Subject: Re: Wrought Iron

From: [email-masked] (Ralph Snel)
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 1994 11:53:56 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Daryl Bender) writes:
> I've been following this wrought iron thread and am curious as to why no
> mills produce the stuff anymore. It sounds like an excellent material
> (weldability, forgability, weather resistant, tough etc etc). Is it a cost
> thing? Sounds like there might be a market for it, even if it was classed /
> priced as a specialty. I mean if you can still buy new model T tires why
> not wrought iron. Just curious.

My guess would be that the number of applications where no (better)
alternative is available is steadily decreasing. And my general impression
is that wrought iron is not as strong as construction steel is, which is
the most common steel around I guess.
Weldability nowadays means something completely different than 100 years
ago. Forgability is not important with modern mills (no guy holding a hammer
any more). Weather resistance is much better for stainless etc. Toughness
is much better for most alloyed steels.
I also think that the quality of wrought iron is not constant enough,
especially if you look at small batches.

But there should be more than enough knifemakers out there too keep
at least one mill running continuously. I'd sure be interested!

Ralph
[email-masked]