Thread: Roman Workbench

Curious & interesting, Paul, but thoroughly impractical for this stiff-in-the-joints old codger. I suggest there are good reasons why this style of bench passed into history.....

Cheers,

In Roman times it was common to sweeten wine with lead acetate.

I don't think the Romans fared any better than the hatters who experienced a similar occupational hazard with lead (hence the "mad hatter").

I wondered if that Roman workbench should be viewed more in the light of a saw horse on steroids.

Regards
Paul

We're the Romans working wood on that style bench.
Or was it for something more not very nice!!


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Mad hatter's disease was caused by exposure to mercury vapour during the hat making process. The Romans had exposure to lead both as a sweetener and through the use of lead/tin pewter for their utensils. Makes for fascinating reading - read a book about lead in antiquity many years ago. Seem it was a significant contributor to the craziness of the Roman Empire.

cheers,
Peter

I knew it was something poisonous. Perhaps I should have checked google. I have often wondered if the prolonged use of lead crystal could have a similar effect. To be called lead crystal i think it has to contain 21% lead. The better brands (Thos Webb, Edinburgh etc) had around 24%. Quite how that was incorporated into the process I don't know.

Regards
Paul

Funny old hats and Roman workbenches united by neurotoxic metals, maybe that's why the bench has eight legs.

Originally Posted by rob streeper

Funny old hats and Roman workbenches united by neurotoxic metals, maybe that's why the bench has eight legs.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

I don't think the Romans fared any better than the hatters who experienced a similar occupational hazard with lead (hence the "mad hatter")......

Actually, it was mercury what did the hatters in, Paul, not lead. Lead is more of a neuronal problem when you are growing, but whatever the case, ingesting heavy metals of most types isn't a good idea.......

Cheers,

Woops, someone else beat me to it....

My Dad was a paint chemist from the early 1950s and he told us when we were very young (in the 1960s) that it was studies by a doctor in Queensland on kids back in the 1890s that was first to report the lead poisoning of children. One way they would ingest it was after rain, by licking and sucking the sweet water from the drips on handrails.

Cheers,
Peter

Originally Posted by IanW

Actually, it was mercury what did the hatters in, Paul, not lead. Lead is more of a neuronal problem when you are growing, but whatever the case, ingesting heavy metals of most types isn't a good idea.......

Cheers,

Woops, someone else beat me to it....

Yep

I have been admonished at least twice, but I feel the Stockholm syndrome taking over .

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Yep

I have been admonished at least twice, but I feel the Stockholm syndrome taking over .

Regards
Paul

Paul,

Paint chips again? Shame shame.

Regards,
Rob

Peter,

Interesting that there was a link between lead paint and lead ingestion by drinking the run-off water. The white lead pigment (the nasty stuff in lead paints) is pretty much insoluble in water, but from what I can read white lead pigments are made by passing carbon dioxide through lead acetate (AKA lead sugar!).
Useless fact. You can trace the increase of level lead in the Arctic permafrost back to the beginning of the industrial revolution. Lead in the Antarctic is only an early 20th century phenomenon and correlates with the rise of teh use of tetraethyl lead in motor vehicle fuels.

cheers,
Peter

Peter,

Lead oxides and carbonate are sparingly soluble in water, however the body concentrates lead so that even low levels become toxic over time. Rainwater is also acidic which converts less soluble lead salts into more soluble lead salts. Likewise, consuming lead paint chips exposes them to the acid of the stomach which increases their solubility and absorption.
Tetraethyl lead has the additional hazard of high volatility, i.e. it evaporates - this characteristic and the huge quantities used are why the levels in the polar regions can be used to date the advent of their use in modern times.

Cheers,
Rob

P.S. This is interesting: https://store.bookbaby.com/book/Lucifer-Curves