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Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Water tank


As I understand it, these steel water tanks were shipped out here filled with the worldly goods of the settlers who sailed on board also. The packed tanks must have been hard to handle, being heavy even when empty. I found the remains of one in the creek when I first began excavating it, but this one, I traded for a bottle of gin. It's perfectly sound and will hold water from the roof of the garage, for use in the tunnel house, once I've piped it. Great rivets!

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Went to small town in England called Ironbridge which was the centre of the industries that made iron and steel work many years ago. They had a display that showed how these rivets were put in by hand before some lazy person come up with the idea of hydraulics. The rivets were heated in a furnace until red hot and starting to go soft then placed in the holes and two men took turns at holding it and hitting the rivet. They used a special piece made the round of the head of the rivet to keep them all uniform. Always amazes me how they thought up such things but today our minds don't need to work overly hard as its all done for us.
They worked hard in extreme conditions and never had to worry about being over weight of any of the modern day woes. H&S meant nothing

robertguyton said...

Thanks for that, Philip. I'm pleased to have found an example of that craftsmanship/industry and your comment gives it depth.

Armchair Critic said...

It was not uncommon for joins in steel to be made watertight with lead. Also, rust is an excellent breeding ground for bacteria from species that can make you quite unwell. Take care of and with your tank.

robertguyton said...

Thanks, AC. This one will supply the greenhouse, but I take your point.