Fig. 47.

Fig. 48.

11. In forming an opening in a lead soil or main waste-pipe to receive a branch pipe, cut an elongated hole in the main pipe, about half the size of the end of the branch pipe to be connected with it, and then work up the sides with a bolt or hand-dummy, to form a socket upon the pipe, as shown at G, fig. 51, so that the branch pipe may enter it, about three-eighths of an inch, without coming into the bore of the main pipe to form any kind of obstruction or collecting place there for filth.

Fig. 49.

Great care should be taken that the end of the branch pipe fits well against the sides of the socket all round, to prevent any solder running through to the inside when the joint is being made.

12. The pipes having been prepared, as shown in fig. 51, it only remains for them to be put together, and well secured, to make the joint. A man who can make an underhand joint and an upright joint ought to have no difficulty in wiping a branch joint; but there are two points the learner will do well to remember: (1) When the branch pipe is of smaller size than the main pipe the solder will stay well enough upon the jointing; bat when the pipes are of equal sizes, the solder will have a tendency to fall off at the two opposite sides. In jointing such pipes keep the catch-board, or whatever the solder is caught upon, close to the underside of the main pipe; for the fallen solder will then not only help to keep the pipe hot, but it will also enable the plumber to dip his splash-stick into it, to supply the place of the fallen solder from the sides. (2) As the lower part of the jointing will be kept well heated by the solder upon it, splash the solder well upon the end of the branch pipe, and when sufficient solder has been splashed on, and the joint has been roughly formed with the splash-stick as the splashing proceeded, take the iron, and after re-heating up the solder round about upon the jointing, quickly draw it round the upper edge (the edge of the shaving) on the off-side, and wipe the upper part of the joint; do the same with the lower part of the joint, and with the middle part; then change hands with the cloth and iron, and treat the near side in a similar way, and never rest satisfied with your branch-joint wiping until you can wipe a branch joint, not only strong but symmetrical, perfect in size, shape, and strength.

Fig. 50.

Fig. 51.

Fig. 52.

13. Fig. 51 shows a socket, g, formed upon the main pipe, and shaved ready to receive the branch, h, the end of which is also shaved ready for the connection to be made; and fig. 52 shows the pipes put together, and the joint wiped, leaving the bore in the main pipe, J, perfectly clear, and free from everything that would obstruct, or upon which matters could collect while passing through the pipe.

14. The old way of connecting branch pipes with main pipes by a mitre joint cannot be too severely condemned. If plumbers were also joiners, one could understand how the mitre joint, as shown in fig. 53, got introduced; but it is diffi-cult to understand why plumbers should make such a connection, especially on waste water or sewage-carrying pipes. Probably one reason is because they have never considered the matter. They know that it is the best form of jointing in soldering lead nozzles to pump-barrels, for a socket, as shown at g, fig. 51, could not be properly formed on a stout lead pump-barrel, and as this form of joint had been in use in pump-making long before waste-pipes or soil-pipes were ever fixed, custom has given it a place in waste water and sewage-carrying pipes which it ought never to have. Such a joint takes more time, more solder, and is more difficult to make than the branch joint shown in figs. 51 and 52. It is also wrong in principle; for however careful the plumber may be, he cannot leave the main pipe perfectly smooth at k, and the waste discharges from branches fixed on the upper part of the main pipe would have to travel through this badly-fitted branch connection. The edges of the branch pipe, l, or of the main pipe, k, fig. 53, must form in some degree a collecting place for filth, and the solder in making such a joint would be more liable to work through the jointing to the inside of the pipe than it would in the other form of branch connection, fig. 51.

Fig. 53. - Mitre Jointing.

15. Though the branch mitre joint is now rarely made, an equally bad form of branch jointing is often made, and that, too, by student plumbers, who, with teachers at their backs, however badly they might perform their work, should not execute it on wrong principles. Even if nothing had ever been said or written upon the subject, it ought to be evident to the maker of such a joint that to allow the end of a branch pipe to protrude into the main pipe, as shown in fig. 54, he was doing his best to form an obstruction, if nothing worse. And yet many such joints, with the end of the branch pipe standing nearly an inch inside the main pipe, were sent to the Institute this year (1891) for my examination. And, as might be expected, the evil in nearly every case was much aggravated by the solder which had run through into the main pipe in making the joint. In some cases the solder inside the pipe was nearly as much as that upon the joint - it had fallen in tears, in ribands, in solder-spurs and droppings - a fantastic conglomeration of hidden treasure. Without a socket on the main pipe, as shown at G, fig. 51, it is almost impossible to keep the solder from running through when making the joint. When the hole in the main pipe is cut the full size of the branch pipe no lead is left to close in upon the connection to make it solder-tight.

16. There is another form of branch connection well known to many a young plumber, but which must be condemned. A socket is formed rightly enough upon the main pipe; but the end of the branch, instead of being inserted inside it, as shown in fig. 54, is fixed over it, as shown in fig. 55, an error which no thoughtful student ought to commit. The end of the socket standing inside the branch not only forms an obstruction, but it also affords a place for filth to collect in.

17. In wiping a joint soil is sometimes rubbed off from the pipes, and left upon the joint, giving it a dirty appearance; or the cloth with which the joint has been wiped has been knocked about on the floor, as well as in the plumber's bag, and the marks of such carelessness show themselves upon the joint. All such discolourations can readily be removed by cleaning the solder with melted fat; and this is quickly supplied by rubbing the end of a tallow candle over the joint whilst it is still hot, and wiping it with somebody's silk pocket-handkerchief.

Fig. 54. - Showing Bad Branching.

Fig. 55. - Showing Bad Branch Connection.

18. The plumber who desires to shine as a good wiper of solder should pay particular attention to his solder-cloths, and always keep a good assortment in a little bag to select from.

I have dwelt at length upon wiped soldered joints, because there is a sanitary way of joining pipes and an unsanitary way, and because good joint-wiping is a mark of a plumber's skill. It costs no more for a skilful joint-maker to make a perfect joint, than for an unskilful man to make an imperfect one. Nay, the imperfect joint is generally the costlier, for the excrescence of solder upon it is wasted, and its ugliness is a proof of want of dexterity. Unskilled labour (when skill is wanted) is always more expensive, as it consumes more time than skilled labour.