Document KG7D1jNrQaobNV5rkRwmRKdmN

L Volume 5 E AD c:'!**& .vvtv:'.-: SEPTEMBER, 1935 Number 5 'White Lead--A Yardstick for Paint HE recommendations of those who have had much Texperience with paint--manufacturers as well as users--are of the utmost value as a guide in purchas ing this highly specialized product. What kind of paint, for example, for outside application does the manufacturer of high quality paint sell? Similarly, what kind of paint does the United States Government purchase? What paints do State Highway Depart ments use? What paints do architects recommend? What do master painters use on their own homes? Readers of LEAD who have followed the data pre sented in these pages from issue to issue know the answer to several of these questions but the conclu sions bear repetition and for convenience are sum marized below: PAINTING RECOMMENDATIONS AND from the United States Government requirements of at least 60 per cent white lead in prepared paints. Broadly speaking, there are two classes of high grade outside paints available in the United States: 1. pure w hite lead in oil and 2. prepared paints made from several pigments, including a large percentage of white lead. Class 1 paint is of uniformlv high qualitv, with an unexcelled reputation for durability and economv that extends deep into the past and has made the term AI hite Lead" synonymous with the best in paint. Prepared paints are produced in various combina tions and qualities. Ordinarily it is not so easv for the layman to identify the highest grades. Is there anv measure which the buyer can use to help him in select PRACTICES f Ou t s id e Pa in t United States Government Requires either lal 100% white lead in oil ibi Minimum 60% white lead in prepared paint. State High way On Timber Construction. Both white Commissions lead and prepared paints used. Aver age white lead content of prepared paint 68%. Architects 68% specify pure white lead: 32% specify prepared paints which aver age over 60% white lead. Master Painters 85% of master painters paint their A master painter's oun home in If'estfield, .V. painted with pure white lead in 1929 and photographed more than hie years later. I own homes with pure white lead. To this table should be added the kind of paint produced by representative manufacturers of high grade outside paints in the United States. Therefore, we list below a table showing the white lead content of high-grade outside paints made by 19 well known paint manufacturers: ing his paints? Fortunately a simple vardstick is available, even though it has. admittedly, certain short comings. This measure depends, as we have indicated, upon the demonstrable fact that the highest qualitv prepared paints, of reputable manufacturers, contain substantial amounts of white lead. Although it is conceivable that a paint mav be I I WHITE LEAD CONTENT OF SOME HIGH GRADE ruined by a poor oil or other added ingredients de PREPARED PAINTS spite a high lead content, the fact remains that paint tin Per Cent) purchasers possess a rough yardstick of the qualitv of 57 61 60 60 the paint by the amount of white lead which it con 45 54 50 60 tains. In the absence of any other test this measure 61 55 75 45 becomes especiallv useful in appraising the worth of 50 55 50 60 a paint, where little is know n about the manufacturer, 41 60 50 because low-grade paint never contains a high per 1 Inspection o f this table shows that the white lead centage of white lead. content ranaes from 41 per cent to 75 per cent. with an average of 55.5 per cent. This result is not far No t e: Wherever white lead content of paint is referred to in lliir article. the white lead comem of tile pigment portion of the paint is meant. [2] LI A2 5337 i A Hard Lead Roof for One of WorlcTs Largest Domes New Jersey Authorities Select Hard Lead to Recover Rahway Reformatory Dome. TOP the State Reformatory at Rahway. X. J,, is Ai a huge dome, said to be the third largest in the world and second larsest in the l nited States. present the joh of removing the old covering of an other material and recovering this dome with sheet lead to eliminate future trouble and repairs is almost completed. Originallv erected about 40 vears aao. this dome measures nearlv 100 ft. in circumference at its base and is surmounted by a skylight 26 ft. in diameter. Forming the base of the dome is a series of steps run ning completely around it. These steps or decks vary in size but average about 5 ft. high and 3 ft. across. The decks have a slope of approximately 1 in. per ft. At Preparation The lead roof now being applied is 3 lb. hard lead Dome of Sew Jersey Reformatory at Rahway, .V. sheet, which is sheet lead containing approximately recovered with hard lead down to the steps at its base. 7.5 per cent of antimonv. This addition almost doubles the tensile strength of lead. The roof is a batten roof galvanized iron templates were formed. Two sets were in its entirety. Battens are spaced about 4 ft. apart at required because cross seams in adjacent bays were the base of the dome and are fastened to the roof by staggered making the sheets alike in size and shape toggle bolts passing through the roof surface and only in alternate bays. One set of templates was <- bolted on the underside. Battens are made from 2 in. marked with numbers and the other with letters for bv 2 in. timber, creosoted and tapered inward slightly identification. All laps and seams were allowed for at the bottom and with upper corners rounded. in making these templates. They were then forwarded The roof surface was covered with a lining of 30-lb. to the lead factory, where the hard lead sheets were asphalt felt and an underlining of 114-lb. deadening fabricated and cut to size according to the templates. felt to form a cushion for the sheet lead. By performing this operation at the factory, practi After the contractor had made his estimate and cally all waste was eliminated. The sheets were then visited the site to check conditions, two sets of light shipped to the job marked for location in accordance with the templates. A sheet metal shop, containing the necessary tools and brake, was erected on the ground at the base of the dome, and ladders put up. In this shop, the sheets were performed in the brake as shown in several of the photographs. The sides of the sheets were bent I upward 21 t in. to fit along the sides of the battens and the top 14 in. of this upstand given another turn inward to the horizontal to receive cleats and batten I caps. The lower end of each sheet was turned under I14 in. and the top edge turned up by the same amount to facilitate making loose locked seams between ad- jninina sheets. Liaht wood templates were also made of the two typical bavs for use on the job. As one bay was fin T ished the proper templates were then placed against Dome recovered with hail but batten caps not yet placed. the batten along the edge of the completed bay to lay The original covering had not been removed from the step in foreground when this picture was taken. out the next bay. [3 j LIA25338 Some Views of the Magnificent Dome on the Rahway, N. j Parity completed job of recovering Rahway Reforma tory dome with hard lead sheet for permanence and beauty. Pre-farmed lead sheets on the roof ready for installation. The original roof covering had not been removed at this point at lime of photo graphing. j! LIA25339 An airplane vieu Rahwax. S. /.. world, in process View at junction of dome ana except batten caps but step not ** are f lead on the dome has been placed f Mdtk lead, The two layers of felt lead. Steps at base of dome recovered with lead except for batten caps. All photographs of Rahway Reformatory from k . g . mic h a LSO.\. LIA25340 Lead-covered steps at base oj dome. One lead batten cap can be seen in position. Installation After this ground preparation, the sheets were sent to the roof where they were fastened along the upper edges with cleats on 12-in. centers folded into the top turn-over. The cleats were 16-oz. copper, secured to the roof near their upper ends above the lead sheets by copper nails, and the excess ends of the cleats were folded back over the nail heads to prevent dam age to the lead from this source. Sheets were installed from the bottom up and as each succeeding sheet was placed it was loose locked to the one below and se cured at the top in the same manner. The roofing sheets were also secured to the battens bv means of cleats nailed to the tops of the battens on 12-in. centers. Batten caps were installed in sec tions of 8 ft. maximum length and loose locked to the roofing sheets along their sides. Caps were held in place at their upper ends by cleats, while at the lower end each batten simply overlapped the one below bv 3 or 4 in., but was held down securelv because it was locked to the roofing sheets along the sides. No solder was used at any poiqt in laving this lead roof, all seams being loose locked, and no nails were driven through the lead sheets, cleats being used ex clusively to secure the lead. Thus the sheets are enabled to expand and contract freely in anv direction with temperature changes without placing anv strain on the metal. In bending the sheets, the brake was adjusted to take care of the thickness of the metal and bends were not made sharp enough to cause any crack ing of the metal. In turning the sheets up the sides of battens and vertical surfaces, a small space was left between the upstand of the sheets and the vertical sur faces to permit expansion. All loose locked joints were filled with Vulcatex No. 7200 Non-Hardenina Compound further to insure against leakage. The maximum dimensions of the sheets were 4 ft. by 2 ft.. except in a few cases where conditions required slightly larger sheets. This fine large roofing job was done by Edwin R. Huddy & Sons. Trenton, N. J.. sheet metal contractors, for the Department of Institutions an8 Agencies of the State of New Jersey. Mr. W. J. Ellis is Commis sioner of the Department, Mr. C. N. Leathern is Direc tor of the Division of Architecture and Construction, and Mr. Walter Hankin is Consulting Architect. (To be continued) Typical sections through a batten and through a horizontal seam. All joints are fitted with Vulcatex .No. 7200 Xon-Hardening Compound. r6I Lead Weighted Tape Makes Drapes Hang Properly EAD shot, strange as it may seem. L_ occupies a position of some consequence in dressmaking, interior decoration and other applications where one would not ordinarily ex pect to find it. In these uses. lead, because of its weight, is applied to make dresses, suits, draperies, cur tains and display fixtures hang properly. According to The Warren Featherbone Co. of Three Oaks. Mich., manufacturers of weighted tape for these purposes, there are a number of wavs in which lead is used in their products. In one. strips of lead are punched out into small discs which are fastened onto a tape and then enclosed in' a casing on a sewing machine. In another, the lead strips are woven into the fab ric on a broad loom, the whole then being cut the desired width and en closed in a casing in the same man ner. When lead shot is used to make weighted tape, the shot is fed into the desired covering on a braiding machine. Thus the tapes, whether made from strips or shot, have the flexibility to form themselves to the folds of the material they are re quired to weight. In lead, great weight is concentrated in a small space at low cost. Although The Warren Featherbone Co. began manufacturing weighted tape simply for weighting skirts of dresses in 1912. many new uses, as already suggested, have been found for this handv. adapt able product. Xo doubt it has other applications which have not yet been realized. Sample card of lead weighted tapes jar dresses. drapes and other hangings, show ing a variety of forms available. Still M ore Plumbers* Organizations Advocate Lead HE number of plumbers' organizations actively Tencouraging greater use of lead in plumbing con tinues steadily to increase, the Master Plumbers' Associations of Connecticut and Vermont and the Illinois Journeymen Plumbers' Association having re cently been added to the ranks. These organizations have adopted resolutions to advocate more extensive requirement of lead by plumbing ordinances and to work aggressively toward the accomplishment of this purpose. This movement has appealed strongly to farsighted plumbers because it accomplishes two purposes at one stroke. Lead, properly used in a plumbing system, results in the finest installation a property owner can have, and at little or no extra cost. At the same time, lead automatically eliminates from making plumbing installations--which are one of the first safeguards to public health--the incompetent mechanic, who protes costiv to the property owner in the long run and may provide unsanitarv plumbing conditions. He also fur nishes the worst sort of competition to the skilled plumber and tends to lower the standards of crafts manship in the plumbing trade. That plumbers realize this is also evidenced by the tremendous amount of interest shown in the display of the Lead Industries Association at the Annual Con vention and Exhibition of the National Association of UEDRICH-BLESSING Lead Industries Association s exhibit at the Contention and Exposition oj the Sational Association oi Master Clumbers. .\ote hand-made, seamless, u.t-tcuv lead Ittting on table. ["! LI A2 5342 Master Plumbers. One of the most interesting items on display was a handmade six-way seamless fitting bossed up from 5-lb. sheet lead by Mr. Harold G. W ilson, of Louisville, Ky., and visible in the right foresround of the photograph. Another piece of Mr. Wilson's fine lead work was pictured in the July issue of LEAD. There are several methods of making a seamless six-wav fitting from sheet lead. One is first to beat it into the form of a sphere, leaving one opening at the top. then find the location of the five other openings and heat the sphere in between these points until it is the required shape, lastly cutting the holes at the posi tions of the openings. Another way is to form the sheet into the shape of a bell first, then beat the top of the bell into the shape of half the fitting and con tinue to dVaw out the rest of the metal by beating to complete the job. Mr. Wilson consumed only 11 hours in making the fitting. To do this work requires a complete mastery of the art by the craftsman and indicates that any one capable of it is a skilled mechanic who will never be a detriment to the plumbing trade and on whom the public can thoroughly rely. Lackawanna Uses Lead Caps to Prevent Rotting of Piles HEET lead caps are being used by the Lackawanna S Railroad to cover the tops of piles in the fernslips at its terminal in Hoboken. New Jersey, from which passengers are carried by ferry across the Hud son River to New York City. The piles, which are in the neighborhood of SO ft. in length, extend through about 30 ft. of water into the river bed some 30 ft. Exposure conditions on these piles are rigorous and moisture en tering the tops of the piles through the end grain tends to rot them out. often in relatively short time. Main tenance is therefore a heavy item. Some years ago at the Railroad's Barclay Street ferry slip in New York a number of piles were in stalled with metal caps to prevent entrance of moisture at the top. These capped piles have lasted an unusually long time. Therefore in re placing rotted piles in the Hoboken slips recently the Railroad decided to cap the new piles they were in stalling. The caps consist of 3-lb. sheet lead cut in circles a little larger than the tops of the piles. These caps are then dressed down over the tops of the piles and nailed in place around the edge. Lead is ideal for the purpose be cause it is so easilv handled and made to fit the some- EUSTIS Covering wood piles with lead caps as a preservative measure in a jerry slip of the Lackawanna Railroad. \'ote how the old, uncapped piles have rotted out at the tops. what irregular shapes and contours of the pile tops. It is also the most durable metal that could be used. It will therefore protect against the penetration of moisture throughout the life of the piles, which are creosoted. and is inexpensive to install. The added cost of capping these piles is small when compared with the cost of the piles themselves and the expense of replacements, while lead's salvage value is high. Mr. L. L. Tallyn. division engineer of the Lacka wanna Railroad, is in charge of this work. THE LEAD INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION INVITES INQUIRIES ON ANY SUBJECT RELATING TO LEAD AND WILL BE GLAD TO COOPERATE WITHOUT OBLIGATION IN THE SOLUTION OF YOUR LEAD PROBLEMS Llft253^3