Copper: The oldest metal of mankind. History of metallurgy

DISCOVERY OF METALS

In the New Stone Age, people no longer had enough good flint to make tools. Therefore, they even had to break through mines up to eight meters deep and extract flint underground. This work is hard and dangerous. During the excavation of one of these mines, archaeologists found the remains of the master and his son, who died during the collapse.

Primitive craftsmen were looking for new types of stone suitable for making tools. Sometimes they came across greenish hard pebbles. They were thrown into fires to split them. But the amazing stones did not burst, but melted in a strong fire. The fire died down, and they hardened again. Shiny orange pieces were pulled out of the ashes copper .

Tools of the Copper Age. The famous scientist S.A. Semenov conducted an experiment. Exact copies of ancient axes were made - stone and copper. A pine 25 cm thick was cut down with a stone ax in 15 minutes, and with a copper ax in just 5 minutes. The experiment was repeated many times with the same result.

Copper is metal . It is much more comfortable than stone. From an awkward blow, a stone ax or knife broke, and copper ones only bent. The broken stone tool could only be thrown away. A bent copper thing can be straightened and melted into a new one. The fragments were melted and poured into a pre-prepared clay mold. When the copper solidified, the finished product was taken out of the mold. It was convenient. In a single mold, it was possible to cast as many identical things as you like. Copper tools turned out to be much better than stone and bone ones. Copper needles lasted longer and better than bone needles. The blade of a copper knife was sharpened very sharply. They even began to make such items that could not be made of stone: scissors, tongs, hammers, saws.

Attention: an additional task for the most industrious, inquisitive and quick-witted: describe according to the scheme how a copper product was smelted.

Drawing of a furnace for smelting copper. Primitive smelters at work. Drawings by contemporary artists.

There is not much copper on Earth. Therefore, people took care of every gram of metal. The few copper tools, of course, could not completely displace the stone ones. As before, knives and arrowheads were made of strong stone. But the main work was still carried out with copper tools.

Tools of labor miners of copper ore. Archaeological finds.

There were even fewer other metals that our ancestors also discovered - gold, silver, lead . In addition, these metals are very heavy and soft. Therefore, they are not suitable for the manufacture of tools.

WORK IS EASIER

Copper tools. Found by archaeologists near the river. Danube

The labor of people gave much more results than before. Bushes and trees were cut down with copper axes, reeds and reeds were mowed with sickles. Large tracts of land were cleared. They arranged new fields. With copper-tipped hoes, they were worked quickly and carefully. Then the hoes began to be made big. Such a hoe was pulled by a person, and another pressed on it so that it loosened the soil. So a new tool of labor appeared - plow . Then they began to harness to the plow
bulls. The earth was no longer just loosened, it plowed . And when sharp copper tips were attached to the plow, it became plow . The strength of bulls, the heaviness of plows and plows, the sharpness of copper sickles saved the strength of farmers.

Sokha. Drawing by contemporary artist

S. A. Semenov and his assistants cultivated fields of the same size with exact copies of ancient hoes and plows. It turned out that you can work the field with a plow and a bull fifty times faster than with a hoe! The fields grew, the yields increased. Famine was no longer a threat to communities.

Tombs of the Copper Age in the Caucasus

1. 2.3.

1.Tomb of the copper age in Portugal. Photo 2. House-settlement on the lake. Copper Age. Drawing by an archaeologist 3. A settlement of the Copper Age stood here. Aerial photography (what is it?) Conducted by British scientists

With new tools, it has become much easier and faster to build comfortable huts and wagons . Thick logs were cut with saws into flexible and durable boards. From the boards learned to make big rooks adapted not only to navigation on rivers, but also in the sea.

Rook. Drawing by a contemporary artist.
Copper Age carriage. Restored by museum staff

DIVISION OF LABOR

Village on the lake. Copper Age. Drawing of a scientist-archaeologist

The discovery and use of metals greatly changed the lives of our primitive ancestors. Previously, the main workers in the fields were women with hoes in their hands. But with heavy plows and plows, of course, they could not cope. They were replaced by men. So g the main occupation - agriculture - has become masculine . The community members needed cattle in order to harness plows and wagons. They tried to breed more bulls and horses, and if there was not enough food, they fed the cattle with straw from the fields. However, it was difficult to cultivate the field and take care of the herds. Therefore, some communities began to engage only in cattle breeding, while others - only in agriculture. So there was a division of labor, and farmers separated from pastoralists .
1.2.
1. Mound of the Copper Age. England 2. Here stood a settlement of the Copper Age. Aerial photography (what is it?) Conducted by British scientists

Communities of farmers built settlements near rivers and lakes. They lived in the same place for ten years. The fields were depleted and ceased to produce rich harvests. Then people moved and built huts in a new place, cleared and plowed new fields.

Alley of stone pillars. England

Communities of pastoralists roamed in search of fresh grass water for herds. The shepherds lived in light collapsible dwellings: tents and yurts. Shepherds drove cattle to neighbors, brought wool and skins. Farmers gave in return grain, honey, vegetables. At first, the nomads and farmers were friendly to each other, but then hostility began to flare up between them. After all, farmers need fields for crops, and pastoralists need pastures for livestock. Land disputes intensified.

Items from the burial copper age. 0discovered by Soviet archaeologists in the Caucasus

Scheme of the possessions of the tribal community. Explain her

“Seven metals were created by light according to the number of seven planets” - one of the most important postulates of medieval alchemy was concluded in these simple verses. In antiquity and the Middle Ages, only seven metals and the same number of celestial bodies were known (the Sun, the Moon and five planets, not counting the Earth). In the opinion of the then luminaries of science, only fools and ignoramuses could not see in this the deepest philosophical regularity. A coherent alchemical theory said that gold was represented in heaven by the Sun, silver was a typical Moon, copper was undoubtedly related to Venus, iron was personified by Mars, mercury corresponds to Mercury, tin to Jupiter, lead to Saturn. Until the 17th century, metals were designated in the literature by the corresponding symbols.

Figure 1 - Alchemical signs of metals and planets

Currently, more than 80 metals are known, most of which are used in engineering.

Since 1814, at the suggestion of the Swedish chemist Berzelius, letters have been used to designate metals.

The first metal that man learned to work with was gold. The most ancient things made of this metal were made in Egypt about 8 thousand years ago. In Europe, 6 thousand years ago, the Thracians, who lived in the territory from the Danube to the Dnieper, were the first to make jewelry and weapons from gold and bronze.

Historians distinguish three stages in the development of mankind: the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age.

In 3 thousand BC. people began to widely use metals in their economic activities. The transition from stone to metal tools was of tremendous importance in the history of mankind. Perhaps no other discovery has led to such significant social changes.

The first metal to become widespread was copper (Figure 2).

Figure 2 - Map-scheme of the territorial and chronological distribution of metals in Eurasia and North Africa

The map clearly shows the location of the oldest finds of metal products. Almost all known artifacts related to the period from the end of the 9th to the 6th millennium BC. (that is, before the culture of the Uruk type was widely spread in Mesopotamia), come from only three dozen sites scattered over a vast territory of 1 million km 2. About 230 small specimens were recovered from here, and 2/3 of them belong to two settlements of the pre-ceramic Neolithic - Chaion and Ashikli.

Constantly looking for the stones they needed, our ancestors, one must think, already in antiquity paid attention to reddish-green or greenish-gray pieces of native copper. In the cliffs of the banks and rocks, they came across copper pyrite, copper sheen and red copper ore (cuprite). At first, people used them as ordinary stones and processed them accordingly. They soon discovered that when copper was worked with a stone hammer, its hardness increased significantly, and it became suitable for making tools. Thus, the methods of cold metal working or primitive forging came into use.

Then another important discovery was made - a piece of native copper or surface rock containing metal, falling into the fire of a fire, revealed new features that were not characteristic of stone: from strong heating, the metal melted and, cooling, acquired a new shape. If the form was made artificially, then a product necessary for a person was obtained. This property of copper was used by ancient craftsmen first for casting jewelry, and then for the production of copper tools. This is how metallurgy was born. Melting began to be carried out in special high-temperature furnaces, which were a slightly modified design of pottery furnaces well known to people (Figure 3).

Figure 3 - Metal smelting in Ancient Egypt (blowing is supplied by furs sewn from animal skins)

In southeastern Anatolia, archaeologists have discovered a very ancient pre-ceramic Neolithic settlement of Chayonyu Tepesi (Figure 4), which struck with the unexpected complexity of stone architecture. Scientists found among the ruins about a hundred small pieces of copper, as well as many fragments of the copper mineral - malachite, some of which were processed into beads.

Figure 4 - Chayonyu Tepesi settlement in Eastern Anatolia: IX-VIII millennium BC The world's oldest metal was discovered here

Generally speaking, copper is a soft metal, much less hard than stone. But copper tools could be quickly and easily sharpened. (According to the observations of S.A. Semenov, when replacing a stone ax with a copper one, the cutting speed increased approximately three times.) The demand for metal tools began to grow rapidly.

People began a real "hunt" for copper ore. It turned out that it is not found everywhere. In those places where rich deposits of copper were discovered, their intensive development arose, ore and mine business appeared. As the discoveries of archaeologists show, already in antiquity the process of ore mining was staged on a large scale. For example, near Salzburg, where copper mining began around 1600 BC, the mines reached a depth of 100 m, and the total length of the drifts extending from each mine was several kilometers.

The ancient miners had to solve all the problems that modern miners face: strengthening the vaults, ventilation, lighting, lifting the mined ore up the mountain. The galleries were reinforced with wooden supports. The mined ore was smelted nearby in low clay furnaces with thick walls. Similar centers of metallurgy existed in other places (Figures 5.6).

Figure 5 - Ancient mines

Figure 6 - Tools of ancient miners

At the end of 3 thousand BC. ancient masters began to use the properties of alloys, the first of which was bronze. The discovery of bronze should have been prompted by an accident, inevitable in the mass production of copper. Some varieties of copper ores contain an insignificant (up to 2%) admixture of tin. Smelting such ore, the craftsmen noticed that the copper obtained from it is much harder than usual. Tin ore could get into copper-smelting furnaces for another reason. Be that as it may, observations of the properties of ores led to the development of the value of tin, which they began to add to copper, forming an artificial alloy - bronze. When heated with tin, copper melted better and was easier to cast, as it became more fluid. Bronze tools were harder than copper ones, sharpened well and easily. Bronze metallurgy has made it possible to increase labor productivity several times in all branches of human activity (Figure 7).

The production of tools itself has become much simpler: instead of long and hard work pounding and grinding stone, people filled ready-made forms with liquid metal and got results that their predecessors never even dreamed of. The casting technique has been gradually improved. At first, casting was carried out in open clay or sand molds, which were simply a depression. They were replaced by open forms carved from stone that could be reused. However, the big disadvantage of open molds was that only flat products were obtained in them. They were not suitable for casting products of complex shape. The way out was found when closed detachable molds were invented. Before casting, the two halves of the mold were tightly connected to each other. Molten bronze was then poured through the hole. When the metal cooled and solidified, the mold was dismantled and the finished product was obtained.

Figure 7 - Bronze tools

This method made it possible to cast products of complex shape, but it was not suitable for figured casting. But even this difficulty was overcome when the closed form was invented. With this casting method, an exact model of the future product was first molded from wax. Then it was coated with clay and fired in a kiln.

The wax melted and evaporated, and the clay took an exact cast of the model. Bronze was poured into the void thus formed. When it cooled down, the mold was broken. Thanks to all these operations, the craftsmen were able to cast even hollow objects of a very complex shape. Gradually, new techniques for working with metals were discovered, such as drawing, riveting, soldering and welding, which complemented the already known forging and casting (Figure 8).

Figure 8 - Golden hat of the Celtic priest

Perhaps the largest metal casting was made by Japanese craftsmen. It was 1200 years ago. It weighs 437 tons and represents the Buddha in a pose of appeasement. The height of the sculpture together with the pedestal is 22 m. The length of one arm is 5 m. Four people could freely dance on an open palm. We add that the famous ancient Greek statue - the Colossus of Rhodes - 36 m high and weighed 12 tons. It was cast in the 3rd century. BC e.

With the development of metallurgy, bronze products began to displace stone products everywhere. But do not think that it happened very quickly. Non-ferrous metal ores were not available everywhere. Moreover, tin was much less common than copper. Metals had to be transported over long distances. The cost of metal instruments remained high. All this prevented their wide distribution. Bronze could not completely replace stone tools. It turned out that only iron could do it.

In addition to copper and bronze, other metals were widely used.

Beads and pendants found in Asia Minor during the excavations of Chatal-Hyuk and seals and figurines found in Yarym-Tepe (Northern Mesopotamia) are considered the oldest products made of lead. These finds date back to the 6th millennium BC. The first iron rarities, which are small kritz found in Chatal-Hyuk, also date back to the same time. The oldest silver items were found on the territory of Iran and Anatolia. In Iran, they were found in the town of Tepe-Sialk: these are buttons dating back to the beginning of the 5th millennium BC. In Anatolia, in Beydzhesultan, a silver ring was found dating back to the end of the same millennium.

In prehistoric times, gold was obtained from placers by washing. It came out in the form of sand and nuggets. Then gold refining (removal of impurities, separation of silver) began to be used, in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. In the 13th-14th centuries, they learned to use nitric acid to separate gold and silver. And in the 19th century, the amalgamation process was developed (although it was known in antiquity, there is no evidence that it was used to extract gold from sands and ores).

Silver was mined from galena, along with lead. Then, after centuries, they began to be smelted together (approximately by the 3rd millennium BC in Asia Minor), and this became widespread even after 1500-2000 years.

Around 640 BC e. began to mint coins in Asia Minor, and around 575 BC. e. - in Athens. In fact, this is the beginning of stamping production.

Tin was once smelted in simple shaft furnaces, after which it was purified by special oxidizing processes. Now in metallurgy, tin is obtained by processing ores according to complex integrated schemes.

Well, mercury was produced by roasting ore in heaps, in which it condensed on cold objects. Then ceramic vessels (retorts) appeared, which were replaced by iron ones. And with the growing demand for mercury, they began to receive it in special furnaces.

Iron was known in China as early as 2357 BC. e., and in Egypt - in 2800 BC. e., although as early as 1600 BC. e. iron was looked upon as a curiosity. The “Iron Age” in Europe began around 1000 BC. e., when the art of iron smelting penetrated into the states of the Mediterranean from the Scythians of the Black Sea.

The use of iron began much earlier than its production. Sometimes they found pieces of a grayish-black metal, which, reforged into a dagger or spearhead, gave a weapon more durable and ductile than bronze, and held a sharp blade longer. The difficulty was that this metal was found only by accident. Now we can say that it was meteoric iron. Since iron meteorites are an iron-nickel alloy, it can be assumed that the quality of individual unique daggers, for example, could compete with modern consumer goods. However, the same uniqueness led to the fact that such weapons ended up not on the battlefield, but in the treasury of the next ruler.

Iron tools decisively expanded the practical possibilities of man. It became possible, for example, to build houses cut from logs - after all, an iron ax felled a tree not three times like a copper one, but 10 times faster than a stone one. Hewn stone construction also became widespread. Naturally, it was also used in the Bronze Age, but the large consumption of a relatively soft and expensive metal strongly limited such experiments. The possibilities of farmers have also expanded significantly.

For the first time, the peoples of Anatolia learned to process iron. The ancient Greek tradition considered the Khalib people to be the discoverer of iron, for whom the stable expression “father of iron” was used in literature, and the name of the people itself comes from the Greek word Χ?λυβας (“iron”).

The Iron Revolution began at the turn of the 1st millennium BC. e. in Assyria. From the 8th century BC e welded iron quickly began to spread in Europe, in the III century BC. e. replaced bronze in Gaul, appeared in Germany in the 2nd century AD, and in the 6th century AD it was already widely used in Scandinavia and among the tribes living on the territory of the future Rus'. In Japan, the Iron Age came only in the 8th century AD.

At first, only small quantities of iron were received, and over the course of several centuries it cost sometimes forty times more than silver. The iron trade restored the prosperity of Assyria. The way was opened for new conquests (Figure 9).

Figure 9 - Furnace for iron smelting among the ancient Persians

Metallurgists were able to see liquid iron only in the 19th century, however, even at the dawn of iron metallurgy - at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC - Indian craftsmen managed to solve the problem of obtaining elastic steel without melting iron. Such steel was called damask steel, but due to the complexity of manufacturing and the lack of necessary materials in most of the world, this steel remained an Indian secret for a long time.

A more technological way to obtain elastic steel, which did not require either especially pure ore, or graphite, or special furnaces, was found in China in the 2nd century AD. Steel was reforged many times, with each forging folding the workpiece in half, resulting in an excellent weapon material called Damascus, from which, in particular, the famous Japanese katanas were made.

If we take into account some errors and reservations, such as a 1000-fold error in global gold production, then the issues discussed are worthy of all attention.

Chief among them - how can historians explain the simultaneous mastery of the art of metal smelting in various parts of the world? After all, the speaker is right here: metal in the form of ore cannot attract much attention in any way. But even otherwise, the temperature in the heart of the fire reaches only 700 °, while a thousand degrees are needed to smelt the metal.

We are not talking about lead or tin here. We are assured of the existence of the bronze (copper) and iron ages!

Copper and gold melt at temperatures above 1000°, while iron needs one and a half times more heat. So how did people learn how to make furnaces and work with metal oxidation during smelting?

Questions, questions... But there are no intelligible answers to these riddles yet.

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Approximately four millennia BC, a new discovery was made in the city of Sumer: if stones of a certain type are melted for a long time at a high temperature, pure metal will begin to flow out of them! Copper was the first metal that man learned to smelt.

But, unfortunately, it is not known exactly how copper was discovered. It can be assumed that it was discovered by accident. Most likely, the potter wanted to add a pattern to ceramic dishes and began to melt a multi-colored stone, which turned out to be copper ore. It soon became clear that with strong heating, liquid copper flows out of the ore. At first, people did not understand what it was, and what could be done with this metal. It turned out that it is possible to give liquid copper the desired shape, and when it hardens, it will remain so.

A couple of years after the discovery, copper-smelting furnaces were created, and a casting process was also invented.

The craftsmen chose in advance the form for the ceramic vessel, into which liquid copper was poured. When the copper solidified, it took the shape of the inner shell of the vessel.

After the discovery of the method of smelting copper casting, a production line was created, which consisted of a number of sequential processes. Since copper is rarely found in native form, people had to learn how to mine copper ore.

In order to get copper ore from the mines, it was necessary to divide it into separate pieces. And for this butchering, people also developed a special technology. Fires were kindled on huge blocks of rock, after a while they filled the fire with cold water, as a result of which the stone cracked. Wedges were driven into the resulting crack. When the wedges were already in the stone, they were also poured with water. So the wedges were made of wood, they swelled and the stone split.

The resulting ore was smelted. It turned out that those pottery kilns that existed before had little power for this process. Therefore, after many experiments in Sumer, local craftsmen learned how to make special blast furnaces. These furnaces were fired with coal and provided high heat.

Let's talk about what blowing is. So the casters at first supplied air to the furnace through special blower tubes, inflating them with their own lungs. The task became easier by the 3rd millennium BC, when craftsmen began to use furs from animal skins. For blowing, furs were sewn together like an accordion.

The smelted copper was then poured into molds, from which certain products were obtained.

The casting process was provided not only by special furnaces with high heating, but also by melting containers - crucibles. They also needed molds where molten metal was poured.

The molds were made of clay or stone, and they consisted of several parts. They were connected before pouring molten copper, and separated after cooling, when it was necessary to release the finished casting.

Sumerian metallurgists used various methods of processing metal blanks: both hot and cold forging, as well as cold working with tools. Masters engraved copper products and decorated them with instructions - this is how artistic techniques appeared.

Copper smelting and subsequent processing of the resulting copper required the participation of various craftsmen at different stages of the process. Some of them were engaged in the development of ore, others smelted the rock, and others mastered casting or forging. In addition, copper ore deposits were often far from where they were needed, so there was work for special carriers.

So technical progress developed economic relations within the state. Conversely, economic relations stimulated technological progress.

The first metals that people learned to handle were copper and gold. The reason for this was the fact that both copper and gold are found in nature not only in ores, but also in pure form. People found whole nuggets of gold and pieces of copper and with the help of a hammer gave them the desired shape. Moreover, these metals did not even need to be melted. And although we still don't know exactly when people learned to use metals, scientists can vouch for the fact that man first used copper around the fifth millennium, and gold no later than the fourth millennium BC.

Around the third millennium BC, people discovered some of the most important properties of metals. By that time, man had already become acquainted with silver and lead, but copper was still used most often, mainly because of its strength, and, perhaps, also because copper was found in abundance.

Having started working with metals, people learned to give them the necessary forms and make dishes, tools, and weapons out of them. But as soon as a person got acquainted with metals, he could not help but pay attention to their useful properties. If the metal is heated, it becomes softer, and if it is cooled again, it hardens again. Man has learned to pour, boil and melt metals. In addition, people learned how to extract metals from ores, because they are much more common in nature than nuggets.

Later, man discovered tin, and having learned to mix and melt copper and tin, he began to make bronze. In the period from 3500 to about 1200 BC, bronze became the main material from which weapons and tools were made. This period of human history is called the Bronze Age.

Finding meteorites that fell on our Earth, people learned about iron - and long before they learned how to get it from terrestrial ores. Approximately in 1200 BC, man stepped over this barrier too - he learned to melt iron. This skill quickly spread throughout the world. Iron has replaced copper in almost all areas. This was the beginning of the next, Iron Age. By the way, during the time of the power of the Roman Empire, people knew gold, copper, silver, tin, iron, lead and mercury.

When was metal first used?

About 6,000 years ago, man lived in the Stone Age. It is named so because the main part of the tools of labor and hunting was made of stone. Man has not yet learned to make them out of metal.

Most likely, the first metals that man began to use were copper and gold. The reason is that these metals in nature existed both in pure form and as part of the ore. A man found nuggets of copper and gold and could give them various shapes without melting. We cannot say exactly when man discovered these metals, but it is known that copper began to be used at the turn of the fifth millennium BC. Shortly before the onset of the fourth millennium BC, gold was also used.

By the third millennium BC, man had already learned a lot in working with metal.

By this time, silver and lead had also been discovered, but nevertheless, in most cases, copper was the most commonly used metal due to its strength and prevalence.

At first, man learned to forge useful things from metal - dishes, tools and weapons. In the process of forging metal, he discovered the process of hardening, melting, casting and smelting. He also learned how to get copper from ore, which was more abundant than nuggets. Later, man discovered tin and learned to mix it with copper - a harder bronze was obtained. From about 3500 to 1200 BC, bronze was the most important material for making tools and weapons. This period is called the Bronze Age.

Man learned about the existence of iron by finding meteorites long before he discovered how to smelt it from ore. By 1200 BC, man had learned to work iron, and his skills were passed down from generation to generation. Iron has largely replaced bronze. This was the beginning of the Iron Age.

By the time of the rise of the Roman Empire, seven metals were known to man: gold, copper, silver, lead, tin, iron, and mercury.

When did the first saws appear?

Historians attribute the appearance of the saw to the Bronze Age, when people learned how to process metal. Perhaps this is so. The main issue was the construction of ships. All early ships were wooden. To build a ship, you need boards. And only boards. It is impossible to build a ship from round trunks. You can’t get a board out of the trunk with an ax, and if you do, it’s a very laborious process. But, as we know, ships were very common in ancient Greece. They, their fleet, became the basis of the ancient Greek colonization of the entire Mediterranean. The Greeks built a lot of ships, which means they needed a lot of boards. So, there were saws then. In ancient Greece, iron and steel tools were already quite used. Since there were swords and axes, there could have been saws as well.

Question - what? Most likely, these were hacksaw-type saws, that is, just long serrated knives. And as a variant of their development - two-handed saws, for cutting bulky trunks. How old sawmills looked like can be seen in old drawings or in historical films. One man from above, one from below, there is a log in the middle, and they are sawing it. The process is laborious and monotonous. Naturally, any monotonous process is easier to automate, and this is how the first mechanical sawmills, driven by water power, appeared. Then, obviously, by the power of steam.

But the most interesting thing in this business is the appearance of a circular or circular saw. In sawing, the invention of the circular saw is as important as the invention of the wheel! There is no exact information about when and where the circular saw first appeared either. However, it can be assumed that these are the Middle Ages, the Middle Ages or the late Middle Ages, when there was a real explosion of all kinds of mechanical inventions. Until the advent of manual band saws.

The next step in the development of the "saw" business was the processing of metals with the help of saws. This was facilitated by the emergence of heavy-duty metals and alloys, as well as the technology of fixing diamond tools and abrasives on the cutting surfaces of saws. Such saws have long been sawing rails, cutting other massive metal volumes. There are also large machines that do these processes.

How did people process metals?

The first metals that people learned to mine and process were gold, copper and bronze. Metalworking was carried out with impact tools, the so-called cold bending method. Raw-blast furnaces were used to obtain many types of metals. In order to give the details the correct shape, the ancient masters polished the blank with a stone for a long time. After that, a new method was invented - casting. Detachable and non-detachable forms were cut out of wood or stone, then an alloy was poured into them, after which the metal cooled down, a finished product was obtained.

For the manufacture of figured products, a closed mold was used, for this a product model was molded from wax, then it was covered with clay and placed in an oven, where the wax was melted, and the clay repeated the exact model. Metal was poured into the void, after complete cooling, the form was broken and the craftsmen received a product of complex shape.

Over time, new ways of working with metal were comprehended, such as soldering and welding, forging and casting.

Today, there are new technologies that allow you to process metal much faster. Machining is carried out on lathes, which allows you to get the finished product with high accuracy.

Turning is the most popular way. It is produced on special metal-cutting machines, which are configured to perform work from a given type of metal. Lathes, in automatic and semi-automatic mode, are used for mass production of products with a rotating body shape.

Machine tools with numerical control are also used for metalworking. These machines are fully automated and the main purpose of the operator is to control the operation, set up the equipment, set the workpiece and remove the finished product.

Milling is a mechanical process for processing metals on universal milling machines, requiring an experienced specialist with deep knowledge in the field of metallurgy and metal processing methods.

To perform high quality milling work, it is important to use high-precision equipment. The degree of milling directly depends on the efficiency and productivity. Therefore, inaccuracies and errors in this matter are simply unacceptable.

Sources: otvet.mail.ru, potomy.ru, esperanto-plus.ru, operator-cnc.ru, www.protochka.su

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