Brant Gardner Posted January 5, 2015 Posted January 5, 2015 The abridged plates were already 200 pounds, and Moroni was lugging them around for 20 years. I imagine lugging around a room full of plates didn't seem very appealing to him.Kaleb, the witnesses place the weight closer to 50 pounds. 2
Kaleb Webb Posted January 5, 2015 Posted January 5, 2015 Kaleb, the witnesses place the weight closer to 50 pounds.Reed H. Putnam was a metallurgist who wrote about the subject in the September 1966 issue of the Improvement Era, and used descriptions of the plates' size by witnesses to estimate their weight, which he put at just over 200 pounds, with the plates being 288 inches of solid gold. But 50 pounds or 200, carrying a room full of plates like that would still be hard for one man on the run from the Lamanites.
cinepro Posted January 5, 2015 Posted January 5, 2015 (edited) Reed H. Putnam was a metallurgist who wrote about the subject in the September 1966 issue of the Improvement Era, and used descriptions of the plates' size by witnesses to estimate their weight, which he put at just over 200 pounds, with the plates being 288 inches of solid gold. But 50 pounds or 200, carrying a room full of plates like that would still be hard for one man on the run from the Lamanites. I'm sorry, but there is just no way Joseph Smith was carrying 200lbs of plates around western New York. Or that Emma was "moving them from place to place" as she did her housework. Reed Putnam was wrong. The only person who would theorize such a thing is someone who has no idea how much 200lbs weighs. Edited January 5, 2015 by cinepro 1
Duncan Posted January 5, 2015 Posted January 5, 2015 (edited) I'm sorry, but there is just no way Joseph Smith was carrying 200lbs of plates around western New York. Or that Emma was "moving them from place to place" as she did her housework. Reed Putnam was wrong. The only person who would theorize such a thing is someone who has no idea how much 200lbs weighs. to quote Sheldon maybe Emma Smith was a "very beefy gal" and could do it or maybe the plates weren't pure gold and were easier to carry oh well if they were 50 pounds then that wouldn't be too big a deal for Farm Folks Edited January 5, 2015 by Duncan
Kaleb Webb Posted January 5, 2015 Posted January 5, 2015 I'm sorry, but there is just no way Joseph Smith was carrying 200lbs of plates around western New York. Or that Emma was "moving them from place to place" as she did her housework. Reed Putnam was wrong. The only person who would theorize such a thing is someone who has no idea how much 200lbs weighs. Whoops. The Improvement Era article I was reading goes on to say that imperfections in the plates' shape and the air space between individual plates would cut the weight down to 100 pounds, not 200. Didn't see that before.
Calm Posted January 5, 2015 Posted January 5, 2015 (edited) Whoops. The Improvement Era article I was reading goes on to say that imperfections in the plates' shape and the air space between individual plates would cut the weight down to 100 pounds, not 200. Didn't see that before.That was if the plates were pure gold. He theorizes they were not: http://www.shields-research.org/Scriptures/BoM/Tumbaga.htm We must conclude that ancient American smiths had sufficient knowledge and skill to make a set of plates using the alloy that the Spaniards called tumbaga. The plates of the Book of Mormon, we allege, were of this alloy and were probably of between 8- and 12-carat gold. They thus appear to have weighed between 53 and 86 pounds. We further allege that the plates were manufactured by hammering the metal to a thickness of .02 of an inch with a 23-carat gilded surface of .0006 of an inch, resulting in a hardness of 30 Brinells to the engravers tool, while the center of the plate maintained a Brinell of 80 or above. The plates themselves would have presented a solid gold surface to the eye, yet they would have weighed as little as half as much as pure gold. Edited January 5, 2015 by calmoriah 1
Kaleb Webb Posted January 5, 2015 Posted January 5, 2015 Thanks for the link. I couldn't find the full version of the article anywhere.
Calm Posted January 5, 2015 Posted January 5, 2015 No proble. I had recently read it myself so knew what you were talking about.Try this and see if it gives you full access to articles. (too busy today to doublecheck myself, at least until bedtime):http://en.fairmormon.org/Online_document_index/Improvement_Era
Brant Gardner Posted January 6, 2015 Posted January 6, 2015 Brant, Nice to Cyber-see you! Thanks. I show up every once in a rare while.
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