pot (called the wash pot) had tin at a lower temperature. This is followed by the grease pot (containing an oil), removing the excess tin. Then follow cleaning and polishing processes. Finally, the tinplates were packed in boxes of 112 sheets ready for sale. Single plates were 14 inches by 20 inches; doubles twice that. A box weighed approximately a hundredweight. What is described here is the process as employed during the 20th century. The process grew somewhat in complexity with the passage of time, as gradually it was found that the inclusion of additional procedures improved quality. However the practice of hot rolling and then cold rolling evidently goes back to the early days, as the Knight family's tinplate works had (from its foundation in about 1740) two rolling mills, one at Bringewood (west of Ludlow) which made blackplate, and the other the tin mill at Mitton (now part of Stourport), evidently for the later stages. Strip mill process The strip mill was a major innovation, with the first being erected at Ashland, Kentucky in 1923. This provided a continuous process, cutting out the need to pass the plates over the rolls and to double them. At the end the strip was cut with a guillotine shear or rolled into a coil. Early (hot rolling) strip mills did not produce strip suitable for tinplate, but in 1929 cold rolling began to be used to reduce the gauge further. The first strip mill in Great Britain was opened at Ebbw Vale in 1938 with an annual output of 200,000 tons. The strip mill had several advantages over pack mills: It was cheaper due to having all parts of the process, starting with blast furnaces, on the same site. Softer steel could be used. Larger sheets could be produced at lower cost and this reduced cost and enabled tinplate and steel sheet to be used for more purposes. It was capital-intensive, rather than labour-intensive. Further reading W. W. Minchinton, The British tinplate industry: a history (Oxford 1957). P. Jenkins, 'Twenty by Fourteen': a history of the south Wales tinplate industry 1700-1961 (Gomer, Llandysul, Dyfed 1995). D.A. Irwin, 'Did late nineteenth century U.S. tariffs promote infant industries? Evidence from the tinplate industry' (NBER working paper 6835 1998) See also Plating for other processes for plating metals. Tinsmith Tinware Terne plate, a cheaper version, but not food-safe, using a mixture of lead and