I stand corrected over towns in Virginia, but it probably does not affect my
argument that the air furnaces were located for the convenience of their
customers.

As far as I can make out, cannon were mostly cast in the Weald, where there
were only charcoal blast furnaces.  During the Seven Years War (1756-63),
some coke furnaces joined in.  After the war, the Carron Company put in a
very low tender, and got the whole contract, but their guns had an alarming
propensity to explode.  The Ordnance Board withdrew all their guns from
service and returned initially to the Weald, and then during the American
Revolutionary War also to other coke furnaces.  In the 1770s, the picture is
also complicated by the new requirement that guns be cast solid and bored,
instead of being cast around a core and then having a small amount of metal
removed in the boring.  The Wealden furnaces were unwilling to so this.
There is an account of a French visitor observing the casting of a cannon by
John Wilkinson, describing the metal being melted in an air furnace, (I
think) in the 1770s; I would have to check a copy for details.  However,
cannon continued to come from those with blast furnaces, whereas shot and
shells often came from founders in the immediate vicinity of London.  In the
peace of the 1780s, the Walkers of Rotherham got the whole Ordnance Board
contract, accepting payment partly in old guns.  I have seen a quotation
that the quantity of old guns was just the quantity they wanted to use,
apparently in casting new cannon (again reference would have to be checked -
I write this from memory).  However that might mean that they were using old
cast iron to produce new cannon, but certainly with a considerable amount of
new metal.

One of the difficulties is that descriptions of industrial processes in the
18th century are very scarce, so that it is often not easy to tell exactly
what people were doing.

Peter King
49, Stourbridge Road,
Hagley,
Stourbridge
West Midlands
DY9 0QS
01562-720368
[log in to unmask]


-----Original Message-----
From: Arch-Metals Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
James Brothers
Sent: 06 July 2008 22:50
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Early Use of Coal in Foundries


Peter
Sorry I misread what you wrote. Am I therefor correct in associating
double air furnaces with cannon production? That had been my reading
of English sources. But I defer to your greater familiarity. You've
been a tremendous help to date.

Virginia did have a number of towns primarily on the rivers. With
larger ones, like Fredericksburg on the "fallline", that is the head
of navigation due to falls and rapids. This marked the western end of
Tidewater or the coastal plain and the beginning of the Piedmont.

Many ironmasters owned sloops or even small fleets of coastal ships so
that they could market their goods throughout Tidewater and up and
down the coast to other colonies. When John Tayloe (owner/operator/
partner) of Bristol IW, Occoquan IW, and Neabsco IW died he
specifically mentioned his ships as needed to support furnace
operations.

On Jul 6, 2008, at 11:53 AM, Peter King wrote:

> I said that Coalbrookdale had several air furnaces, rather than that
> they
> had a double one.  Foundries were often located in towns.  My
> assumption is
> that it was convenient to make the goods were the order was received
> rather
> than at a remote location - at the blast furnace.  My calculations in
> respect of Coalbrookdale suggest that it was cheaper to make goods
> with iron
> tapped straight from the blast furnace, so that the Upper Air Furnace
> (probably near the Old blast furnace) was in use all the time; the
> New Air
> Furnace only when a blast furnace was out of blast; and the Lower Air
> Furnace was hardly used between 1724 and 1738.
>
> As I understand it, commercial life in Virginia centred on stores on
> the sea
> shore (including Chesapeake Bay), there being no towns.
> Accordingly, a
> place on the shore (or a river bank) would occupy a similar
> commercial role
> to an English town.  Nevertheless, foundries were rare in England
> until at
> least the late 18th century, when foundry cupolas began to be used
> instead
> of air furnaces.
>
> Peter King
> 49, Stourbridge Road,
> Hagley,
> Stourbridge
> West Midlands
> DY9 0QS
> 01562-720368
> [log in to unmask]