Method of Making Lead Lined Tanks.
The most common method resorted to in many large factories is to make the tanks out of very heavy cypress lumber, free from any knots or blemishes. The joints are carefully dovetailed and fitted together, and long bolts are used to draw the joints and keep them from leaking. Usually it takes from three to four days to complete one small tank, only to have it leak in a few months; whereas the same tank can be built in a few hours of any cheap lumber, and then, when it is lined with lead of a proper thickness and the seams burned it will usually last for an indefinite period, thereby saving floors and, many times, costly plating solutions.
The most common argument put forth by manufacturers is that the bottoms of lead lined tanks are soon cut out, owing to dropping sharp pieces of metal into them. This difficulty can be best overcome by placing a slatted bottom of wood in the tank, holding the same in place with strips of sheet lead, one end of which has been previously burned to the bottom of the tank. These strips are to be brought up through the slats and then bent over the top of them. This will keep the wood from floating, and is the only practical way to do it, as the false bottoms soon decay, and can be easily removed and replaced by simply bending back the strips of lead.