A Dictionary of Occupational Terms Based on the Classification of Occupations used in the Census of Population, 1921.
ORDER VII.—METAL WORKERS (NOT ELECTRO PLATE OR PRECIOUS METALS)
Sub-order 2.—Furnacemen (not Foundry) and Puddlers
172.—Puddlers
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- bailer, ball furnaceman, bailie, bally
; busheller, bushleyer
- a puddler q.v. who works at a ball furnace in which iron and steel scrap or bars of puddled iron are treated to form an even purer wrought iron than is made from cast iron,
- busheller, bushleyer
- see bailer,
- charcoal lumper, charcoal sinker
- a puddler q.v. who works up special charcoal pig iron to produce a particularly soft iron used for dynamo maufacture [sic].
- forehand puddler
- a leading hand in charge of group of men engaged in puddling iron; is paid by weight of iron puddled by group and pays and engages members of group; for duties, see puddler.
- ferker
- slang, see puddler.
- level-hand (puddler)
- a puddler q.v. who works in group of two or more puddlers who divide piecework wages evenly among themselves; works alternately at puddling and at tending furnace.
- puddler, iron puddler
; forker
- charges broken lumps of pig iron by hand, crane or machine on to hearth of reverberatory furnace, and tends furnace fires which melt iron; also charges sides of hearth with iron oxide powder ("fettling mixture"); stirs iron oxide into charge of molten pig iron with rabble, or fork, a long-handled metal bar flattened at furnace end; as iron slowly becomes purer (owing to oxidation of carbon by iron oxide fettling, grains of pure iron separate out and impurities form a slag or cinder), works grains of iron up together by means of rabble forming a ball of iron weighing about 80 lbs., and by means of tongs, or "dogs," removes ball from furnace on to iron truck for transfer to shingler (174) q.v.; taps off slag formed during rabbling operation, running it into ladle for removal to slag heap; repeats process until whole charge of cast iron has been dealt with (about 5 cwts.); usually has an assistant; repairs worn parts of lining of furnace by ramming in mixture of slag and iron oxide, which fuses and fills up cracks when furnace is in use.
- underhand busheller
; underhand swarf furnaceman
- one of assistant bushellers employed by chief ball furnaceman in his group; may perform any of operations on ball furnace under direction of ball furnaceman q.v.
- underhand (puddler)
- a member of group of assistants employed by forehand puddler q.v.; may perform any of operations of puddling under direction of forehand, and also attend to furnace fire.
- underhand swarf furnaceman
- see underhand busheller.
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From:
A Dictionary of Occupational Terms Based on the Classification of Occupations used in the Census of Population, 1921,
Ministry of Labour, 1927. Digitised by Peter Christian, August, 2016. This text is in the Public Domain. 