226 ON THE WING. 



kinds of cheap barrel iron are made, such as " charcoal 

 iron," " three-penny skelp iron," " sham damn skelp," 

 &c. ; but as I assume that none of my readers care to 

 own a weapon made of such materials, I will not quote 

 the particulars of their manufacture, but pass to his 

 remarks on barrel-making. 



WELDING. 



The welding of the rods of barrel iron into barrels, 

 is described by Mr. Greener thus : 



" The metal rods are twisted by means of two iron 

 bars, the one fixed, the other loose. In the latter 

 there is a prong or notch to receive one end ; and 

 when inserted, the bar is turned by a handle. The 

 fixed bar preventing the rod from going round, it is 

 bent and twisted over the movable rod like the 

 pieces of leather round the handle of a whip. The 

 loose bar is unshipped, the spiral knocked off, and 

 the same process recommenced with another rod. 

 The length of all the spirals depends on the breadth 

 of the rod : for instance, the stub-twist has sixteen 

 circles in six inches long ; a rod of five feet will make 

 a spiral of only seven inches ; while iron, of an inch 

 in breadth, will make a spiral of as many inches long 

 as there are twists : hence the reason why best bar- 

 rels have more joinings than common ones of equal 

 length. 



"The Damascus, being rolled into rods of n-i6ths 

 broad, forms a spiral with the appearance shown in 

 the accompanying woodcut. 



