In article , Robin writes
It may have been done with lead wool (think wire wool but thicker) which is packed into the joint using a blunt offset chisel and a hammer. Bashed in enough it will amalgamate together and form a seal but I'd still expect some evidence of the wool grain on the surface so it should be clear if this method was used. Finished off with mastic IIRC.
Yes thanks but I'm pretty sure that ain't what was used here. I had to remove a bath waste in order to deal with a split in the copper pipe internally and it was pure lead on top of the hemp with a nice smooth finish to the lead under the paint. So I think it was old-style poured lead. Seemed to me a good deal easier to remove than silicone or plumber's mait, albeit that's based on samples of 1 + few.
They didn't - they knocked in long thin wedges of lead.
That is still available:
When I did this quite a lotta years ago I found a uPVC to cast iron jointing collar (similar to a uPVC straight coupling), cut the cast iron pipe down (in manageable sections, to avoid breaking the join into the ceramic pipe underground) to about 3" above ground level, then joined the uPVC pipe in at that point.
In retrospect I should probably have put a rodding eye coupler in, rather than just a straight connector.
Thanks for all the replies ... I think pictures are the way to go here. I'll take a few and upload them to make the situation clearer.
According to a neighbour round the corner who saw them do the plumbing and sewers for indoor loos and bathrooms the horizontal joints here were done with none of the above (ie not done on the ground, not lead wool and not lead wedges). He says they poured the horizontal joints in situ using a ?squirrel tail? tied round to make a temporary mould and the lead poured in a gap at the top. He says he did it himself when he worked as a plumber/jobbing builder. He also said I?d need to give him a feckin load of dosh before he?d even think about doing one now 10 foot up a ladder :)
Sounds like wiped lead to me.
I don't think so. This is LCC system cast iron pipes. So they have sockets. As others have said you can still buy them today and AIUI usually fit using fibre glass instead of the traditional hemp then lead wool (or mastic) instead of poured lead. But they poured molten lead traditionally. And the term "squirrel tail" opens the way to finding the tools (still readily available) and the technique. Eg
(The link to Google Books may stop working as it is copyright material from a 1990 book but it starts "To the uninitiated the running of molten lead into a horizontally placed socket might seem an impossible task, but for the experienced craftsperson it is actually a relatively simple one. The job is simplified by the use of a "squirrel tail pipe jointer" (Figure 2.32) or a caulking clamp (Figure 2.33) or a quantity of pliable putty or clay." I still think it's bloody impressive.
That's very interesting...
Indeed, thanks Robin.
Also, they were installed from the top. Each length hangs on its mountings and it doesn't rest on the socket of the pipe below, as these cannot take the weight of a column of pipe above without breaking.
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