The dream that revolutionized the manufacturing of shot
During the mid-eighteenth century, two different methods were used to make bullets and shots depending on their size. Large shots were melted on molds, a fairly obvious method, although very hard to work with and that also left marks on the joints. Another method, which was used for smaller shot, consisted of pouring melted lead through a sieve suspended several centimeters over a barrel with water. The size of the sieve holes determined the diameter of the shot. This second method was not perfect either, and the results were oval shots with the figure of teardrops with a "tail”. It was necessary then to pass them through a machine that would eliminate the major flaws to finally get a roughly spherical shot.
There is a story that mentions that one night in 1782, a plumber from Bristol, England, whose last name was Watts ended up drunk, and unable to get home he spent the night sleeping at the base of the steeple at Saint Mary Redcliff church. That night he dreamed that from the top of the tower he dropped molten lead through a sieve and this fell into a container with water. There is another version of the dream, perhaps more in line with the fears of a married drunk man. In this, Watts dreamed that his wife was the one who poured molten lead at him from the church tower through the holes of a big pan. However the idea came about, Watts and his wife decided to try it. And they chose to do it at the church tower from the dream, so they placed a barrel with water on the floor. The test was a success, so after pouring molten lead it fell like raindrops and during the fall, the air began to cool the metal cells, the water cushioned the drop fall and solidify them. There was no more waiting. So Watts decided to patent the process and in early 1785, he could implement his idea. That year, Watts rented a house on Redcliff Hill, the same street where he had a plumbing business, and he began what would become the first "tower for shots manufacturing". Today, various processes are used for the production of shots but there are still some factories around the world, which currently use a tower like the one Watts dreamed of.
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