Moulding Round Ball for the Flintlock Gun.

Moulding Round ball. Videos.

Spoon to Lead Ladle? Just a thought.

Whilst searching for items up in the old cottage today I came across a hand forged spoon that had belonged to a close friend of mine. I already have a wooden spoon that I carry in my knapsack, so I thought that this spoon might easily be turned into a lead ladle. Of course we already have a couple of lead ladles too, but we lack one for the .74 calibre fusil.

Washington Irving's Chouteau post:
"The little hamlet of the Agency was in a complete bustle; the blacksmith's shed, in particular, was a scene of preparation; a strapping negro was shoeing a horse; two half-breeds were fabricating iron spoons in which to melt lead for bullets. An old trapper, in leathern hunting frock and moccasons, had placed his rifle against a work-bench, while he superintended the operation, and gossiped about his hunting exploits."

Washington Irving (1783-1859)

University Artifact Images. Permission Granted.

Some of these items such as the gun parts can be dated to 1840, but of course items such as the ball mould and the lead ladle could be a lot earlier. The clay pipe fragments are believed to be later than 1700ad.

The lower image is of a stone ball mould. Both the ladle & the ball mould demonstrate the enginuity and improvisation of the period. Although we still need to be careful when using experimental archaeology to produce period items, this does open some doors.

My thanks to the University of Florida for allowing me to publish these images.

http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00027829/00116/3j

A Sketch of the Crude Lead Ladle.

I have been studying the photograph of the lead ladle, & the more I look at it the more I am not sure which way up it is. Enlarging the image allowed me to sketch the ladle, but it became so pixelated that I could not tell if it was the right way up or not! Anyway, I have made a rough sketch so we can better understand what we are looking at.

Finally I have a first ! The First ! I have found documentation for a bag ladle !!!

To say I am a little excited is an understatement. I have been 30 hours researching over the past two days, and finally found what I was looking for.  It has ben a bone of contention for a long time now whether or not woodsmen carried ball moulds & lead ladles in their shot pouches. I can not prove they did, but I have good reason for carrying these tools in my shot pouch. Trouble was, there has been no documentation for small, short, light lead ladles.
Now you no doubt remember seeing the lead ladle I carry and use. I made this about 20 years ago, and I did not copy it from an original. I made it at the time because I had the need, and I thought that if I used common materials and common 18th century tools, combined with a simple design that most anyone could come up with and produce, then that was as close as I could get at the time.
But now I have found documentation in an image of an original ladle, Indian made, and almost exactly the same as the one I made. Only two differences, (1) it is cruder in make, and (2) the crimp on the socket to insert a green stick is on the top instead of on the bottom as mine is.
Unfortunately the document and the image of the original is copyright, so I can't post it here. But I will give you the link. Please bare in mind that I have edited the original image by isolating the lead ladle so I could better identify it. You may need to do the same.
http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00027829/00116/3j

My shot pouch and contents.

Swan shot, bird shot, ball, tool pouch: pin punch, grease, screw, turn screw, flint, flint leather. Ramrod leather thong, cow's knee lock cover, ball mould, lead ladle, bar lead, tow wadding, pan brush, vent pick, powder charger/measure, vent quills, loading block, Powder horn.