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Some were very involved because they didn't have the things we have today to make it easier. Tanners were always around and they used vats of urine to help tan the hides. The need for leather was very high, so demand was also high, but a tannery stunk because of the process that was used. Some jobs took days before they were complete. A good example of that was the man who made charcoal . To do that required felling a fairly large number of trees, then stacking them in a pyramid shape, packing dirt around them, and setting them on fire. After they were set on fire he had to tend to this because if the fire got too hot it would burn up his trees and he would have nothing, so he would sit with the fire 3-4 days to make sure it was just right. Finally about day 4 he would have a small bit of charcoal that he could sell. Then, there was the saltpeter man. Saltpeter was used in gunpowder. To get saltpeter required collecting urine and drying it to a powder so it can be mixed with other things to make gunpowder. If you wanted a new longbow that was a process that took 2 years to make. Strips of very finely cut wood was used, bent, and glued to make the bow. Each layer had to be "seasoned" and the wood allowed to dry before the next layer was put on. Most things were hard to do and took a bit to do because it was done by hand with very little tools. If something new was invented they had to invent the tools too.

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16y ago

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