Tallow

[Mary Fisher]

Does ayone still use it for lead work?

If so, what type and where do you acquire it?

Mary

[Cicero]

============== I thought it was used for the old-fashioned 'wiped joints' but have a look at this if you haven't already seen it:

[Mary Fisher]

It was - for preventing oxidation on newly cleaned lead. But it's been superseded by flux.

Someone I know of has said that he must have tallow for some leadwork and I've been asked for some - I use it to make historical candles. I said that if he really feels that he needs it I'm sure he could buy some from a plublers' merchants but he's said he can't, which is why I asked here.

I know a professional leadworker who doesn't even use flux!

Thanks, I did, it proves that you can still get it.

Mary

[sylva]

It should be easy enough to make with beef fat, melted, filtered and then simmered in water. Left to set the tallow is the crust on the top.

AJH

[Frank Erskine]

In article , Mary Fisher writes

It's really just lard, which you can get from a local grocer.

If you're a vegetarian, you can get a veggie version.

[Ed Sirett]

Nah SWMBO is veggie, easier to order from S/fix Part #17448

[raden]

In message , Mary Fisher writes

Not the faintest idea..

However the Ironbridge gorge museum might be able to help you. They go out of their way to point you in the right direction if they can't help directly

[chris French]

In message , Mary Fisher writes

When I did a stained glass course a few years ago we used it.

stained glass suppliers have it.

[Michael Mcneil]

Tallow is a higher melting point fat than lard or grease, produced from any animal. It can also come from some vegetables eg cocao butter.

Flux used in soldering is a grease that contains something in the nature of baking powder -I'm not sure what. I presume it dissolves the oxides from lead and copper. I know it causes iron and steel to rust at ordinary temperatures.

Am I right in presuming you want the tallow to mix with whiting as a bed for the glass in leaded lights? Modern acrylic/mastics seem to work quite well. I've no idea how well they stand the test of time. (Easily dispensed though.)

While tallow has been used for centuries, might petroleum waxes serve as well? If so high melting point greases from a motor factor would supply your needs too.

[Andy Dingley]

Only for wiping. It's not an active enough flux for soft soldering, and it's unnecessary for lead burning (welding really - the usual fabrication process for roofing)

However it's easily purchased at an _electrical_ wholesaler. It's the lubricant for thread cutting on conduit.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I certainly got some from a PM a few years ago. Useful to have on the pad when wiping a lead joint. I needed all the help I could get...

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I think they serve different purposes. Tallow will *prevent* solder amalgamating? with lead etc.

[nightjar]

No idea.

I use it as a lubricant and I buy it from my local ironmongers. I suspect you need the sort of ironmongers that has lots of brown card boxes on the shelves though.

Colin Bignell

[wanderer]

If you live anywhere near Great Yarmuff, you could try asking at any of the chip salons in the market place. They all smell remarkably as though they use tallow to cook the chips. Revolting smell at times........

:-))

[chris French]

It's the 'Yorkshire' smell :-)

Where most chip shops still use Lard for cooking chips. and yes it's a horrible smell....... :-)

[Tony Williams]

mmm....Chips done the old-fashioned way, in beef fat.

Lovely grub, pure cholesterol. Oh my aching arteries.

[RichardS]

But they do taste just so much better :-)

It's one of the things I really miss, living now in the SE.

[:::Jerry::::]

I used to use it when building lead acid batteries many moons ago, it was used to prevent the molten lead (that was used to 'weld' the plates together) from adhering to the steelwork of the tooling used to hold the plates at the correct spacing.

If we were short of tallow we could get away with using the black soot from the burning of neat acetylene across the steel....

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Yup. And you can't get a decent deep fried Mars bar.

[FrancisJK]

"I certainly got some from a PM a few years ago."

What was Tony Blair doing with tallow?!

Francis