Hi Folks,

I thought that I would get your input on Sources for wrought Iron. I am refering to places to acquire quality WI. I have some old Wagon tires but they are of low quality. Quality WI might be cost and/or shipping prohibitive but I want to see what is out there.

Thanks,
DanL

You can buy it new from England but you'll have to decide if it's worth it. :shock:

Some wagon rims are good material - I have a few. Another source is old bridges - look for those that may be torn down in the future and keep your eye on them. A lot of old farm machinery from the 30's is also mixed WI and steel so a farm junk yard is an option, too.

we use wrought iron all re worked out of heavy studed chain, anchors ,old rail waggon axles, and old boat ironwork, i weld it up and then draw it down to 2 ins or so sq ,as stock then forge it down to suit the job.

all the wrought iron in the uk on the market is re worked ,a small amount was puddled at Ironbridge ,but at the presnt they have been re working old stuff

heavy chain is the best bet as the iron that went into it was a selected iron , the chain welded at the end of the link is the older way of making heavy chain and can be charcoal iron , later on the chain was welded at the side ,when working it up split it at the weld

i have worked up iron most of the winter to be used to cramp masonry for restoration of a historic dock and to make all the mooring rings, and the rest of the iron work, all the job has to be wrought iron ,there is a lot more of it about than you think ,when you realy start to look for it

Some of the real old silos have wrought iron support bands around them / most that I have seen are 3/4 or 1" round stock.

Bruce,

What is the advantage/disadvantage of placing a link weld on the end or the side? An old smith demostrated his idea with an elastic band (aka a "lacka") stretched between the fingers. It failed along the side, leaving him still holding the the lacka in his fingers?

Strine link welding,the weld on heavy cable chain was changed to the side ,to simplify the work ,the bar end was cut at a angle and bent to a link shape on a bender,the angle cut ends formed a scarph down the side of the link the link was then splayed to let the welded links to link on , all this work was done on a power bender, the smiths then receved a overall red hot link to thred onto the chain and close the splay to get the scaphs to meet and then got it into there welding fire, the job was then got onto the anvil swage and with a top swage the weld was closed ,this method let more of the work get done with power than welding at the end

So what you are saying Bruce, is that it is not a strength thing but more an efficiency thing? But If I couldn't give a rat's about efficiency and prefer the strongest method where would I put the weld in small stuff (< 3/4 inch).

And another bone of contention should the finished link (small) have a constant crosssection throughout ie the weld is swaged down to the original diameter. Most have I have seen have a sort of peak at the weld but doing that cost me a bottle of plonk in a competition :? .

Modern chain links are induction welded (I think that's the right term) so you see the little lump where the two surfaces meet and the excess flowed out to the sides. I think Bruce is saying that welding by hand is also easier on the side because the swage can be used under the power hammer.

I've heard that the weld on the end is supposedly stronger because in order to fail, the link must be bent and the weld broken, whereas on the side welded link, the weld is in direct line of pull. From a practical standpoint, the link will probably stretch first and either one will fail about the same time.

the chain cable i am speaking about is 3 ins section and above so all the power help you can get is welcome,

Folks,

Thanks for the info.

Dan L.
You can buy wrought iron from one of the Saltfork Craftsmen ABA members here in Oklahoma. If you are interested drop me a note. You can get my e-mail address from the ABANA / Affiliates site at Saltfork Craftsmen ABA or through FrontierShop.com. Jim Carothers