Guest DanielT Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I hear people talking about wrought iron and it being hard to find since it hasn't been made in the US for around 60 years. Would it be possible to make your own wrought iron? or for a small group to make a larger amount for the blacksmithing community? How is it even made vs. how current steel is made? Or is it just too cost prohibitive to even think about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Check out iron.wlu.edu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Check out iron.wlu.edu. We have iron makers here at IFI. If all you want is wrought iron to use, making your own probably isn't really economical -- at least if you value your time at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Einhorn Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 It is expected that the Blacksmith Guild of Central Maryland will have an iron smelt of wrought iron at their annual blacksmithing event if you would like to attend: - http://www.bgcmonline.org/docs/bsd11.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 I was part of a historical iron smelting team for over ten years using Y1K technology. It was a lot of fun and toward the end we were getting 15 pound blooms on a regular basis---not too bad for a human powered system! If you broke it down into man hours per pound the cost was pretty *high*! Not a great market for real wrought iron; few people use it in any but small amounts and the scrap stream is still fairly wide at this point. I plan to do a Y1K smelt this spring myself out here in NM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ric Furrer Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Daniel, There is a this company: http://www.oldglobewood.com/real-wrought-iron-rods.html I have not worked any of the material yet...have a small sample here BUT if they have 500,000 pounds available...I see little need for you to make any for the general smithing population. I would encourage you to give it a try for your own work though...as a learning experience. Ric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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