[TheForge] question for Bruce F. the Chemist

[Bob Willman]

	There was a unique odor in the shop for several days when I first
put water in it. The whiskey was long gone by the time the local Kroger
store put the barrel up for sale. Darn! 


Bob Willman
Bowling Green, Ohio
The Eagle's Anvil
WB8NQW

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Jerry Smith
Sent: Wednesday, July 04, 2007 10:28 PM
To: Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: RE: [TheForge] question for Bruce F. the Chemist

Bob,

What happen to the whiskey?

Jerry

--- Bob Willman <blcksmth at wcnet.org> wrote:

> 	My slack tub is a used 1/2 wiskey barrel. Maybe I should change my 
> opinion.
> 
> 
> Bob Willman
> Bowling Green, Ohio
> The Eagle's Anvil
> WB8NQW
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net 
> [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Bruce Freeman
> Sent: Wednesday, July 04, 2007 10:08 PM
> To: Sponsored by ABANA
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] question for Bruce F. the Chemist
> 
> Albin,
> 
> Albin,
> 
> I don't know to what extent the heat of the metal would have an 
> effect, but I'd be surprized if a slack tub didn't contain 
> considerable iron, in perhaps both the ferrous (2+) and the ferric 
> (3+) states.
> 
> Whether this would have a tonic effect, I don't know.
> Anemia can be treated with iron, but that's by ingestion, and I don't 
> suggest anyone drink slack tub water.  This is especially true today, 
> when cadmium and lead could well be present in this water.  (In the 
> old days, copper, zinc, or lead might be present in a blacksmith shop, 
> but probably not in great
> quantities.)
> 
> Furthermore, I'm a subscriber of what might be urban legend that we 
> should NOT include supplemental iron in our diets.  Rumor has it 
> iron's the responsible entity for causing cholesterol to form arterial 
> plaque.
> 
> Now, it MIGHT be that the water in a slack tub was beneficial when 
> topically applied specifically because it was mildly toxic.
> If it kills disease
> organisms or parasites faster than it kills the patient, then it cures 
> the patient!
> 
> "Honey, Mud, and Maggots" is a fascinating book about old-time 
> treatments.
> Honey is excellent for open wounds.  Maggots (of the correct species 
> only) are wondrous for cleaning out dead or gangrenous tissue from a 
> wound.  I don't recall the benefits of mud.  In wartime, wounds were 
> bound and allowed to drain, and though they smelled to high heaven, 
> the wounded often recovered fully due to the power of the white 
> corpuscles in the oozing pus.
> Even the notorious bleeding procedure was apperently efficacious in 
> 70% of the cases - though this would not be true today because the 
> diseases for which it was efficacious no longer commonly afflict 
> mankind.
> 
> Accordingly, I consider the question of the efficacy of an iron tonic 
> water to be outside the realm of my expertise.
> 
> Bruce
> 
> --- Albin Drzewianowski <dski1045 at qis.net> wrote:
> 
> > Bruce,
> > 
> > I was demonstrating in the Historic Forge at the
> local Farm Musuem
> > today.
> > 
> > Towards the end of the day, as my arm starts
> giving out, I look for
> > any excuse to talk instead of hammering.  So when
> someone asked about
> > the slack tub, I gave them the story about how in
> the "old days" 
> > people would come and buy water from the slack tub
> for medicinal
> > purposes.
> >  I thought that was
> > just a scam by blacksmiths to make a little money
> on the side.  But
> > one of the guests asked whether the water in the
> tub would pick up an
> > iron from having all the hot steel quenched or
> cooled in the slack
> > tub.  Also, small pieces of hot steel that have
> been cut off are often
> > just tossed into the slack tub.
> > 
> > So the question is:   would quenching  or cooling
> > hot steel  or the presence
> > of small pieces of steel in the bottom of the
> slack tub increase the
> > iron content of the water such that it would have
> some medical benefit
> > as some
> > kind of tonic???   Today, we have extra iron as a
> > supplement in lots of
> > things that we eat, but back in the "old days"
> they did not.
> > 
> > Inquiring minds want to know.
> > Albin
> > Westminster, MD
> 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
> 
>        
>
____________________________________________________________________________
> ________
> Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha! Play Monopoly Here and Now (it's 
> updated for today's economy) at Yahoo! Games.
>
http://get.games.yahoo.com/proddesc?gamekey=monopolyherenow
> _______________________________________________
> Manage membership or unsubscribe at:
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> theforge mail list group photo site is http://www.photoaccess.com
> Login:  blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
> password:  anvil
> ___________
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Manage membership or unsubscribe at:
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> theforge mail list group photo site is http://www.photoaccess.com
> Login:  blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
> password:  anvil
> ___________
> 
> 
> 

_______________________________________________
Manage membership or unsubscribe at:
http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
theforge mail list group photo site is
http://www.photoaccess.com
Login:  blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
password:  anvil
___________