Where did blacksmiths of yore get new iron?

[rdennett]

Assuming that he wasn't located near a bloomery or anything, where would a smith get new iron? In what forms could it be obtained? How was it distributed?

Thanks,
Rob

[Steve Sells]

trade. scrap, salvage, or self smelted, rare but it happened.

[unkle spike]

Depending on the time period....

My Grandpa did a lot of "recycling" before it became the thing to do, he was famous for his scrap piles, and how he kept a running inventory in his head. One of the neighbors told me you could give him a dimension, he would dig like a badger and find one that would fit.

Early in the 19th century in Wisconsin there would be travelling salesmen with wagons that sold iron. And I have not searched yet, but I know that Sears catalog sold "blacksmith kits" that had an anvil and tongs and a hammer and forge. So I would say it is a safe assumption they also sold iron also for a time.

Prior to there were two foundries operating on the Fox River near Green Bay according to a book I read online, and I imagine that my Great Grandpa would get his iron there and hammer and shape what they needed. Remember back then you were not building precision equipment, probably a plow for a farm, or a latch and hinges for a door, so perfectly dimensioned steel was not something they had the luxury of. Many factories and sawmills were moved from place to place, many of the early sawmills in Wisconsin had 4 or 5 locations as they followed the timber.

Prior to local stores many things travelled by wagon from place to place, and up and down the Fox River by Steam Boat.

Well that kind of covers what time period I know.

[Charlotte]

One of the several causes of the American Revolution was the effort of the The British government to control the import of iron into the colonies and prevent the establishment of Iron foundries in the Americas.

One item of import was iron rods to make nails from. The major cities all had Iron dealers the way we have steel ware houses today.

Then as now the further you were from the ports and foundries the harder it is to get what you want. New high quality steel was expensive then and most folks did not let a nail fall without looking for it real hard.

[unkle spike]

Google "sears roebuck blacksmith tools" it points to page 78 of the 1897 Catalog which shows the "kits" available, I tried to search "steel" to no result.

[ThomasPowers]

During the industrial revolution you would order iron either to common standard sizes or have a special run made if you needed a lot of it and could pay. "Steelmaking Before Bessemer, vol 1 Blister Steel and vol 2 Crucible Steel" has some mention of people ordering steel for specific use at specific sizes.

"Diderot's Encyclopedia" will probably have some information on avaiable shapes of iron in it's engravings.

"Mechanics Exercises", Joseph Moxon, pub 1703; mentions the types of iron available as each country's exported iron had different qualities and was good for different things. He also mention how to test the iron you buy to see if you were getting what you were buying.

"Ironworks on the Sagus" talks of their new fangled rolling mill and so a bit on what they were making.

"The Royal Armoury at Greenwich 1515-1649: a History of Its Technology", Williams, Alan & De Rueck, Anthony; talks of how they would buy iron and send it to a "batter mill" to be reduced to plate.

"De Re metallica", Agricola shows iron production in the 16th century

The Mastermyre Find included scrap that the smith was saving for reuse.

Then jumping way back you may want to look up "Iron and Man in Prehistoric Sweden" and look at the Currency bars that were quite common finds from the early iron age---iron seems to have been a trade item as soon as it was invented!

As for wrought iron forms you have the progression from Bloom to muck bar to merchant bar (what was commonly sold, hence the name) to singly refined wrought iron, doubly refined WI and triply refined WI)

A good source for what was being shipped is custom logs; I know that England has some going way back. You also migh find some mention of iron purchases in the pipe rolls (royal accounts from medieval England).

So can you define *yore* for us?

(Sorry this is so brief as I'm away from my research library at my home and this is all off the top of my head.)

[Frosty]

Define Yore? I was wondering which continent it was on.

I saw a good program on one of the sci channels a couple weeks ago about the Vikings. A decent period of time was spent describing and showing a Viking peat bloomery. According to these folk if you burn enough peat you'll end up with an iron bloom. They talked about bog iron but were definite about burning peat. They produced a bloom of about 7kg in the day long operation.

Almost makes me want to give it a try, we have lots of peat available.

Frosty

[dablacksmith]

i know that traps and tools of the mountian men has a inventory list of iron and tools from one of the companys that went out of buisness.. had a good list of stuff if i remember right... but it really depends on when and where ..usually a seperate operation tho iron production was usually one job and turning it into sumthin useable another...good luck

[saintjohnbarleycorn]

It must have been a job moving steel around with "20 mule team" rigs and wagons. But I guess commerce has been going on for a long time. But I bet they never threw any metal away!

[rdennett]

By "yore", I meant from antiquity to the beginning of the 19th century. Also, I was only interested in new iron. Presumably, they recycled it whenever they could due to the expense.

Thanks,
Rob

[ThomasPowers]

OK; now we know "when" is there a "where" associated with this question? Should I be looking into my books on central asia and africa or is western europe the focus?

[dablacksmith]

ya it is a lot of history to figure... iron was a trade item for many countries and cultures.. gota narrow your timeline for a good answer

[matt87]

I meant from antiquity to the beginning of the 19th century.

That's a long time period...