A contemporary metallurgist probably knows mainly modern techniques. This is the quotation from "The Early English Copper and Brass Industries to 1800" by H. Hamilton:
Up to the Elizabethan period, copper or brass wire was drawn by hand in Britain by a very primitive process. One method consisted of two men seated on swings facing one another with a narrow strip of brass fastened to a belt round each man's waist. By propelling the swings with their feet they could swing apart and gradually produce a crude type of wire by stretching the brass. (15) Wire was also made by the equally laborious process of hammering, until that was superseded by drawing; this latter process is believed to have been invented at Nuremberg in the 14th Century. At first, drawn wire was pulled through a die by hand, but later by machinery driven by water- or horse-power. Regards JL Wiadomo¶æ napisana przez Roman Turovsky w dniu 10 lip 2012, o godz. 19:55: > The way it was explained to me by a metallurgist: drawing brass requires lube > that wouldn't burn at the teperature necessary to draw. And that lagged a bit. > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Jul 10, 2012, at 1:08 PM, Jaros³aw Lipski <jaroslawlip...@wp.pl> wrote: > >> It was not a matter of lubrication but rather problems with melting zinc >> metal. However brass wire was used in England during Shakespearean times and >> in some places even much earlier. It was produced from calamine (found in >> the Mendip hills in Somerset). The full info you can find at >> http://www.copper.org/publications/newsletters/innovations/2000/01-brasses/history_brass.html >> >> All best >> >> JL >> >> Wiadomo¶æ napisana przez Roman Turovsky w dniu 10 lip 2012, o godz. 17:40: >> >>> much later, I think. the lubrication essential for drawing brass wire >>> wasn't invented until a couple of centuries after 1300's. >>> RT >>> >>> 7/10/2012 9:26 AM, theoj89...@aol.com wrote: >>>> Brass strings (or an alloy closer to bronze) were used on irish and >>>> scottish harps from the 1300s onward. It would not be surprising that a >>>> lute player might possibly use them for bass strings. I shudder to think >>>> what tension they might have pulled on those strings, though. trj >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -----Original Message----- >>>> From: alexander <voka...@verizon.net> >>>> To: Monica Hall <mjlh...@tiscali.co.uk> >>>> Cc: Lutelist <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>; Ron Andrico <praelu...@hotmail.com>; >>>> Stuart Walsh <s.wa...@ntlworld.com> >>>> Sent: Mon, Jul 9, 2012 9:37 am >>>> Subject: [LUTE] Re: brass strings on 15th century lutes - testament of >>>> loading >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> t does translate as loading?, rather then a separate strings, which >>>> appears to >>>> rove Mimmo Peruffo's insight. >>>> lexander r. >>>> >>>> n Mon, 09 Jul 2012 14:00:00 +0100 >>>> Monica Hall" <mjlh...@tiscali.co.uk> wrote: >>>>> I am not a Latin scholar but the relevant passage reads as follows: >>>> His autem chordis ex arietum intestinus communiter factis: sunt qui >>>> germanica inventione: gravissime quandam aliam ei per diapason consonantem >>>> adjiciunt eneam: Qua concentus non modo itidem fortior. verum etiam longe >>>> suavior efficitur. >>>> Perhaps some one who knows some Latin could comment. >>>> Monica >>>> ----- Original Message ----- >>>> From: "Ron Andrico" <praelu...@hotmail.com> >>>> To: <s.wa...@ntlworld.com>; <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> >>>> Sent: Monday, July 09, 2012 1:32 PM >>>> Subject: [LUTE] Re: brass strings on 15th century lutes >>>>> Hello Stuart: >>>>> Since no one else seems to have answered your question, I'll contribute >>>>> a few words. >>>>> Tinctoris' mention of brass octave strings has been repeated >>>>> willy-nilly throughout the spate of "performer's guides" to early music >>>>> that have been published over the last twenty years or so, and it is >>>>> even found in Matthew Spring's history of the lute. The information, >>>>> as near as I can judge, seems to be derived from an article Anthony >>>>> Baines, "Fifteenth-Century Instruments in Tinctoris's _De Inventione et >>>>> Usu Musicae_", Galpin Society Journal III, p19-26 (1950). I have this >>>>> article lying about somewhere and have quoted from it myself, but I am >>>>> told some interpretive questions have been raised concerning Baines' >>>>> translation of the passage, quoted here: >>>>> "And further, to provide a stronger sound, an additional string may be >>>>> conjoined to any string and tuned to the octave, though not when >>>>> conjoined >>>>> to the first string. The strings are generally of Ram's gut, but there >>>>> is >>>>> also the German invention in which another [set of] brass string[s] is >>>>> added, tuned very deeply through an octave." >>>>> Practically speaking, there is some ambiguity here, and the reference >>>>> could just as well mean that brass was used in the lower octave rather >>>>> than the upper. Then there is the possibility that what we see here is >>>>> an early mention of brass overspun strings. I'm sure some string >>>>> enthusiasts on this discussion list would have a thing or two to say >>>>> about that. >>>>> I hope this helps. >>>>> RA >>>>>> Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2012 22:52:51 +0100 >>>>>> To: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu >>>>>> From: s.wa...@ntlworld.com >>>>>> Subject: [LUTE] brass strings on 15th century lutes >>>>>> >>>>>> (perhaps this has been discussed before) >>>>>> Tinctoris (c.1480) "commented on the German invention of brass >>>>> strings >>>>>> [on lutes] which were added 'tuned very deeply through an octave' by >>>>>> means of which 'the sound is rendered not only stronger, but also >>>>> very >>>>>> much sweeter'." (Keith Polk, German Instrumental Music of the Middle >>>>>> Ages p.22, 1992). >>>>>> Polk, somewhere else in the same book, talks about the 'ever reliable >>>>>> Tinctoris'. I've never heard of wire-strung lutes (apart from >>>>>> lute-bodied citterns in the late 18th century). >>>>>> Anyone know what Tinctoris is talking about? >>>>>> Stuart >>>>>> -- >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> To get on or off this list see list information at >>>>>> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> >> > --
