Richard Dye
master brummie
Quite amazing for 1977 that the only safety clothes were glasses and cloth hat. Excellent picture showing the intensity of the work. Thank you Pedro!
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iron founders
- Thread starter karro
- Start date
Keeping the old threads going! 
I recently posted on the Saltley College pages, having reread some of my grandad's papers & discovered his school was Saltley College school & that the building still exists.
He then left school in 1894 aged 14 & went to work at an "old Axletree & Cast Ironworks".
I don't know which exact company this was but the word Axletree seems very specific. Although axle making was common, I haven't found any companies using Axletree in their names. The only one I found was the large "Patent Shaft & Axletree co" in Wednesbury. I wonder if it could have been where he worked?
I read that at some point they used the Siemens type of blast furnace & that the slag was sold to Germany, mainly for agricultural purposes (I have NO idea what use it could have been!)
Anyway that all interested me even more, since my Grandfather (who I never met) claimed to have been good at languages at school & not only that, travelled to Germany sometime post 1900, possibly as some kind of merchant /salesman. No-one in the family now knows who he worked for at the time, or what his work there was, hence my interest in the possible foundry connection.
Anyway, that was where he met my grandmother. She had been born in the late 1800's near Poznan, now Poland but at that time it was called Posen, or Kreis Posen, part of the new German state & formerly part of the old Prussian empire. They married in 1910 & subsequently lived in Britain. He seems to have remained in the metals trade.
No doubt there were other foundries (& other businesses) with German connections
I recently posted on the Saltley College pages, having reread some of my grandad's papers & discovered his school was Saltley College school & that the building still exists.
He then left school in 1894 aged 14 & went to work at an "old Axletree & Cast Ironworks".
I don't know which exact company this was but the word Axletree seems very specific. Although axle making was common, I haven't found any companies using Axletree in their names. The only one I found was the large "Patent Shaft & Axletree co" in Wednesbury. I wonder if it could have been where he worked?
I read that at some point they used the Siemens type of blast furnace & that the slag was sold to Germany, mainly for agricultural purposes (I have NO idea what use it could have been!)
Anyway that all interested me even more, since my Grandfather (who I never met) claimed to have been good at languages at school & not only that, travelled to Germany sometime post 1900, possibly as some kind of merchant /salesman. No-one in the family now knows who he worked for at the time, or what his work there was, hence my interest in the possible foundry connection.
Anyway, that was where he met my grandmother. She had been born in the late 1800's near Poznan, now Poland but at that time it was called Posen, or Kreis Posen, part of the new German state & formerly part of the old Prussian empire. They married in 1910 & subsequently lived in Britain. He seems to have remained in the metals trade.
No doubt there were other foundries (& other businesses) with German connections
Richard Dye
master brummie
Slag from blast furnaces was used to balance the soil to make it suitable for certain crops. It allows soils to become more productive and easily blends with the soil naturally. Soils can be conditioned also by certain crops while still being productive, it’s a level of chemistry that I am aware of but am not fully versed in the details.Keeping the old threads going!
I recently posted on the Saltley College pages, having reread some of my grandad's papers & discovered his school was Saltley College school & that the building still exists.
He then left school in 1894 aged 14 & went to work at an "old Axletree & Cast Ironworks".
I don't know which exact company this was but the word Axletree seems very specific. Although axle making was common, I haven't found any companies using Axletree in their names. The only one I found was the large "Patent Shaft & Axletree co" in Wednesbury. I wonder if it could have been where he worked?
I read that at some point they used the Siemens type of blast furnace & that the slag was sold to Germany, mainly for agricultural purposes (I have NO idea what use it could have been!)
Anyway that all interested me even more, since my Grandfather (who I never met) claimed to have been good at languages at school & not only that, travelled to Germany sometime post 1900, possibly as some kind of merchant /salesman. No-one in the family now knows who he worked for at the time, or what his work there was, hence my interest in the possible foundry connection.
Anyway, that was where he met my grandmother. She had been born in the late 1800's near Poznan, now Poland but at that time it was called Posen, or Kreis Posen, part of the new German state & formerly part of the old Prussian empire. They married in 1910 & subsequently lived in Britain. He seems to have remained in the metals trade.
No doubt there were other foundries (& other businesses) with German connections
mw0njm.
A Brummie Dude
Presently the steel producers worldwide utilize the blast furnace and other slags majorly in the cement making, construction and the allied sectors. Countries such as Japan, United States and Europe have also taken lead to exploit the nutritional richness of steel slag mainly the blast oxygen furnace slag and have developed steel slag-based fertilizers/amendments for use in agriculture. However, the presence of heavy metals in particular chromium, in the materials to be added to the soil as amendment/fertilizers is a challenge which can restrict the utilization of steel slag in the farm sector particularly for reclaiming acidic and degraded soils which are in plenty in India (∼41 Mha). This review discusses critically the challenges, scope and opportunities in utilization of steel slag in agriculture. The nutritional advantage of the steel slag and the need for transformation into a holistic soil amendment/fertilizer capable of providing essential and beneficial mineral nutrients are also discussed in wake of the phyto- and eco-toxicity effects of using raw steel slag in agriculture.
Both blast furnace slag and steelmaking slag have been utilized as raw materials for
fertilizer. Fertilizers made of blast furnace slag or steelmaking slag are categorized in slag
silicate fertilizer, byproduced lime fertilizer, slag phosphate fertilizer or iron matter of spe-
cial fertilizer. Effective elements in blast furnace slag are Ca, Si and Mg. Steelmaking slag
contains Ca, Si, Mg, P, Mn and Fe. Steelmaking slag also contains plant available Si. There-
fore, fertilizers made of steelmaking slag is more useful. Four research examples were in-
troduced. : (1) Formation of silica body cells by application of silicate fertilizer. (2) Registra-
tion as phosphate fertilizer. (3) Restoration of paddy fields damaged by Tsunami. (4)
Composting of cow manure using steelmaking slag
Both blast furnace slag and steelmaking slag have been utilized as raw materials for
fertilizer. Fertilizers made of blast furnace slag or steelmaking slag are categorized in slag
silicate fertilizer, byproduced lime fertilizer, slag phosphate fertilizer or iron matter of spe-
cial fertilizer. Effective elements in blast furnace slag are Ca, Si and Mg. Steelmaking slag
contains Ca, Si, Mg, P, Mn and Fe. Steelmaking slag also contains plant available Si. There-
fore, fertilizers made of steelmaking slag is more useful. Four research examples were in-
troduced. : (1) Formation of silica body cells by application of silicate fertilizer. (2) Registra-
tion as phosphate fertilizer. (3) Restoration of paddy fields damaged by Tsunami. (4)
Composting of cow manure using steelmaking slag
Pedrocut
Master Barmmie
Patent Shaft and Axletree seems uniquely named, although there a some that included it in their trade description. Patent Shaft used Hardy's Patent Alxetree (1835).
Slag was exported by Patent Shaft to Germany and other European countries until The Second World War. The slag it produced was high in phosphates and used as fertiliser. It seems that after the War most of the slag tonnage was consumed domestically.
Slag was exported by Patent Shaft to Germany and other European countries until The Second World War. The slag it produced was high in phosphates and used as fertiliser. It seems that after the War most of the slag tonnage was consumed domestically.
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Richard Dye
master brummie
The scope and use of slag and it derivatives continued to expand and its value continued to increase. If you Google/Wikipedia slag you will see all you need to know unless you are a ChemE or metallurgist.
Hi all.
His name was John Shailer. Originally from near Alcester.
I haven't looked at any census yet. I know he moved South & ended up in Essex but have no timescale for when that happened, other than most likely post 1920, since he did quite well for himself until the wall street crash & depression & had to move into a smaller house from somewhere North of London.
I did find a local archive yesterday (will have to look thru my search history to find the page) that apparently holds some documents from the Patent shaft etc co. I will have a look for Hardy's Patent Axletree as well & keep an eye out for others.
I don't have a lot of spare time to donate to this so just poking about at the mo' but it's all very interesting.
Now I know a lot more about slag & its uses than I did before!
Thanks to all for the helpful replies.
His name was John Shailer. Originally from near Alcester.
I haven't looked at any census yet. I know he moved South & ended up in Essex but have no timescale for when that happened, other than most likely post 1920, since he did quite well for himself until the wall street crash & depression & had to move into a smaller house from somewhere North of London.
I did find a local archive yesterday (will have to look thru my search history to find the page) that apparently holds some documents from the Patent shaft etc co. I will have a look for Hardy's Patent Axletree as well & keep an eye out for others.
I don't have a lot of spare time to donate to this so just poking about at the mo' but it's all very interesting.
Now I know a lot more about slag & its uses than I did before!
Thanks to all for the helpful replies.
Wow, quick work! Thanks for that. Confirms he was down South by then.
Quick edit. Quick check of 1911 census shows he was already in London by then, as a Ropeworks manager. He mentions this later in his notes but without any details or dates. Anyway, it was shortly after his marriage in 1910.
Interestingly, the 1901 census (what a lot of John Shailers there were!) does not show him at all. To my mind he must have been in Germany, or at least Europe at that point.
Quick edit. Quick check of 1911 census shows he was already in London by then, as a Ropeworks manager. He mentions this later in his notes but without any details or dates. Anyway, it was shortly after his marriage in 1910.
Interestingly, the 1901 census (what a lot of John Shailers there were!) does not show him at all. To my mind he must have been in Germany, or at least Europe at that point.
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