll-joints, which is done byhaving a roll, or strip of wood, about two inches square, butrounded on its upper side, nailed under the joint of the sheets,where the edges lap over each other; one of these edges isto be dressed up over the roll on the inside, and the otheris to be dressed over them both on the outside, by whichmeans the water is prevented from penetrating. No otherfastening is requisite than what is acquired from the ham-mering of the sheets together down upon the flat; nor shouldany other be resorted to, where sheet-lead is exposed to thevicissitudes of the weather, because they occasion it to expandand shrink, which, if prevented by too much fastening,would cause it to crack, and be quickly good for nothing butthe melting-pot. Circumstances sometimes occur, that pre-clude the use of rolls, and then the method by seams isresorted to : this consists in simply bending the approximateedges of the lead, up and again over each other, and thendressing them down close to the flat, throughout their length.But this is not equal to the roll, either for neatness orsecurity. Soldering is also sometimes had recourse to, forsecuring the joints; but this is not to be recommended, aslead so fixed will be sure to leak after an exposure to thesunshine of a single summer. Leaden flats and gutters shouldbe always laid with a current, to keep them dry. A fallfrom back to front, or in the direction of the length of thesheet, is the general rule. A quarter of an inch to the footrun is a sufficient inclination : but the fall, or current, as itis called, is generally agreed upon between the carpenter

and plumber, while the former is preparing the gplatform, on which the lead is to be laid. ,

In making gutters, &c., pieces of milled l ea j jn

flashings, about eight or nine inches wide, are

-- --- • wit ' 1 oVe r -

walls all round the edges of the sheet-lead,the flat i 3 covered, and are suffered to hang °° gV „h ‘' |6them, so as to prevent the passage of rain tl' r e n

if -

- f

interstice between the raised edge and the W!U u e d o ut ^walls have been previously built, the mortar is ra s ^ ee t, a ? ethe joint of the bricks next above the edge of the tl'^the flashings are not only inserted into the craC se d ° re fupper sides, but their lower edges arethose of the lead in the flat, or gutter. And w ‘ fyst el> fof these modes can be resorted to, the flashing 3 nf ^ do'' 1 '’by wall-hooks, and their lower edges are dress 1 -as before. _ „ ofl e ^ j

Drips in flats, or gutters, are formed by raisiaD^^j-jWyabove another, and dressing the lead as already ^ gJI ifor covering the rolls. They are resorted t0 > _ flr 30&gutter, or flat, exceeds the length of the sheet ' e 3 C pedi el1times for convenience. They are also an usefuto avoid soldering the joints.

Reservoirs, are generally made of wood, or .i ere d at . c ttheir exterior, and lined with cast sheet-lead, s 0 j iceS su^ ^joints. As these conveniences are rarely ' n _ n' a ^

JVlIllOl AJLO lllljOt, Wtl t (UC 1 (It v (I

to material change of temperature, the 80

to

resorted to, without fear of its occasioning u ‘ cr)l ck.work, by promoting a disposition in the lead to ^ ^

edg> 9l !J

The plumber’s employment in pumps is conf" 1 ®, p 0 se 3 ’ fl3to two or three kinds, required for domestic 1 ^. tl' ese ’ s etwhich the suction and lifting pumps are thewell as water-closets, are manufactured by a t g j ieS tb e

po« nll t J

hundred-weight; but the weight may be dl ^ iee t-le a< ^ ^pd

,viaj>

of workmen, and sold to the plumber, who furn)'pipes, and fixes them in their places. t j, e

Plumber’s work is commonly estimated byindred-weight; but the weight may be dis ^measure of it, in the manner below stated. & ■ seve n v!l , bin roofing, guttering, &c., is commonly beW t j,e f ol ' 0 ' e i l cl 1twelve pounds weight to the square foot; bu fortable shows the particular weight of a sq uareof the several thicknesses.

Thickness.

Pounds to aSquare Foot.

Thickness.

.10

5.899

.15

.11

6.489

.16

i

6.554

i

.12

7.078

.17

i

7.373

.18

.13

7.668

.19

.14

8.258

i

i

8.427

.24

g 0 uai' e

g .8480 4389.83 110.02810.61811.20711.79J

12 . 38 ?^

an 1

d hi"”

-n tenth? aI ‘ nu" 1 'In this table the thickness is set down 1 eg pond |Ilt, p( Jtl | 'dredths, &c. of an inch ; and the annexed co tho ua ‘ 0 ‘hers are the weights in avoirdupois poun S, f o0 t 0 Jjth'parts of a pound. So the weight ol a sc l u ‘ s nQ tb° uS , 0 { a 0

pounds, and “ foot 1 0}

an inch thick : or

mol, > u* -usg *=> " p” . ' _ ua re

parts of a pound ; and the weight ot a oU n (

. 1 .,.!... ... 1 ,. _..... .1 .. .mil Ot V

d-

b ea

oiin

ds

to

&e3

tli«

inch thickness, is 6 pounds and looff 0pipe of an inch bore is commonly 13 oryard in length. r ioin in °,

The plate exhibits the various forms ^ aat tli e concourse of an external angle ma a ] g0j t- ^top, and one of the sloping sides ol the T0 °^ rei jiit' e9of joining the sheets between opposite ethe joints or seams run parallel

lei°

? tl*«

flat at . h od

**