Tony on the Moon’s Children’s Picture Books 

Where does metal come from 

THE ENGINEERS 

Uncle Bearing 

Filter 

Cam 

Hub 

Gear 

Dipstick 

Tappet 

Bigend 

Gasket 

Piston 

2

Cam was singing a little rhyme he
was making up to remind himself
what things were made of. 

I’m knocking on wood. 

That comes from the trees
that grow in the forest. 

3

I’m knocking on stone. 

That comes from the rock
that’s found in the hills. 

4

That are made from the clay
that is dug from the fields. 

I’m knocking on bricks. 

5

I’m knocking on metal. 

That comes from err... ??? 

Cam did not know what metal
came from. 

6

Cam went to ask Uncle Bearing
about where metal came from.
 

It comes from holes in the
ground, said Uncle Bearing.
 

Holes
         that
              go
                  a
                  long
                      way
                         down.  

BIG HOLES
 

DEEP HOLES
 

7

8

If it comes from
         Holes
               it must
                  be stone
                      or its
                          got to
                              be clay

                                 said Cam. 

BIG HOLE
 

Not quite, said Uncle Bearing,
let’s dig a big hole. 

Have you found any metal yet? 

As Cam was carrying the rocks
Uncle Bearing was digging out he
began humming to himself a little
about metal. 

Digging and digging
what we have found,
looking for metal
deep in the ground,
pink rocks, blue rocks,
yellow rocks, green,
metal’s the only thing
we have not seen.  

9

10

That is not metal that’s a
pile of rocks 

Cam looked at the stack of
rocks he had. 

Not ordinary rocks, said Uncle
Bearing. That is what we call, Ore.  

BIG FIRE 

But now we have to heat up
the rocks. Let us go and find a... 

11

That is a big fire, said Cam. 

WHITE
   HOT 

That is called a furnace, said
Uncle Bearing. Inside there the
the rocks get much hotter than
red hot, they get... 

12

The metal is locked inside the rocks and the heat of the fire
melts the metal inside the rock. When that happens the metal
turns liquid and forms a pool at the bottom of the furnace.  

Stand back, said Uncle bearing, I’m going to pull
the plug out from the side of the furnace and let the
liquid metal come out. 

The hot metal poured out
of the furnace and ran into
channels made in the sand in
the floor at the side of the
furnace. 

That is hot, said
Cam, it is a good job
we were a long way
away. 

13

14

The next day cam and Uncle Bearing went to the furnace.
When it is cold like it is now, he said, we have the raw metal
which can be turned into your car, knives, forks, even tin cans.  

Just one thing, said Cam. 

15

The words do not match I will
have to make up a new rhyme. 

A joiner works wood,

A mason works stone,

a builder likes bricks,

But the foundry man

works iron.