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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I have long been sceptical about the amount of tin
that may be lost "up the chimney" during the meting process. I could not see how
something costing several thousands pounds per ton could be "lost" without some
effort being made to prevent or recover it. In 1976, I wrote to the Tin Research
Institute and asked their opinion. I quote the following from their
reply:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>"The molten metal is usually tapped from the
furnace into a ladle at approx 1100 degrees C, and poured at a slightly lower
temperature. Since the boiling point of tin is 2267 degrees, any loss of tin
ocurring will be the result of oxidation rather than volatilisation. The rate of
oxidation of the tin will depend on the furnace conditions, but if a charcoal
cover on the melt is used, any tin oxide present will be reduced to tin,
avoiding any tin losses."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>DB</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=richard.offen@-Rsm0BOc8WFClZnT7hp3SnqTMmyl60gniMhvn6Rhy-wds6lCP_pLtHPunDyUFoazJhP-uZtpAyfq8yQfy2a4IFJmibioMtsYkoY.yahoo.invalid
href="mailto:richard.offen@Ktn22fM3rGTjYxCec4Tj1c-pRM0WIUQdvjDjSnKGHmCzToS4cyEes6QO9V_VXuui2szszt7vX4C7GAEWuAK9Jgu-2Wg.yahoo.invalid">Richard Offen</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=bellhistorians@yahoogroups.com
href="mailto:bellhistorians@yahoogroups.com">bellhistorians@yahoogroups.com</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, January 20, 2007 2:45
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Bell Historians] Re: Devon
Bells</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV id=ygrp-text>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><BR>> Back
in the days of itinerant bellfounders, bell casting was done on <BR>> the
spot - often in the churchyard or even the base of the tower. So <BR>> all
available metal from old bells was re-used in the process, as a <BR>>
simple matter of economy. That's where the term "recast" comes from.<BR>>
<BR><BR>Even then, as has been said before here, most of the tin will have
gone <BR>up the furnace chimney and had to be replaced with new
metal!<BR><BR>R<BR><BR></P></DIV><!--End group email --></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>