21st Century Forge

For whatever reasons, the civilizations in the New World lagged far behind the rest of the globe when it came to metallurgy. It certainly wasn't for lack of raw materials, however.

Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World with an array of tools, wares, and weapons and he must have been surprised that the metal technologies known for centuries to civilizations in Europe, Asia, and Africa were largely non-existent here. With the exceptions of copper, gold, and silver, the Americas had not developed much of a metals industry.

Considering that the rest of the world had gone through the Bronze and Iron Ages, the Europeans must have been surprised to find such a primitive state of affairs.

Wherever a metals industry did exist in the hemisphere, there were permanent cities with exquisite architecture. This was most notable throughout Central America and in the Andes Mountains in South America. But in what is now the United States, we don't see that kind of development. The reason is simple. Where metallurgy existed, tools were produced. With tools, man can make the land and its resources conform to his wishes. Without tools, man conforms to the land. Tools, engineering, and geometry went hand-in-hand because of metallurgy. In 1492, North American Indians were still searching streambeds for flint shards to sharpen into arrowheads. Although iron ore is plentiful and well distributed in North America, there is no evidence of iron making.

Who were the first true blacksmiths in the Western Hemisphere? Perhaps, the Norsemen. In 1001, Lief Ericsson built a settlement, L'Anse aux Meadows, on Cape Bauld, Newfoundland and excavations have uncovered an ironworks and forge.[1] The Norsemen found iron nodules in the bogs and streambeds near their settlement. Though primitive and small in scope, the Norse ironworks were most likely the first in the New World.

Bog iron samples; click thumbnail to enlarge

Education |Pre 1492|1492-1700|1700-1800|1800-1860|1860-1910|1910-1970|1970-

David G. Allen for the Appalachian Blacksmiths Association 2008

An important date in this century is 1793--Eli Whitney received a patent for the cotton gin machine. Whitney was somewhat of a genius when it came to mass-producing identical metal parts. His true forte' was in making triggers and hammers for muskets and rifles. Prior to then, all rifles were individually crafted by a blacksmith. No two rifles were identical.[2] Thus, the date of 1793 might well represent the dawn of the age of the Industrial Revolution, an age where metal tools and parts would be mass-produced. The reasons were economic. In the case of cotton, it took about as much manual labor to separate the cotton boll as it did to harvest the crop. The cotton gin, a relatively simple machine, allowed one man to not only do the work of many at a consistent production pace but also allowed for another important industrial benefit--consistent quality control. This one machine greatly reduced the cost of cotton which, in turn, made cotton fabric and clothing more affordable. Cotton became an export product as a result. More cotton was planted--more plows were forged--more wagons were needed to haul the cotton to market--better roads had to be built--and blacksmiths provided these tools. But mass-production techniques being pioneered in the late 1700's would eventually replace much of the blacksmith's work.

During this century, more horses meant more wagons which spurred more roads which spurred more communities. Commerce picked up significantly. Blacksmiths were critical to this development. Not only did they shoe the horses and build the wagons but they also made wagon wheel rims and made repairs. As commerce picked up and more settlers arrived, there was an increasing demand for plows and, of course, rifles. It has often been said that the long rifle secured America's quest for freedom. Not only did it have superior range and accuracy over any other weapon of its time but every colonist owned one and knew how to use it. Thus, many blacksmiths became gunsmiths.

The first Act passed by our Congress was a procedural one that allowed it to conduct business. The second Act that it passed imposed a tariff on rum imported from the Caribbean islands. Whiskey making was a growth industry in America by the 1770's and the Congress felt that our industry shouldn't be undercut by imported liquor. (This all had to do with taxes on corn and whiskey, not drinking.) I point this out only because whiskey was aged in oak barrels and a blacksmith made the barrel hoops.

Most blacksmiths started work when they were young boys, maybe at age 6 or 7. They would apprentice to a blacksmith for a decade or more. And then they would set out to start their own shop. America became a great opportunity for young blacksmiths. In Europe and other parts of the world, there were few new or expanding markets for blacksmiths. If a boy did apprentice to a master, he might spend most of his life in that shop before he ever got the opportunity to be a journeyman.

Model 1792 rifle manufactured at the US Armory at Harper's Ferry. Instead of individual hand-crafting by a blacksmith/gunsmith, rifles were made with machine tools and had the advantage of interchangeable parts.

Lewis & Clark used these rifles on their expedition of the Louisiana Purchase. They also took extra locks (the hammer actions) with them which proved valuable as some of the rifles required repair.

The 18th century created an unprecedented need for blacksmiths. Sailing ships needed hundreds of metal parts, pulleys, cleats, brackets, etc. as well as anchor chains. Blacksmiths made all of these parts. Shipbuilders also needed hammers, chisels, saws, nails, and bolts and blacksmiths made them. The Revolutionary War effort alone provided a great demand for blacksmiths and gunsmiths. The loggers needed saws and axes as well as chains and hooks. Homesteaders needed hardware and house wares, most of which the blacksmith made. As the country grew, jails were built and blacksmiths made the locks and grilles and shackles. Unlike Europe where a city grew over time around a Medieval castle, everything in America had to be built from scratch.

Many immigrant communities still wanted a part of their homeland, however.After all, they traveled here with only the barest of goods. Just as we pass down "the family silverware" from generation to generation, the same custom held true then. However, immigrant families left most of their heirlooms behind in the old country. This did provide an opportunity for journeymen blacksmiths from Europe. A blacksmith trained in, say, Cologne, Germany would seek out his countrymen in the colonies and set up shop in their village or district. He would prosper since he could replicate all of the old patterns that his fellow immigrants knew so well. Though they couldn't bring their wares on the boat, these immigrants were not denied their heritage.

This style of making chain links was popular with German-born blacksmiths

Education |Pre 1492|1492-1700|1700-1800|1800-1860|1860-1910|1910-1970|1970-

David G. Allen for the Appalachian Blacksmiths Association 2008

A key date in this period is 1838. John Deere (yes, the green tractor John Deere) invented a superior plow made fromsteel. His design turned the soil better than existing plows. But what made this event significant was the use of steel.

Deere's plows also had replaceable cutting edges and wear strips. Unlike the hand-forged iron plow which was one piece and wore quickly along its edges, this steel plow lasted longer and the wearing parts could be cheaply replaced. By 1853, Deere & Co. was selling thousands of new steel plows, a significant milestone of technological change--steel vs. iron and manufactured vs. hand-forged. The American steel industry was underdeveloped in 1840 and produced a poor quality product. Deere relied on imported steel from England to make his plow successful.

In 1839, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow penned the famous poem,The Village Blacksmith. We can assume, then, given the poem's success, that the blacksmith was a revered craftsman.This period may have been the zenith in American blacksmithing. Even today, our thoughts about a blacksmith revolve around this poet's description. But this poem was a fading dream. Even the chestnut tree that Longfellow wrote of later died and the people of the town had a chair made from the wood as a gift to the poet before his death in 1882.

During this era, steam power would change the nation.[3] The first steamboats and packets vastly improved shipping, both on rivers and on the sea. Steam power would begin to replace water power in grist mills and textile plants. No longer would the miller rely on seasonal rains to grind corn meal or flour. And of course, the steam-powered locomotive changed transportation in ways never imagined. By 1860, the South had its Merrimac and the North had its Monitor. And both had railroad networks.

The blacksmith shop was starting to change as well. The bellows was replaced with a rotary fan blower and the drill press became available for small blacksmith shops. In larger shops and some of the fledgling factories, one might find a steam-powered trip hammer.

Americans were also moving westward. Being west of the Alleghenies in 1790 meant you were still on the frontier. But as John Deere invented his plow in Illinois, that alone shows how quickly the westward movement was taking place.

For a perspective of this period, consider Salem, WV. Originally settled in 1792 by Seventh Day Baptist families who migrated south from Rhode Island, Salem was itself an island in the wilderness. The first buildings were a blockhouse and fort to protect the settlers from Indian raids.[4] From that beginning, log houses were built and the settlers developed farms. The town grew and it did prosper as a farming community. Six decades after its founding, Salem would find itself not on the frontier but in mid-America--a rail stop on the Baltimore & Ohio's mainline. And on the town's 100th anniversary, Salem was home to Salem College and sat surrounded by oil and gas wells.

The sailing ship, the docks, and the factories that sprung up around them were dependent on blacksmiths. The blacksmith made the spikes that nailed the planks, the ship's rigging hardware, tools, wagon wheels, chains, and the great hinges of the ship's rudder.

But the greatest contribution of the blacksmith may have been the precisely-hammered compass needle. Without that, Columbus may never have made landfall.

Education |Pre 1492|1492-1700|1700-1800|1800-1860|1860-1910|1910-1970|1970-

David G. Allen for the Appalachian Blacksmiths Association 2008

16d cut nail, ca. 1900 -- 3 7/8" long

To understand this era,consider the lowly nail. In 1800, a blacksmith made nails, one at a time, at a rate of perhaps one per minute. Nails were expensive. Lumber, on the other hand, was becoming cheap. And as lumber got cheaper, people wanted to live in houses instead of log cabins. A way to make cheap nails had to be found and it was--the nail factory. "Cut" nails were turned out in all sizes from spikes to brads because the typical Victorian house and its trim needed about 400# of nails to hold it together. Nails were so scarce and expensive prior to 1800 that some states had previously enacted arson laws, not to criminalize arsonper se,but to prevent people from burning down sheds, barns, and houses just to sift the nails from the ashes! Factories such asWheeling's LaBelle Nail Co.(1852, and still operating) met the demand for nails. And they forever removed one of the blacksmith's product lines.

Horses, wagons, and horse-drawn implements would dominate the blacksmith's work through this period. Factories would begin producing many of the tools traditionally made in the village smithy. And steel, not iron became the metal of choice. But by 1910, Henry Ford had made a farm tractor that most farmers could afford. Along with his Model T automobile, Henry Ford would make the horse and wagon almost obsolete. And with this change, the blacksmith that Longfellow wrote of disappeared from the land.

In a typical American town in 1900, one would expect to find livery stables, feed stores, wagon shops, blacksmith shops, horse corrals, horse traders, and horse trainers in about the same ratio that we now find auto dealers, repair shops, parts stores, driving instructors, and fueling stations. This shows how much the blacksmith was a part of the local economy. The change was quick and significant.

Introduced in the 1890's, it would not take long for America to begin its love affair with the automobile. The technology of the cotton gin came of age in the automobile assembly plant.

More than anything else, motorized vehicles and farm equipment doomed the trade of blacksmith.

Education |Pre 1492|1492-1700|1700-1800|1800-1860|1860-1910|1910-1970|1970-

David G. Allen for the Appalachian Blacksmiths Association 2008

1910-1970

This door lock was made by Samuel Yellin Company for the Citizens Bank of Weston, WV in 1929

There was a golden age for blacksmiths who made architectural ironwork during the early part of this period. But the Great Depression (1930) would end this Renaissance. Still, many of America's most-treasured works in iron were made during this time.

In summary, the art of blacksmithing almost became extinct during the latter half of this period. People would remember their grandfather's farm and the shed where his anvil was set up. But they had no idea of what Grandpa did in his shop. Essentially, if a job absolutely had to be done by hand, then a blacksmith would have work. And there were some repairs and tools that called for the blacksmith's skills. But modern logic dictated mass-production and replacement rather than repair. It became cheaper to throw away a broken chain rather than have a blacksmith make the repair links! And what about those wrought-iron railings that homeowners bought in the '50's? They aren't hand-forged by a blacksmith; they are cold-bent in presses and welded together, and the finials are cast iron, made a hundred at a time.

Glass-top, Art Deco style table made by Samuel Yellin for the Citizens Bank of Weston, WV.

Education |Pre 1492|1492-1700|1700-1800|1800-1860|1860-1910|1910-1970|1970-

David G. Allen for the Appalachian Blacksmiths Association 2008

1970-present

Enough grandchildren must have been curious about Grandpa's anvil because a resurgence in blacksmithing began about 1970. Today, about 5,000 men and women belong to ABANA, the Artists Blacksmith Assn. of North America. There are an estimated 5,000 non-members. Add to that all of the farriers, bladesmiths, gunsmiths, and armourers and perhaps 20-30,000 Americans practice the metal arts of our earlier days. Maybe even more. But that's still not many in a nation of 270,000,000 people. And when you whittle this down to the full-timers who derive their living from actual metalsmithing, the percentage drops even lower. Don't sell your car and tractor, just yet.

The quality of work, especially in the arts, is more impressive now than it's ever been. There is more of a market for metal sculpture now than at any other time.

The quality of work of today's bladesmiths and gunsmiths rivals any time in history. But rather than arm a village, today's workmanship is primarily sold to collectors.

While the styles and nature of architectural ironwork changes from decade to decade, we are seeing some truly fantastic work today. But you will never see banks commission window and door grilles as they once did. Nor will your university install iron gates at its entrance.

And finally, farriers know more about their trade today than at anytime in history. But unless you are in Amish country or visit the Budweiser Clydesdale stables, then you aren't going to find farriers shoeing work horses.

We, as blacksmiths in the 21st Century, are merely keeping the forge warm. No one pretends to be Longfellow's man. Nor would anyone claim to be a master blacksmith likeSamuel Yellin.

If they do, they know nothing of history.

Speaking of history, consider this: Leif Ericsson wrote a detailed description of his Newfoundland expedition. He observed that winters there were so mild that they did not even have a frost during the winter. He also observed that cattle and sheep could graze year 'round because of the mild climate. The same site today supports only cold-tolerant vegetation such as partridgeberry, not forage grasses. Global warming, anyone?

For the Appalachian Blacksmiths Association, by David G. Allen

Continue on to History, Part 3

* * * * *

Endnotes:

[1] "The European Discovery of America; The Northern Voyages," by Samuel Eliot Morison. Voyages to North America.

[1] "A World Lit Only By Fire," by William Manchester. Excellent perspective of the end of the Dark Ages and beginning of the Renaissance.

[1] L'Anse aux Meadows is a Canada Park:http://www.parkscanada.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/nl/meadows/index_E.asp

[2] George Washington commissioned two armories to make rifles. One was built at Harpers Ferry, WV in 1799. It was later the site of John Brown's raid (1859). Iron ore was first mined here in 1760 and continued until 1910. "The Bloomery", a high-quality ironworks, influencedWashington's decision to locate the armory at Harpers' Ferry. http://wvweb.com/cities/harpers_ferry/ andhttp://www.nps.gov/hafe

[3] James Rumsey (blacksmith/cabinet maker) is credited with developing the first steamboat at Shepherdstown, WV. (December, 1787)http://www.lib.shepherdstown.wv.us/sin/rumsey.html

[4] For more on Indian Wars and raids, see: Chief Cornstalk, Lord Dunmore's War. Some brief information is at:http://www.wvculture.org/history/notewv/corn.html

[5] For examples of early iron making in North America, see:

Education ||Pre 1492|1492-1700|1700-1800|1800-1860|1860-1910|1910-1970|1970-||History, Part 3

David G. Allen for the Appalachian Blacksmiths Association 2008

If you study the civilizations of history, you will read that a particular society lived in one of three technological ages--theStoneAge,BronzeAge, orIronAge. And you will notice that certain dates are often attached to the these ages. You may fall into the trap of believing that all of the world's peoples threw down their stone tools in 6,500 BC and ordered new, bronze tools. In truth, societies progressed at different rates and throughout much of the last few millennia, the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age were all in place at the same time. This was evident when European sailors landed in the Americas.

Even as astronauts blasted off for the first moon landing, some tribes of rain forest Indians in the Amazon and elsewhere were still living as people did in the Stone Age. They hunted and fished with sharpened sticks, ground food roots to a pulp with a round rock, and, in some locales, did not know how to build a fire with human-made tools or implements.

Strange as this may seem that they did not know how to "make" fire, one does have to ask the burning question: What need did they have of fire? After all, the tropical rain forest is balmy the year round. And fresh fruits and berries are always in season. Even if these tribes wanted to cook a meal over a campfire, then they would have a hard time finding enough dry wood to build the fire.

Without need of fire (primarily for warmth), these tribes were almost guaranteed to live in the Stone Age. Why? Because it was the heat of a campfire that led humans to discover that metals were contained in rocks and that the intense heat of a fire could smelt the metal from the ore rock.

If you were a Stone Age person, you would be acutely aware of your surroundings. Living off the land, you would know every square inch of the many square miles of your range. You would have discovered that a tree limb with a knot made for a durable mallet. Of the rocks you saw in the gravel bed of a stream, you would have quickly learned not to step on a flint rock because of its sharp edges. You'd also see that animal bones could be dried and splintered. With just these three discoveries, you would be on your way to building a shelter, making tools, and cutting and sewing animal hides for clothes or shoes.

Even though your life would be better than before you discovered how to make tools, you would still want to make improvements to your situation. One day, you would poke through the ashes of your campfire and discover a shiny object, probably copper. Your instinct would be to hammer it with a rock. The lump of copper would flatten with each blow and then begin to polish. The shiny medallion would so inspire your curiosity that you would gather more rocks and build more fires and search the ashes for more shiny lumps of copper.

Thus, the Bronze Age begins.

At some point, probably after centuries of working copper into implements and jewelry, people discovered the miracle of alloys. We will never know if alloys came about by design or by accident. We do know that mixing molten copper and molten tin produces bronze, a remarkable alloy that even today has many uses in our industrialized world. This discovery of making alloys in turn led to a belief in alchemy--the notion that you could turn one metal into another. People believed that a cheap, plentiful metal such as lead could be turned into gold if only the right procedure was discovered. Imagine what those people thought when they alloyed copper and lead and produced brass. For a brief time, they probably thought they had made a bar of gold!

Bronze Age technology remarkably changed the ways in which societies lived. Precious metals, acting as a medium of exchange, allowed for commerce between villages, between regions, and between nations. No longer did traders have to barter one staple for another. This new form of commerce created wealth. And where there is wealth, there is art. As soon as a new metal or alloy was discovered, it was incorporated into some form of art.

Bronze Age technology also brought forth advancements in engineering & architectural science, as well as durable tools for manufacturing and agriculture. In the Stone Age, a bridge was a tree that happened to fall across a stream. Bronze tools allowed man to build bridges, a skill that required measurement and mathematics. Bronze tools also allowed man to build temples and other large buildings, which led to the creation of mankind's first nation states and empires. The Pyramids of Egypt, actually tombs for the Pharaohs filled with gold treasures, highlight the 3,000 years of Bronze Age technology in Egypt.

But the Bronze Age did have one shortcoming. Copper, tin, lead, gold, and silver were never found in great quantities nor were they often found in the same places. Bronze Age people were limited in their technology to processing metals found in their native state or from very rich ores. Unlike today, when a mining company can process one ton of ore to retrieve one ounce of gold, Bronze Age people had to find nuggets to process.

Iron came into use because the scarcity of copper, etc. pushed up the prices of metals and alloys. It takes much more energy to melt iron than it does copper. But as copper went up in price, iron smelting became feasible. Iron is well-distributed throughout the world--a red rock is an indication of iron. But the first iron source that people used were meteorites that they found laying on the ground. Iron nodules are also found in bogs and clay banks.

Copper melts at 1,981F. Iron melts at 2,802F. To achieve this temperature, wood had to be converted to charcoal (nearly pure carbon) and then burned with an air blast, which was supplied by a bellows (a simple air pump.) While iron is harder and more durable than the Bronze Age metals and alloys, it is not so simple as to say the difference in Ages is the difference in the properties of the metals. Making iron required a new way of thinking. Making iron was an industrial process.

The first civilization credited with making 'wrought iron' from blooms is the Hittite Empire which controlled present-day Syria and Iraq from 1700-1200 BC. While it took over 3,000 years from that first bloom of smelted iron to the building of the first iron bridge at Ironbridge, England, the thought process changed little. Iron making showed man that he could make everything bigger, better, stronger, and faster. The Industrial Revolution, the capstone of the Iron Age, could not have happened without wrought iron and the blacksmith.

In today's world, the cruise ship is built from tens of thousands of tons of steel. The jet airliner has nary and ounce of steel. Though dissimilar in the metals that they are built from, they both represent the thinking process of Iron Age technology.

Some futurists say that we have entered a new age of technology based on computers. Call it theSiliconAge if you will. If that is true, then our computer age began in 1801 when Joseph Jacquard invented a loom that operated by punch cards. However basic, it was a computer-controlled device. Whether we are starting this new age is debatable. What is probably true is that it will not take 3,000 years to develop the next age of technology.

In the 21stCentury, man will develop a way to supply 90% of the world's energy power from the sun and the cost will be minimal. And it would not surprise me at all to see man-made rainstorms in the Sahara Desert. But when this century ends--and I predict this with certainty--mankind will still not have found a cure for the common cold.

TheStoneAge lives on!

Spanning the Severn River in Shropshire, England--Ironbridge, built in 1779. It is made with cast iron segments, the largest of which weighs over 5 tons.

Wax finishes leave a deep, lustrous glow to ironwork. They can be used for exterior and interior work. Generally, smiths blend equal parts of paste wax, linseed oil, and turpentine. A smaller volume of bees wax is then added. Japan Drier is available at art supply stores and it speeds drying time but is not necessary to harden the finish.

Some smiths prefer raw linseed oil to the boiled kind because it doesn't have drying chemicals in it. Some smiths mix bees wax with linseed oil and then use paste wax in the final buffing.

Beeswax can be used by itself. In fact, European smiths used it for centuries by simply melting the wax onto the workpiece while it was still warm. Unlike other waxes, bees wax is non-toxic and, therefore, can be used on cutlery and utensils.

Nearly all candles are made with paraffin. Do not confuse this wax with bees wax. Buy bees wax at a hardware store or from a beekeeper and use it.

For interior use, wax finishes hold up a long time and will only need an occasional buffing. Depending on humidity and precipitation, outdoor ironwork will need to be inspected at least annually. Rusty areas can be buffed clean with steel wool and then re-waxed.

For best results, ironwork should be warm (can hold in your hand) when applying the wax finish.

See these articles for additional information.

Ingredients

Bees wax

Paste Wax

Linseed Oil (Raw or Boiled)

Turpentine

Japan Drier

Tung Oil and boiled Linseed Oil will dry and harden. Check the can and the label should indicate that driers have been added. They are toxic to the taste and should not be used on any ironwork that will be used with food or drink. Both are very durable. Tung oil is the better of the two if you will also be finishing wood. Tung oil allows the photoreactivity of the wood with sunlight. Linseed oil tends to darken wood over time.

For cutlery, utensils, and food wares, you will need to use vegetable or mineral oil. Keep in mind that vegetable oils will turn rancid. Thus, if you finish a knife and don't use it for a while, you will want to clean it well before using it. Mineral oil (a petroleum product) won't go rancid. Use only a very light coat of oil on your food wares.

A point about oily rags: they will spontaneously combust so dispose of them properly after finishing your work.

Tung Oil

Linseed Oil

Vegetable Oil

Mineral Oil

Brass bristle brush

Become an alchemist! Turn iron into brass!

This simple trick is accomplished by using a brass bristle brush on iron at 'black heat'. The brass melts and transfers, making the iron have a nice brass finish. If the iron is too cool, the brass won't melt. And if too hot, you will wipe the layer of brass off with each swipe. Practice makes perfect. Be sure to "Brass" your workpiece before applying the preserving finish.

In olden times, the patina was the natural oxidation that served to highlight the workpiece. Wrought iron actually oxidized (rusted) to a nice deep brown patina and then stopped because natural silicates in the iron preserved the metal. Natural patinas often added value to the work.

In the modern world, patinas are chemically induced. OurSuppliersweb page lists several companies that manufacture patinas. This method of creating patinas allows the smith to have great control over the colors and tones in his/her work. Just follow the manufacturers directions closely.

A good blacksmith makes sure his work has a consistent, smoky black color. That's why a wax finish highlights the workpiece so well. For all others, there is flat black spray paint.

Paint has its place. When colors are required, such as withavant gardeartwork, paint is the only way to accomplish this.

A big drawback with painted metal in exterior work is trying to rustproof the iron so that it does not rust under the paint layer. Zinc powders are often used in primers but they do reduce the detail because of the thickness of the primer coat. And sometimes, extensive sandblasting is needed to clean the ironwork--a procedure that also has drawbacks.

If you need to paint your ironwork, discuss the job with paint stores and painters to find the best product line.

Clear lacquer and polyurethane are often used on projects such as interior railings and banisters. The ironwork needs to have a consistent look to it because clear finishes will not hide any defects. "Clear coats" will prevent oxidation caused by people handling or touching the work. And they will feel better to the hand than does a painted surface.

New products, such as Gilders Paste, are being developed to meet the market for coloring and finishing ironwork.

But there are also common old methods that are still popular. Soaking your ironwork overnight in a bucket of tea will leave a gray steel patina on the workpiece surface which can then be finished with wax, oil, or clear coat.

BRIEF HISTORY:

Wrought Irondates back to the ancient Egyptian Empire. Very small blooms of iron were produced in forges using charcoal.In 500 BC, the Etruscans were producing 10,000 pounds of iron per year on the western shore of Italy using short cupolas with bellows made from animal skins to produce the air source.Once the burn was complete, the short furnaces made of stone were disassembled and the resulting mass of iron and impurities were removed and further refined by heating and hammering.The charcoal making process deforested most of western Italy.The iron ore was brought to the furnaces on sailing ships.The extraction method that the Etruscans used was so poor that the tailings were mined during both world wars to produce steel.Wrought iron was produced throughout Europe in late BC to early AD.In the magnificent buildings of the Greeks and Romans, the stones were held together with butterfly-shaped pieces of iron coated with lead.

The firststeelwas produced by the Celts, ca. AD 200.They cut wrought iron into small strips and stacked the strips in a wrought iron container with burnt bone and carbon and then heated the iron in a charcoal-fired furnace for 10-12 hours at high heat.In the process, carbon was absorbed into the surface of the metal.They then forge welded the pieces together and produced blades.This was the forerunner of pattern-welded blades as we know them and which we erroneously call "Damascus."Damascus steelwas produced in Pakistan about the same time in the form of Wootz billets and sent to Syria to be made into Damascus blades.As near as we can tell (since the exact process is unknown), pure iron ore and carbon were placed in a ceramic crucible and actually melted, producing carbon steel containing about 1.5% carbon.The steel was very difficult to forge since it had to be worked at a red heat.Any hotter and it would shatter.The Celt's steel process was copied by the Vikings and Germans to produce pattern-welded steel blades through about 1050.From then until about 1400, both countries produced steel blades by family-protected, secret processes.

During that time period, they started making their furnaces taller and taller.At this point they were no longer producing wrought iron.The iron finally melted, and as it ran down through the charcoal, it dissolved some of the carbon into the iron.The resulting iron contained 3-4% carbon, was not forgeable, and was very brittle.It could only be used for casted items and was not useful for blades or wagon parts.Also during this time period, most of the forests in England and Europe were disappearing because of building and charcoal making.The King of England ruled at one point that the forests could no longer be cut for making charcoal.This forced the steel makers to come up with a process to makecokeout of coal by driving out the volatile oils.

To get wrought iron in quantity, the English developed a puddling process; they mixed molten cast iron with molten iron silicate and iron oxide.Iron silicate is a component of wrought iron.They called this coal-fired furnace a "finery."When a worker (the rabbler) stirred this mixture, the iron oxide would combine with the carbon forming iron and carbon dioxide.The resulting iron had a much higher melting point and would float to the top of the puddle.The rabbler would move the pieces into larger lumps weighing 200-300 pounds.Another worker, using a pair of large tongs and an overhead track, would grab the pieces (called "blooms") and place them in a press to squeeze out some of the iron silicate.The pressed blooms would then be run through a rolling mill and turned into muck bars.The muck bars were cut into short pieces, wired together, and placed in a coal-fired soak pit where they were heated to a welding heat.The muck bars were run through the rolling mill again and turned into a merchant bar.This process was used not only throughout Europe but in the eastern United States as well.

To make steel, thin rolled merchant bars were placed in a coal-fired soak pit, covered with carbon and burnt bone, and heated at a high temperature for several days.The carbon would be absorbed into the iron forming blister steel.The name "blister" comes from the appearance of the bars when they were removed from the pit-they were covered with "blisters."The bars were then folded over and re-welded together to be used as steel.None of the steel was of very good quality as it had iron silicate inclusions.

England needed good quality steel to make springs for timepieces so that their fleet could navigate the oceans.One enterprising Englishman noticed that glassmakers were able to get very high temperatures in their glass furnaces.He took pieces of blister steel, placed them in ceramic crucibles, and set them in a glass furnace.When the steel melted, iron silicate floated out and the carbon remained, making a good quality steel.Unfortunately for him, too many people observed the process and he was unable to keep it secret and thereby profit from the discovery.This process was further developed and produced quality steel called "cast steel" or "crucible steel."It is still used today to produce small quantities of differing steels.Many old tools made in the USA are marked "cast steel".Some mistakenly believe that these tools were "cast" as the name implies.

Steel making got its greatest boost when theBessemer processwas developed.There is a great argument as to whether it was invented in England or the United States.

Wrought Iron was produced in quantity by Beyers Steel through 1950 and was used in large construction projects such as the Grand Coulee Dam because wrought iron is impervious to rusting.It will only rust down to the iron silicate and then stop.

Mixing of alloys with iron occurred in the early 1900's when manganese, chrome, nickel, etc. were added in gas-fired open hearth furnaces.The progress of alloying was very slow since it is a hit-or-miss experimental process.The real push for alloying metal occurred during WWII when greater strength alloys were required for the weapons of war.Since then, great strides have been made in developing different steels.

IRON & STEEL:

Wrought Iron:Wrought Iron is pure iron mixed with iron silicate. When rolled through the mills a few times, its structure takes on the characteristics of wood, having a definite grain structure. It is forged at a yellow heat. Lower heats will result in the metal shattering like a wood board unless it has been refined several times. If it does split, it is easily welded together at a yellow heat. Iron silicate acts a flux in this process. Holes drilled through wrought iron will split out lengthwise under load. Therefore, the end where the hole is drilled should be folded across the grain and forge welded. Since there is no carbon in wrought iron, it will not burn like carbon steel, even at a yellow heat. Wrought iron is no longer commercially produced. It can still be found in structures built a century or more ago. Old bridges have been a good source of wrought iron.

Carbon steels:Most carbon steels contain less than 1.5% carbon. Mild steel, as we once knew it, was labeled 1018-1020 and contained .18% and .20% carbon respectively. Today this is only true for steels smaller than 1/4" thick and over 4" in width. Most of the hot-rolled steel today is made from scrap and is categorized as A-36, having a guaranteed tensile strength of 65,000 psi. Since it contains numerous other alloys, the carbon content can vary up to .29% at which level it is not very suitable for forging. Metal with that carbon content develops black hardness which results in cracking and breaking. A-36 is also made in a continuous pour process. As a result, it contains inclusions which will cause it to split when you work with it.

Sulfur or Lead is added to low carbon steel to improve machineability. This is usually found in cold-drawn mild steels and is no good for forging at all as it has a tendency to crumble at forging temperatures. It is usually designated as 1118 or 11L18.

The more carbon added to the iron, the stronger the tensile strength until it becomes brittle. The optimum strength is achieved at .40% to .45% carbon. In order to achieve hardness, the steel has to be heated to a cherry red, quenched in warm salt brine, and then tempered.

Carbon steels with a carbon content of .60% to 1.4% are designated as W-1, W-2, etc. The "W" indicates that they can be hardened in water. This is somewhat misleading as only small pieces such as chisels and punches can be safely hardened in water. When water boils, it causes steam bubbles which result in uneven cooling, causing cracking on larger pieces of carbon steel. Most of the time, the coolant used is warm salt brine. With the best quench, the depth of the hardness goes in less that 1/4" leaving the core soft. The cherry red color of the core can be observed in a dark area with no outside lighting. Blacksmiths of old used a blackened bucket to find this red color.For people who are colorblind, this temperature occurs when the steel is no longer magnetic.

Tempering:Once the steel is quenched, it has to be tempered using heat. This is done by first cleaning the piece down to bright metal and then slowly heating it, watching for the color of the metal to change. The proper temper is reached according to the chart below and then the metal is further cooled in water.

Alloy steels:Since carbon steels can only be hardened to a depth of 1/4", large pieces of hardened steel were not available to industry. The most important alloying metal is chrome. Chrome does two things: It allows for deeper hardening and for increased resistance to deforming at elevated temperatures. Other metals that improve strength and deep hardening are molybdenum, vanadium, nickel, and tungsten. Since we now have deep hardening during quenching, we can no longer use water or brine because the cooling is too fast and high stresses in the metal cause cracking or breakage. We must now quench with oil or air. Quenching oils are organic and specifically developed for quenching. Motor oil can be used but fumes from the oil are toxic and results are not predictable since quenching rates are unknown.

Some useful steels that blacksmiths can find at the local junkyard: