three men were required to manage a furnace. one maintained the fire and added cold shot, a second man removed heated shot from the furnace, and the third man cleaned them. special tools were required to handle heated shot. an iron fork was used to remove heated shot from the furnace, then the shot was placed on a stand and cleaned by rubbing off loose surface scale with a rasp. a pair of tongs with circular jaws were used to handle the shot at the furnace. to carry the shot to the cannons, hot shot ladles were used. the ladles had an iron cup for the shot with one or three handles. round shot less than weight size could be carried by one man with a single-handle ladle, while larger shot needed a three-handle ladle, carried between two men like a stretcher.