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I Forge Iron

Wagon wheel rim


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I spotted one on the local Craiglist for $40 and will pick it up today. If it is wrought as the poster says it is, I will be a happy guy. Been looking for some wrought for a long time. Size is 44 by 1 7/8.


That's a high price around here! Most all of them are wrought iron IME... they do tend to be lower quality wrought though. There's literally TONS of that stuff floating around at old farm sales antique shops and flea markets. Hard to believe that you'd have to look far for it.
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I think my weirdest find of one was in old town Columbus OH were a local florist had one in their window display about a block and a half from my house. They had it there for years and one day as I glanced down the alley from my back yard I see a curved object in their dumpster---yup they just threw it away...

Old fence rows in farming country can be productive as can scrap yards out there too. (Sometimes you can find them with a tree grown around them.)

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You'll never buy that much wrought of a dealer for $40..A big wagon rim is a lot of wrought..No wrought to be found around here..Not many wagons were used here in the mountains..They all used sleds because of the rough terrain and using creek beds for roads..

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*any* ironwork from the proper period will be wrought iron. I've seen oil piping from PA, plow parts in OH, WI railroad spikes in VA, lots of WI mine stuff from MI, the old water tower tank in OH, repair bracing in NM. (and there is that fellow sho's been selling WI from a bridge at Quad-State for years at US$1 a pound.)

It's there in KY too!

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Theres not much left here from that time period anymore..Scrap has been up for a while and theres practically no scrap of any kind. Folks around here hang on to their old farm machinery as heirlooms...Ive found a little bit here and there but normal sources of wrought arnt available for the most part..
We buy it it when we find it reasonable..Its no big deal because we sell everything we make with it..One good hawk made from wrought pays for a lot of material..

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I've had good luck finding it near old RR river crossings buried in the bottom of the river. Exposed stuff does disappear pretty fast in places. I was amazed at how "steel poor" NM was, even the illegal dumpsites don't have any of the stuff that was common back in OH!

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Well I picked up my wrought iron "tyre," and while I haven't spark tested it yet I am confident I got some good stuff at probably a little less than $1 a pound. The wheel is pretty thick -- close to 5/8 inch I would say. Enough material to keep me mashing it for years.

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GAAAAA! My wife spots my wrought iron rim, declares the thing incomparably beautiful and says she wants to decorate with it!

Make her one or two out of mild steel flat bar, wrap around your good one and weld the ends together. everyone is happy :D
Rob
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