WELL, SHRIVEL MY SCISSEL Öffentlichkeit Deposited
The E-Sylum: Volume 6, Number 33, August 17, 2003, Article 18
WELL, SHRIVEL MY SCISSEL
Dick Johnson writes: "The definition for SCISSEL in last week's
E-Sylum was not entirely accurate. Not only is it the long strips
of metal from which blanks (not coins, blanks) are cut, but also
the trimmings from other metal-working operations. Workers
today are more apt to use the term SKELETON SCRAP for
the blanked strips rather than the archaic word "scissel."The shavings from turning on a lathe is scissel; so are the rings
trimmed off the edges of medals struck on oversize blanks (like
those forming an integral loop at the top). Scissel or skeleton
scrap is useful at a mint because it is the exact alloy formula as
coins being struck. It can be melted and rerolled into new
strips for blanking without being reformulated (tested and
virgin metal added to give the exact ratio of two or more metal
elements).Scissel is similar to another term, SHRUFF. Scissel is clean
metal scrap, shruff is dirty metal. Shruff comes from the trash
barrels in metal-working shops in which everything is tossed
in, plus floor sweepings. It needs to be processed to recover
useful metal. In contrast, scissel is tossed into the melting pot
intact.In large operations, skeleton scrap is either cut into small
pieces or folded onto itself rolling the strips into balls. This
process is called cabbaging. It is easier to handle the loose
pieces or the "cabbages" tossing these into the melting pot
rather than strips.I have walked the hallways and docks of metal-working
plants and seen dozens of large containers overflowing with
metal scrap, scissel. These await shipment to metal processors.The wealthiest families near metal-working centers are not
the inventors of the metal products, not the manufacturers,
not the company investors, not the salesmen. The wealthiest
families are the scrap metal dealers."- 2003-08-17
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