Pure Iron

[John B]

Today a small party from the Blacksmiths Guild (UK) paid a visit to the steel rolling mill of Legg Brothers in Wolverhampton www.legg-brothers.co.uk where they also roll Pure Iron (Carbon free)and export their products worldwide.

Our members found them to be most helpful and really enjoyed their visit (I am told) Beth was there so she may give her version of the visit. The prices quoted were considerably cheaper than other sources and deliveries in the UK no problem, they also appreciate that most blacksmiths are small operations here in the UK but they are prepared to supply small qualtities, they also prodce rolled sections in carbon steels for edge tools, mower blades, and other special sections

Here are some pictures of the visit,

Introductions



The basic materials are cropped off to length to fit the furnace where they are brought up to heat ready for re rolling to finished sizes



They then pass through the rolling mill dies (multi passes) to produce the required sizes/profiles



Being fed through at each pass



Then when finished they are levelled and stacked



And stored in their warehouse ready for despatch or stock



The channel sections I believe are destined for the USA.

And they have their own in house machine shop for refurbishing the dies and rollers



I hope this is of interest and may be of use to some of you.

[jake pogrebinsky]

Thanks for posting this,John.With them controlling the chemistry of batches using the stuff afterward must be very consistent,quite a priviledge.You folks are lucky to have a business like this around,as a supplier.Neat stuff!

[beth]

yeah i did get to see the mill in the end - which i thoroughly enjoyed- the two blokes mike and john running the mill were two of the most enthused and positive lovely chaps i have met in a long time and they obviously take a real pride in what theyre doing - real shame you missed the tour john. the beauty of their business and the reason they are surviving the recesion in this country is because they are small and they can react to customers exact needs really quickly.

like john said they have lathes and stuff to make up new dies to different patterns, and can have a new shaped roller designed, made up and a run of stock in the new profile delivered within 48 hours!! thats quite amazing! they are very wisely getting into the "pure iron" which is like 0.0014 percent carbon or something (numbers not my strong point..) which they sell alot of on the continent, and are hoping to build the market here with the heritage smiths etc.

i totally got a buzz off their enthusiasm, they were great and the fact that their staff had been with them for years was testimony to that. ive been given a sample of the pure iron - ive never tried it or 'wrought iron' so i will report back and tell you how good it is. thanks very much for organising the tour john - it was great although i do get kind of heartbroken when i think of how wolves and surrounding area was the heart of british heavy engineering industry etc once and there is so little left now. so sad. hopefully these guys will come through and can continue to compete with foreign imports due to their adaptibility and fantastic customer service and retain a slice of what used to be everywhere in this area. legg bros - thankyou - a total pleasure!! :)

[mat]

when up against china's manufacturing might only cottage industries can compete,hey is the industrial revolution re-starting in the black country.i was born in manchester and yes its so sad to see a post industrial landscape sad sad sad.

[CurlyGeorge]

Very interesting post. Thanks John and Beth for your input. Is the pure iron anything close to wrought iron? That would be great to have a manufacturer/supplier in the area. :)

[Fosterob]

I bought a few pieces of pure iron bar from Wagner, they are part of JG Braun. This was a few years ago and I don't think they carry it anymore. They are in USA on the east coast. Maybe if there was enough interest they may bring it back?
Rob

[beth]

curly george - yes the pure iron is meant to be very near to the wrought iron... will let you know!

[John B]

Very interesting post. Thanks John and Beth for your input. Is the pure iron anything close to wrought iron? That would be great to have a manufacturer/supplier in the area.

Pure iron is the accepted alternative for wrought iron in the heritage restoration field and is the nearest material to wrought iron being commercially produced today.

Costwise they are very competitive on prices judging by some of our Guild members who have been purchasing this material from various sources and would have made considerable savings if they had purchased from this company.

They do export worldwide, and I am sure if you cantacted them via their website they would be helpful and guide you in the direction of where they may have agents you can source their products from.

[CurlyGeorge]

Beth and John, thank you for the replies. Beth, please do post how well it works. That would be much appreciated. John, I'll be checking out their web site to see if they have any agents state side.

[ThomasPowers]

Of course it totally lacks the ferrous silicates that give aged wrought iron it's character.

It works possibly easier than WI; but the forge welds are as easy in my experience as real WI.