Lead wool

Lead wool, loose and bagged. From a trade catalog, 1947.

Lead wool consists of thin strands of lead metal that can be used to cold-caulk cast iron and steel pipes. ^[1] It was manufactured by the New York Lead Wool Company in the United States^[2] and by The Lead Wool Company, Limited in Snodland, Kent, England.^[3]

The Lead Wool Company (the British company) was incorporated on 9 October 1919^[4] (although some references indicate that it was active before that date) and was still active in 1983.^[5] The British company also developed a device to test pipe joints internally.^[6]

The company's factory had been demolished by 1994, according to a report on archaeological excavations near the factory's site.^[7]

Lead wool is presently manufactured in the UK by Calder Industrial Materials Limited.^[8]

References

1. "Lead Wool (advertisement)". The Gas journal calendar and directory. 1933. p. A-104. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
2. "The New York Lead Wool Company". Gas Industry (Volume 9). 1909. p. 357. Retrieved 30 March 2010. The New York Lead Wool Company occupied booth No. 40. Their product is guaranteed to stand 1000 pounds pressure or more. It is applied cold. No melting is necessary. It consists of pure lead fibers which are calked like yarn.
3. Harry George Cordero, Trevor J. Tarring, ed. (1967). Non-ferrous metal works of the world. London: Metal Bulletin Books Ltd. pp. 471–472. ISSN 0078-0987.
4. "Lead Wool Company, Limited (The)". UK Data Limited. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
5. "The Lead Wool Company". World Water. 6 (5–11): 33. 1983.
6. "Many years ago, the Lead Wool Company Ltd. developed a rigid tester to test pipe joints internally..." Water Services. 88. 1984.
7. Birbeck, Vaughan (1996). "Excavations on a Romano-British Villa at Churchfields, Snodland, 1992-94". Archaeologia Cantiana. 115. Kent Archaeological Society: 72–73. ISSN 0066-5894.
8. Lead Wool, Calder website (http://www.calderlead.co.uk/product/construction/wool)