 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE ART OR LEAD MAKINGLead was one of the earliest metals discovered by the human race and was in use by 3000 B.C. The ancient Romans used lead for water pipes, lining baths and even the plumber who joins and mends pipes takes his name from the Latin word plumbum, meaning lead. Plumbum is also the origin of the terms 'plumb bob' and 'plumb line,' used in surveying and it is also the chemical symbol for lead, Pb. In medieval times, lead was also used for roofing, coffins, cisterns, tanks, gutters and for statues and ornaments. Another early use of lead was for the strips joining the pieces of colored glass in church windows. |
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  SPECIAL CASTING PROCESSHere our journey begins with a specially mixed alloy being cast into large bars ready for rolling. |
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  ROLLING THE LEAD BARS INTO STRIPHere we are cold rolling the lead strip into flat material ready for profile forming. |
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  FORMING THE LEAD PROFILESHere we are shaping the radius on the lead profiles prior to cutting them into strips. |
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  LEAD SLITTINGHere we see the slitting process, a wide band of lead profiles are passed through a set of rotating cutters that slice the lead into small profiles. |