>zinc alloys were not abundant in early metallurgy because on heating, zinc
became volatile<
Susan
That is probably correct. It is usually thought that early alloys containg
zinc and tin were probably accidental cementation, though we cannot know
that for certain. Around the beginning of the Christian era someone invented
reliable cementation, probably IMHO an alchemist seeking the philosophers
stone.
Certainly later cementation was cheaper and probably more reliable than
alloying. The early UK producers had a hard time selling zinc and many went
out of business. You may be interested to know that an early successful
producer was Amy Dillwyn who succeeded in paying of all he father's large
debts.
The turning point was probably the discovery that you could roll 60-40
copper-zinc which could not be made by cementation. At this time zinc ws
much cheaper than copper..
Peter Hutchison
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