Joseph Hall (metallurgist)
Encyclopedia
Joseph Hall 1789 – 1862, the inventor of 'Wet Puddling', was born in 1789 and apprenticed in 1806 as a puddler to use Henry Cort
's puddling process. He tried adding old iron to the charge of the puddling furnace and later puddler's bosh cinder (iron scale, that is rust) to the charge. This caused the charge (to his surprise) to boil violently. When this subsided he gathered the iron into a puddle ball in the usual way, and this proved to be good iron.
In 1830, with the financial support of others he established the Bloomfield Ironworks at Tipton
, the firm becoming Bailey, Barrows and Hall in 1834. In 1839, he patented the use of 'bulldog' (roasted tap cinder) to protect the iron bottom plate of the puddling furnace. In 1849, he moved to small house at Handsworth
but continued to visit the works occasionally. He died there in 1862.
Henry Cort
Henry Cort was an English ironmaster. During the Industrial Revolution in England, Cort began refining iron from pig iron to wrought iron using innovative production systems. In 1783 he patented the puddling process for refining iron ore...
's puddling process. He tried adding old iron to the charge of the puddling furnace and later puddler's bosh cinder (iron scale, that is rust) to the charge. This caused the charge (to his surprise) to boil violently. When this subsided he gathered the iron into a puddle ball in the usual way, and this proved to be good iron.
In 1830, with the financial support of others he established the Bloomfield Ironworks at Tipton
Tipton
Tipton is a town in the Sandwell borough of the West Midlands, England, with a population of around 47,000. Tipton is located about halfway between Birmingham and Wolverhampton. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is a part of the Black Country....
, the firm becoming Bailey, Barrows and Hall in 1834. In 1839, he patented the use of 'bulldog' (roasted tap cinder) to protect the iron bottom plate of the puddling furnace. In 1849, he moved to small house at Handsworth
Handsworth, West Midlands
Handsworth is an inner city area of Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. The Local Government Act 1894 divided the ancient Staffordshire parish of Handsworth into two urban districts: Handsworth and Perry Barr. Handsworth was annexed to the county borough of Birmingham in Warwickshire in 1911...
but continued to visit the works occasionally. He died there in 1862.
Further reading
- R. A. Mott, 'Dry and Wet Puddling' Trans. Newcomen Soc. 49, (1977–8), 156–7.
- W. K. V. Gale, The Black Country Iron Industry (Iron and Steel Institute, London, 1966), 66–9.