A professional who tends heated kettle and auxiliary equipment to process molten lead and nitric acid into lead nitrate. Respnsibilities include:

• Loads lead-melting kettle with lead ingots, using hoist.
• Turns valves to regulate flow of fuel oil and air, and tends stoker or shovels coal to fire furnace that melts lead in kettle.
• Ladles molten lead into trough or tips melting kettle to pour molten lead into trough for transfer to vat containing nitric acid where ingredients combine to form lead nitrate.
• Turns outlet valve to transfer lead nitrate to filter press for removal of impurities.
• Tests sample of filtrate for purity by observing color or using litmus paper.
• Starts pumps to transfer batch to storage tank.
• Gauges contents of tanks, using calibrated stick, and records quantity on batch card.
• May ladle molten lead into vats containing cold water to cause solidification into irregular, spongelike shapes, exposing more surface area for faster chemical reaction in subsequent process treatment.
• May drain off water and shovel solidified sponged lead onto conveyor for further processing.