Hi all New here. not even sure if this is the right way to post this. But here go's. I have sevral old logging boom chains. They are forge welded links of about 3/4 materal.I picked them up hoping that they might be wrought iron. Need some help on how to test them. thanks.

One standard way is to saw most of the way through the stock,then break the rest.The break will,in most cases,expose the fibrous structure.

Another is a spark-test.WI will throw a stream of dark color,with very little secondary sparklers that are carbides.That you can do together with testing a known mild steel bar,as the test is RELATIVE.

WI is simply an old form of mild(low C),structural steel.It'll still have some C,S,P and many other potential components.

The ultimate test is to use it for what you intend to use it for,that'll tell you everything! :P

here is a example of the break test Jake was reffering to

here is a example of the break test Jake was reffering to

thanks great pic. it helps

One standard way is to saw most of the way through the stock,then break the rest.The break will,in most cases,expose the fibrous structure.

Another is a spark-test.WI will throw a stream of dark color,with very little secondary sparklers that are carbides.That you can do together with testing a known mild steel bar,as the test is RELATIVE.

WI is simply an old form of mild(low C),structural steel.It'll still have some C,S,P and many other potential components.

The ultimate test is to use it for what you intend to use it for,that'll tell you everything!

I have some silo hoops from an old wooden stave silo.I have forged a piece and am pretty sure it is Wrought iron. It welds easily and crumbles around the edges if worked cold. It also shows striations.What puzzles me is I have another very old piece of wrought that was shaped into a large spike (not a RR spike). The spark test on the spike shows straight sparks, not bright and no bursting sparks as I would expect. The iron from the silo shows brighter sparks and some which burst. It seems like the silo iron is wrought with carbon added. Was this done with wrought? It is a very nice metal to forge no whatter the chemical/mineral properties.Just curious.
Thanks,
bob

Yes quite often you can find a low carbon content in wrought.

Bob

etching a sample in muratic (hydrochloric) acid will often show the striations. I've done this to some old forged pieces that I didn't want to otherwise destroy.

We think of WI as being an extremely low carbon material but in actuality it came in a wide range just like steel does today!

Moxon's "Mechanics Exercises" (1703) gives instructions on testing each load of iron that cam in to see it's usability and gives a listing per country producing it as to what it's usually good for.