Lead working, pipe bending, tank and roof work; a manual of practice in bending lead pipe for interior plumbing and beating sheet lead for application as tank linings and flashings, gutters, ridges, and other roof coverings

Front matter

EAD WORKING

PIPE BENDING TANK ca, ROOF WORK

WILLIAM HUTTON rtass TT24>£ Book. Jl^

Chapter I

Value of special knowledge of lead working — Advantages and disadvantages of lead as a roofing material — Resistance to corrosion — Protection of lead from lime — Suitability of lead for use in contact with acids — Qualifications of the successful lead worker — Tools used in lead working.

CHAPTER n

Proper way to store large-sized lead pipe — Removing dents in pipe — Importance of securing smooth bore before beginning bending operation — Heating the pipe to facilitate bending — Method of holding pipe to make bending easy — Necessity of proceeding slowly — Proper manner of using wooden dresser — Retaining proper thickness of metal in bends — Protection of pipe from contact with bench — Manipulation of dummy — Testing heat in bending operation — Die marks on pipe a guide to proper working of lead — Supporting pipe to make dummy work easy — Using dummy by leverage — Bending long pipes — Extending length of dummy — Use of lead flap — Finishing bend to secure fine appearance — Making offsets on pipe — Opening a bend not desirable practice.

Chapter III

Bending pipes up to 3 inches in diameter — Difficulty of using dummy — Disadvantages of sand method in large pipes — Cause of leaks at bends — Throttling of bends — Bobbin method of bending pipe — Description of bobbins — Passing bobbin through pipe by driving or pulling — Removal of dents by bp^bl^ins and .dummy — The lead ball as an aid to driving b'Obbins — Mfealting the pipe previous to bending — Many small bending operations better than one quick bend — Manner of pulling bobbin through pipe — Bends of fairly long radius preferable — Methods of making bends of various radii — Use of followers on long bends — Care required to prevent damage to heel of bend — Conditions where hand-made bends are of special value.

Chapter IV Page Beating Up A Short Heel Bend 31

Need of short turn bends — Preparation of pipe — Drilling hole to commence bend — Cutting notch in pipe — Using bending pin to start bend at throat — Dressing up the heel — Tendency of bend to widen — Tendency of heel to become thin — How to prevent thinning of lead — How to wipe a joint on a short turn bend.

Chapter V Bending Pipe By Use Of Sand 36

Why sand is fitted for bending pipes — Use of other materials — Characteristics of good bending sand — Drying sand before using — Closing ends of pipe — Packing sand properly — Marking pipe at bending point — How to lay out angle to which bend is to be made — How to make a very sharp bend — How to dress the sides of the bend to secure uniform thickness of walls.

Chapter VI

How to use the spring properly — Why springs damage the pipe by improper use — Dressing pipe to remove dents — How to insert spring — Use of lubricants on springs — Noting position of spring in pipe to avoid damage by end — Care required in heating pipes where spring is used — How to sharpen a bend to any degree — Use of spring in long pipes — Other types of bending appliances — How to keep springs in condition.

Chapter VII Making Knot Traps On Lead Pipe 48

Where knot traps are necessary — Preferred methods of bending traps — Disadvantage of spring in trap work — Importance of drying sand — Packing the sand properly — Various types of traps — Method of closing bends to obtain small radius of trap — Bringing legs of trap into alignment — Dressing sides and throats of bends — Removing sand on completion of trap.

Chapter VIII

BEATING ROUND CORNERS ON SHEET LEAD .... 53 Superiority of sheet lead in tank work and roofing — Various uses of sheet lead — Advantages of securing round corners on lead trays — How to mark ofi" the lead for a corner — Bossing the sheet to facilitate proper working — How to use the dressers to advantage — Maintaining proper thickness of lead — Beating lead down over a corner of board.

CONTENTS S

Chapter IX Page

BEATING EXTERNAL ANGLES ON SHEET LEAD .... 58 How to cut and mark sheet for angles — Use of mallet in beginning work — ^Necessity of keeping corners round as work progresses — Drawing the excess lead to top to avoid thickening of sheet — Final squaring of angle — Importance of using tools properly to avoid dents in lead — Height to which lead corners may be beaten — Drawing thickness away from angle when high upstands are made — How to work a corner down over woodwork — ^Avoidance of cutting sheet by proper handling.

Chapter X Beating Internal Angles On Sheet Lead .... 62

Why it is harder to work internal than external angles — Cutting lead correctly to make work easier — Marking the lead to start working — Use of round dresser — Drawing thickness of lead to points required — When to begin squaring the angle — How to dress the lead over a block.

Chapter XI Beating Up Hollow Flashing Rolls 66

Effect of expansion on sheet lead — Proper method of joining sheets on lead roofing — How to form a hollow roll — Making the double lock — Completing the roll — Forming the junction with an upstand — Making a return roll at upstand — Making a return on roll at drip — How to stretch the lead to form the return — Use of lead plug to retain shape of roll at return — Where rolls on sheets are necessary.

Chapter XII

STRETCHING AND DRAWING LEAD FLASHINGS .... 71 Need of lead in circular flashing work — Preparation of flashings for bell- shaped towers — Stretching the lead to secure proper shape — Retention of thickness and shape of lead by proper use of tools — How to hold the lead to retain shape of flashing while dressing — Bending flashing in reverse direction and maintaining proper thickness.

Chapter XIII Chimney And Other Flashings 75

Essential differences in lead and other roofing metals. Seams on horizontal surfaces. Expansion in roofing sheets — General practice in setting lead flashings — Flashings for brick chimney with gutter behind it — Methods of laying flashing over and under slates — Width of flashings — Pitch i

PAGE

of chimney gutters — Height of upstands on chimney gutters j

— Flashing caps for field stone chimneys — Step flashings — '

Fastening flashings in raglets or joints — Flashings on tile ',

roof — Flashings on rubble walls. ^'

CHAPTER XIV \ Flashings on dormers — Method of finishing side flashings - \

at front of window — Aprons, valleys and ridges on win- |

dows — Method of forming ridges to fit roll — Width of val- *

leys, ridges and flashings — Fastening lead ridges — Correct

lengths of sheets to be used — Supporting lead in valleys —

Center and box gutters — Making drips on long gutters —

Capillary attraction at gutter joints and seams — Saddles

on roofs and gutters — Pitch in box and center gutters —

Outlets from box and cornice gutters — Hollow, solid and

batten rolls — Copper cleats on rolls — Upstands and drips

on hollow rolls — Supporting sheets on pitched roofs..

Chapter XV

DOMES, FINIALS, PIPE FLASHINGS AND TANKS . . . . 100 Suitability of lead for covering domes — Covering and flashing a hexagonal ventilator — Width of side flashings — Covering the base of the ventilator — Flashing the sill and posts — How to find shape of roof bays — Making a ball finial — Making ornamental finials — Laying out pattern for finial base — ^Ornamenting base by bossing lead — Covering the finial post — Supporting the vane of finial — Lead conductors and rain water heads — Flashings for soil-pipe ventstacks — Lining tanks with lead burned seams — Fitting tie bars to tanks.

Preface

A PREFACE to this book is hardly necessary. Any plumber who has had a general experience knows that the possession of skill in manipulating lead pipe is a valuable asset. The examples of lead pipe bending and sheet lead working that follow are given in the hope that such as desire to acquire that skill will be helped attain it. That a large number of men do wish to become proficient in this line of work was made evident by the extensive correspondence between author and interested readers when the text and illustrations began to appear in serial form in the pages of Metal Worker, Plumber and Steam Fitter. That the sheet lead work offers a new and profitable field to many contractors is also obvious. The quality of building construction is rapidly improving. In many instances the use of sheet lead is almost imperative when certain eff^ects are desired by the architect. Not every roofer can handle the work properly and herein lies the opportunity for profit and prestige.

William Hutton.

Example of Ornamental Head Work

Chapter I TOOLS AND THEIR USES

The ability to bend lead pipes of large diameter to form a trap or to offset a pipe to clear an obstruction is possessed by too few and the number is growing less. This is due to the facility with which bends manufactured by machinery may be secured, but there are many instances when the ability to make a bend of a special shape would save both time and money, and those who do possess the ability know this from experience.

The use of sheet lead for flashings and other purposes is not only common in certain sections, but is increasing, and therefore a knowledge of the manner in which it may be handled is of equal importance to that of bending lead pipe. The value of the accomplishment may be measured in dollars and cents ; its possession will forward the interests of any workman and give the employer a lead over his competitors. If the number of plumbers who are also expert lead workers is small, those numbered as such will be valued the higher.

It has been often said that the day of lead and the lead worker has gone and that in the buildings of the future lead will have no place. It would be futile to deny that the metal has serious shortcomings that unsuit it for use in many of the modern buildings now erected. At the same time, it has compensating features — features that are not possessed by any of the other metals available for use in the manufacture of sanitary and plumbing fixtures and the removal of the wastes or the ventilation of fixture traps. These are mentioned later in this chapter.

One of the disadvantages of lead is its low tensile strength, necessitating the use of pipes of considerable weight when they have to withstand pressure. It is soft and will sag easily when heated and improperly supported. It also has the peculiarity of remaining permanently elongated when expanded, at least it will not entirely regain its original conformation when it contracts after being expanded by heat.

Pig. 1. Specimens of Lead Bending and Beating

These specimens of sand, spring, dummy and bobbin bending of pipes and traps and of working slieet lead at angles of gutters and junctions of flashings were made by the author especially for illustrating this book.

This leads to breakages at sharp angles and at its junction with other metals. If satisfaction is to be obtained where it is used, these peculiarities must be studied and proper allowance made to mitigate the strains and stresses to which the pipe will be subjected.

A valuable property of lead is its freedom from corrosion by water or by the action of the atmosphere. A very thin oxide forms on the surface of the pipe immediately it is manufactured and this is sufficient to protect it from further action by the elements under all ordinary circumstances. Practically the only conditions in buildings which lead to corrosion of the metal are those to be found where lead pipes are carried through walls or floors exposed to the action of lime or cement concrete in the presence of moisture. In such

Fig. 2. Tools Used in Lead Bending and Beating cases the lead will become pitted and brittle in course of time and will break readily under the strains of expansion, contraction or the weight of itself if unsupported. The remedy for this is obvious. The pipes should be protected where they come in contact with these substances by covering them with some material which will not be affected by contact therewith.

Asphaltum or pitch is commonly used. The pipes may be wrapped in hair felt or heavy paper or an iron pipe may be imbedded in the wall or floor and the lead pipes carried through it. The latter method is easily the best and it also affords an opportunity of removing the lead pipes at any time without trouble.

Another advantage possessed by lead for use in building construction and in manufacturing operations is its ability to withstand the action of acids. None of the acids, such as sulphuric, nitric or hydrochloric acid, which are used to such extent in the metal and allied manufacturing industries has any effect on it and, therefore, in lining tanks and in conveying liquids containing acids it is largely used. It also offers a good medium for the protection of woodwork from damage by acids and in the covering of sink drain boards and in the lining of sinks for use in chemical laboratories it is used to advantage.

As its nature is such that it is easily bent and worked into various shapes it has always been looked upon as being peculiarly well suited for the supply of water and the conveying of wastes from plumbing fixtures. From its Latin name, plumhum, the worker in it has obtained his distinguishing appellation, "plumber."

Although in the large modern building its use is practically obsolete, owing to the difficulty of using a form of construction that is lasting and satisfactory under the heavy strains it would be called upon to bear, it probably will remain for many years as the best and most suitable metal for much of the work done in houses of smaller dimensions. For all the connections of waste and soil pipes under floors it is looked upon as being the best owing to its facility in yielding under slight strains and distortions caused by settlement or shrinkage in the building. This ability to change its formation sufficiently to maintain a tight connection with the outlets of bath tubs, lavatory basins or water closets, for instance, avoids many breakages that would otherwise be experienced in porcelain goods. It may also be bent so as to avoid the necessity of cutting into floor or wall timbers to the extent that would be necessary in using pipes of a harder metal. This makes its use in the installation of plumbing in old houses in many cases compulsory.

This bending of pipes when of large diameter requires the exercise of considerable skill and in many instances doubtless the lack of this skill has induced the substitution of other metals in plumbing construction where lead would have secured a much more satisfactory job. As this lack of skill in lead working is in most cases purely the result of lack of opportunity to acquire it, and as practically every plumber who does acquire it takes a peculiar pride in his proficiency, this book has been prepared to give those who may not have had an opportunity of seeing the metal used to any extent, some insight into the various methods employed in bending pipes of the sizes generally handled by plumbers in domestic sanitary work.

These specimens of sand, spring, dummy and bobbin bending of pipes and traps and of working sheet lead at angles of gutters and junctions of flashings were made by the author especially for illustrating this book.

No one may hope to become an expert worker of lead merely by reading these descriptions or by reading any text book on the subject. Mechanical proficiency is only attained by practice and close observation. This book has been planned with this fully in mind and illustrated so that every necessary motion and application of tools in the various steps will be clearly shown for the beginners' guidance. If he follows the instructions closely and studies at the same time the illustrations accompanying the instructions he will have a good knowledge of how to proceed and his progress to proficiency will then be measured only by his ability and by the amount of practice he is able to secure. To paraphrase the words of the author of a book on engineering who gives the formula for the production of an engineer as : Ability -|- Education -\- Training -{- Experience ^ Engineer. So in the branch of trade in which the reader would hope to excel : Aptitude -j- Observation -j- Patience + Practice ^=^ Lead Worker.

Before attempting to produce any of the bends or other lead work described it is essential that the embryo lead worker be provided with suitable tools. A kit which comprises all that will be required in executing the kind of lead work in which the average plumber will ever have the opportunity of engaging, unless he should happen to be located in a country where it is used to a greater extent than it is or is likely to be in this, is illustrated herewith.

This kit consists of various shaped dressers made from a superior grade of boxwood, a wood peculiarly well suited for such tools owing to the closeness of the grain and its ability to stand hard usage without splintering. It also becomes smooth in use and does not mark the lead as some other woods do. If the tools are oiled occasionally they will last for an indefinite period.

The tools used by a plumber in beating and bending lead are shown in Fig. 2. At the top of the illustration, the bending pin is shown. This is a steel pin of a taper shape, bent to form an offset and used, as will be described later, to raise part of the lead pipe when commencing a bending operation. It is also used to form a lever when bending a smaller pipe and for various other purposes. Immediately under it, two flat dressers are shown. These are made of hard wood and are of different weights. They have a flat face and square edges and are used in removing dents and wrinkles from sheet lead and in the various processes of beating it up at corners as well as in the process of bending lead pipe. The back of the dresser is rounded so that it may also be used as occasion requires.

The springs shown under the dressers are familiar to most plumbers and are used in bending the smaller sizes of lead pipe. Again under them are shown the dummies which are used in beating out the dents formed in large sized pipes after they are bent. These are cast lead balls to which a handle of brass pipe or cane is attached. The handle is generally about 3 ft. long but may be extended by adding a length of pipe to it should it be desired to bend a pipe at some distance from the end.

The Qgg shaped balls in the central foreground of the illustration are bobbins. These are used to pass through the lead pipe for the purpose of removing dents, thus causing it to regain its correct diameter in the process of bending and oifsetting it. The largest of the four has a hole drilled in it through which a rope is passed by which it may be pulled through the pipe instead of driving it should it be found more convenient to adopt that means. The method of using these tools wdll be described in due course.

At the left of the illustration, the gasoline torch which is used to warm the lead pipe appears, and at the right hand side the expanding pliers familiar to most plumbers are shown.

The dresser in front of the torch is what is termed a bossing stick and is used in beating up the sheet lead at angles and at corners where it may be formed into a gutter or a flashing. This dresser is simply a piece of hard wood rounded and made of an offset shape but having a round body instead of a flat face.

U LEAD WORKING

The dresser underneath the expanding pHers is of similar shape, but instead of being round, the part which is used to dress the lead is flat with rounded sides. One side of the beating part is slightly concave and the other convex. The object of this is to afford a smooth surface for dressing the throat and heel of lead bends to remove the minor dents and imperfections when large pipes are being bent.

Two pear shaped mallets are shown in front of these dressers. They are used principally in sheet lead working operations. The end of each is rounded so that lead may be beaten down into depressions or otherwise handled without marking it.

At the left and immediately in front of one of the mallets is shown a hammer and at the right hand side a dresser of a wedge shape. This is used to set the lead sharply into angles, to form small depressions and to mark the lead when beating up the side of an upstand such as would be the case in laying long lengths of lead flashing. Beside them are shown the drift plugs which are used by plumbers to remove the dents in small lead pipes before passing the bending springs into them.

These are all of the tools that are required to accomplish the simple examples of lead bending that are necessary to meet most of the requirements of the well equipped and modem plumber. It is essential for good work that they should be kept in thorough condition and that the wooden tools should not be used to drive nails, to beat anything harder than lead, or that they should be allowed to lie in a tool chest in contact with tools having sharp edges. Dressers may be kept in perfect condition and free from splinters if they are coated with linseed oil occasionally.

Chapteu II MAKING A FOUR-INCH BEND

The condition of lead pipe after it has been in the store for a few months, or after it has passed through the hands of a few freight handlers and teamsters, is usually such that it requires considerable dressing up before it can be put into use. The larger sizes are of course more liable to damage than those of smaller diameter owing to the larger area entailing less resistance to flattening of the bore of the pipe. This is due to the fact that the thickness of the lead is not increased in proportion to the increase in the size of the bore in the kinds of pipe usually handled by plumbers.

Before commencing to bend 4-in. pipe, therefore, it is almost always necessary to remove indentations in its surface and to bring the pipe back to a true circular shape. In passing it might be well to recommend that in storing lead pipe in a horizontal position it be laid on shelves having capacity to provide for each size being separated and that it be laid in one tier only.

If lengths of pipe are laid on top of larger sizes, as is commonly done, the lower pipe will become flat in a very short time.

The easiest way to remove the dents and to recover the true shape is to beat out the dents and flat places with a "dummy." This, as before described, is a ball of lead somewhat egg-shaped and attached to a handle of brass pipe some 3 ft. long. The operation of smoothing the pipe preliminar}^ to bending it is shown in Fig. 3. After all the dents have been removed the pipe may be slipped over a wooden mandril or a smooth pipe a little less than the diameter of the lead pipe, and dressed perfectly smooth on this by using the flat dresser which may be seen lying beside the pipe in

Fig. 3.

Although the first operation in making a bend comprises making a dent, the smoothing up of the piece of pipe to be used before commencing the bend should never be omitted, as otherwise a good-looking bend will be hard to secure. Lead is always much easier bent and worked into the desired shape when it is warm, and therefore the pipe should be kept hot throughout the process of making a bend.

The most convenient means of applying the heat is

undoubtedly the gasolene torch, applied as shown in Fig. 4. An ordinary fire-pot may be used and the bend held over it.

Before gasolene torches and fire-pots were so Fig. 3. Taking Dents Out of Pipe Pee- commonly used the pipes

PAKATOEY TO MAKING A BeND Oi J U

were oiten warmed by holding them over shavings burning on a tray. When a torch is used, however, there is less danger of overheating and melting the pipe, as it can be removed immediately the pipe is seen to be hot enough. Besides this it is easier to apply the heat to the pipe than the pipe to the heat, and this is especially true if the bend is being made on the end of a long piece of pipe.

To test the state of the pipe and to judge when heat enough has been applied, the rather unaesthetic method of spitting upon it is commonly resorted to. When fairly hot small drops of water will sizzle on the pipe, but when it is about as hot as it is safe to make it the drops will fly off" as they strike the hot surface, and as soon as this is noticed the

Fig. 4.

Wakming the Pipe Befoeb Bexdixg torch should be laid aside and the first bend or dent made in the pipe.

The first bend or two can be made by holding the hand, protected by a thick cloth on the point at which it is desired the bend should commence and then pulling up on the pipe with the other hand, as in Fig. 5.

In this matter of making these bends lies the whole secret of speed and good workmanship. It lies in "making haste slowly." When the first bend is taken the pipe should be brought up only a few degrees. The amount shown as being secured in Fig. 6 is ample for one bend. If this is exceeded the dent left is so deep that the difficulty of beating it back is needlessly increased and consequently time is lost. As soon as the first bend has been taken the flat dresser, which may be seen lying at the end of the pipe in Fig. 5, is taken up and the bulge at the sides of the bent pipe dressed, not inward,

but toward the heel or back of the bend, as is being done in Fig. 6.

This is to maintain the correct thickness of the lead as the bend progresses. If it were not dressed in this way the heel would become quite thin and the throat or inside of the bend extremely thick, owing to the stretching of the one side and the compression of the other caused by the different radii of the parts of circles their

Fig. 5. :\Iatvi:

'HE l-ii;-^! Bexd surfaces describe. A skilful operator can give his dresser such an oblique motion that the blow tends to drive the thickness from the throat toward the heel, and this must be aimed

at throughout.

When the bend has been dressed in this fashion until the diameter is about right in the cross-section the dent should be dressed out with the

FIG. 6. DEESSING THE BULGE BACK TO ^Ummj. It is eaSJ tO do

THE HEEL this if the pipe is held as

shown in Fig. 7. The cloth used in bending should be used to lay the pipe on, as it will thus protect it from being marked by the bench.

In beating up the throat it is best to bring up the lead until not only the correct diameter of the pipe has been reached, but to a point a little beyond this. Then with the aid of the bending dresser with the rounded edges previously described, and which is formed especially for this purpose, the throat is dressed back and the little uneven places made smooth.

The dressing need not be carried on until every mark has been eliminated, but at each bend the correct area of the pipe at all points should be as nearly maintained as possible. Practice will en-

Fig. 7. TA^mlSmHTHE Dent able the operator to manipulate the dummy so that very little dressing back will be necessary to secure a good radial and correct sectional shape. The application of this dresser is shown in Fig. 8, and it may

Dressing Up the Theoat l^e noted that the bend is being held clear of the bench to Save denting the heel as the throat is being dressed.

After the shape at the bend has been regained, the torch is again applied and the ^ pipe warmed as before.

The correct heat should be tested for while the pipe is being warmed.

Another few degrees are gained on the bend, and the bulging sides are dressed toward the back, as was done at the first bend. If there are any little flattened places on the heel they are also removed with the aid of the dummy and the flat dresser. These operations are repeated throughout as each bend is taken and the dent and bulge made thereby repeated.