Subject: RE: Whitesmith?

From: TOMBGUARD <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 1996 23:36:17 CST

So back to my original question on Whitesmithing.  I have gotten about
all the anwers that I expected.  Only one gentleman on the list
mentioned lead that that is what I was curious about.  I have a source
that names Whitesmithing as working with lead.  My teacher has let me
know in no uncertain terms that it was one who filed down ironwork and
make it "pretty".  

Is there a certain time period in which these terms meant different
things?  As one individual mentioned, did the guild system have
something to do with it, and when the guilds went, did the names mean
something different?  I have never heard leadsmith, is that a proper
term?  (I don't know how much work a person who only works with lead
would get, as everyone I know makes their own bullets.)

Just some thoughts as I seemed to have kept interest in this thread
for a bit.

Robert

  Robert H. Neidlinger                      [email-masked]
  "The Tomb Guard"                          [email-masked] 
  "Ask me a question and I'll reply, Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie"
                                                Winnie the Pooh

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From: Lee Marshall <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 1996 22:40:12 -0700

Makin' stuff out of lead was a time honored profession for centuries. 
Sealing a roof vent by welding lead sheet into a cone shape, sor 
example. Chemical plumbing made from lead. (actually plumb meant lead. 
Before the national hysteria regarding contamination, it was possible to 
purchase lead sheet from 1/32" thick up to 1" thick in just about any 
size you could carry! For some reason, the act of fabrication was called 
"welding".
Just some more useless trivia.

Lee Marshall
Bonny Doon Engineering