1. The materials on which the tinner, or tin-plate worker, operates,
are the rolled sheets of iron, coated with tin, as just described. He
procures the sheets by the box, and applies them to the roofs and
other parts of houses, or works them up into various utensils, such as
pails, pans, bake-ovens, measures, cups, and ducts for conveying water
from the roofs of houses.
2. In making the different articles, the sheets are cut into pieces of
proper size, with a huge pair of shears, and these are brought to the
proposed form by different tools, adapted to the purpose. The several
parts are united by means of a solder made of a composition of tin and
lead. The solder is melted, and made to run to any part, at the will
of the workman, by means of a copper instrument, heated for the
purpose in a small furnace with a charcoal fire.
3. On examining almost any vessel of tin ware, it will be perceived,
that, where the parts are united, one of the edges, at least, and
sometimes both, are turned, that the solder may be easily and
advantageously applied. It will also be discovered that iron wire is
applied to those parts requiring more strength than is possessed by
the tin itself. The edges and handles are especially strengthened in
this manner.
4. The edges of the tin were formerly turned on a steel edge, or a
kind of anvil called a _stock_, with a mallet; and, in some cases,
this method is still pursued; but this part of the work is now more
expeditiously performed, by means of several machines invented by Seth
Peck, of Hartford Co., Connecticut. These machines greatly expedite
the manufacture of tin wares, and have contributed much towards
reducing their price.
5. This manufacture is an extensive branch of our domestic industry;
and vast quantities of tin, in the shape of various utensils, are sold
in different parts of the United States, by a class of itinerant
merchants, called _tin-pedlers_, who receive in payment for their
goods, rags, old pewter, brass, and copper, together with feathers,
hogs' bristles, and sometimes ready money.