WOOD CHARCOAL ITS MANUFACTURE AND USE. I I 



from gas coke can be used, it is evident that for certain classes 

 of work almost anything is suitable. 



I am indebted to Messrs TurnbuU &: Co., of Glasgow, the 

 oldest manufacturers in Scotland of moulders' blacking, for the 

 following particulars : — 



" Wood blacking is made from oak or beech wood charcoal, 

 and is specially prepared before it is milled to the finest powder, 

 suitable for the foundry. It is used principally on green-sand 

 castings for baths, columns, and all light ornamental work. The 

 aim of the founder is to get the smoothest skin possible, and of a 

 bluish nature, which rightly or wrongly many of the practical 

 founders assert they can only get from oak or beech wood char- 

 coal blacking. For loam and dry-sand castings a mixture is 

 made with oak wood and a mineral carbon, which, after 

 preparation, is milled also to the finest grade and is used as a 

 blackwash on all marine and other heavy castings, such as ingots, 

 cylinders, sole plates, etc., etc. 



"The blackings used in this class of work have to show a very 

 high percentage of carbon to resist the metal eating into the 

 sand. These blackings are sold under the names of imperial or 

 patent blackings, and have a large sale at home and abroad. A 

 further use in the foundry for wood blacking is a grade milled 

 like meal, which is used as a burning blacking, and also along 

 with bone charcoal is utilised as an annealing agent." 



The greatest demand for charcoal used to be for the manu- 

 facture of charcoal iron, but in this country the demand has 

 fallen off very greatly since the introduction of steel, which is 

 so much cheaper, 



Mr George Turner, 300 Langside Road, Glasgow, has written 

 a most interesting pamphlet on " Ancient forestry and the extinct 

 industries of Argyllshire and part of the adjacent counties," from 

 which I cull the following most interesting information : — 



" From the twelfth century onwards Scotland, on account of 

 its woods, produced charcoal iron. In many cases bog iron was 

 used, but traces have been found where shallow pits were mined 

 to get the hematite. It was found cheaper to carry ore to the 

 charcoal than charcoal to the ores. Each furnace devoured the 

 wood annually from 120 acres of land, so that the furnaces were 

 constantly being shifted to follow the wood. As a consequence 

 there have been found in the West of Scotland no fewer than 

 2000 slag heaps, but many of these bear evidence that once 



