Well bucket and chain
Name/Title
Well bucket and chainEntry/Object ID
2025.1.287Description
A galvanised bucket with handle, clasp and chain.Context
Using zinc to galvanise iron and steel dates back to the early 1800s. The first British patent for the process was in 1837. The first commercial use of galvanized metal sheets in the UK was for the Royal Navy at Pembroke Docks in South Wales in 1844. The process involves a crude steel sheet being man-handled first into a tank of sulphuric acid to remove scale and other foreign matter and then into a bath of molten zinc. Adhesion of the zinc coating is enhanced by feeding the sheet through a ‘sal ammoniac’ flux layer floating on the molten zinc. The industry thrives in the Midlands, Bristol and South Wales by 1911 exports exceed 600,000 tons. Over the next decades, various new methods of coating metal have been developed and the amalgamation of the firms in British Steel, now British Steel plc. Today the semi and pre-finished coated products are used widely in the construction, automotive, consumer durables and engineering industries. End uses include wall and roof cladding, car body parts, domestic appliances, electrical switchgear and ducting.Category
Domestic, Horticultural Sundries