wrought iron bottle opener

[ausfire]

I have many failed attempts as forging a wrought iron bottle opener. Sometimes I barely get past the first punching before the iron splits and cracks, even at sparky heat.

Today I finally managed to get a bottle opener to completion that actually works. Made from a 7/8" bar, it's scruffy at best, and you can see where it almost gave way in the loop. But it's as close as I can get. I really want to forge a good one for two reasons: I've come to like the rough, laminated, wood grain lustre of the wrought, and secondly, I have truck loads of the stuff.

Any ideas on how to forge a better looking loop? (Using side blast charcoal forge)

[DSW]

I'm thinking the issue has to do with the direction of the "grain" running. I'm wondering if instead of punching/drifting, if you did a wrap and weld, then opened up the "loop". That way the grain is always wraping the loop rather than being cut by it.

[ThomasPowers]

What DSW said.   Practical Blacksmithing by Richardson written in the wrought iron transition era has several threads on how to avoid punching and drifting wrought iron and as DSW mentions welding is a common method of making a hole in WI.  Besides which a good weld could be a decorative feature---perhaps not dressing it to be invisible but leaving it proud?

[Forging Carver]

Well I know cracks can be a pain, but I kind of like the way that opener looks. The cracks give a bit of character to the opener. I have a book that tells what DSW and ThomasPowers said that it has to do with the grain. Where do you go about getting wrought iron anyways? Do you have to salvage it from old fences and gates? Thanks

[ThomasPowers]

Where to find Wrought Iron?   Everywhere too vague?  The important thing to remember is that wrought iron was used everywhere mild steel/A36 is used today but 150 years ago. (though it was the great depression that really marked the changeover that started with the invention of the Bessemer/Kelly process in the 1850's)

In New Jersey: demolition of old structures, old farm equipment, old bridge pieces dropped in the water when a new bridge was put in, ship iron along the coasts.

Out here the crudest varieties are often found in wagon tyres and the finer varieties used as tension members in all sorts of structures. (Old wooden rail cars, mending bars for a cracked cistern, etc)

[ausfire]

2 hours ago, Forging Carver said:

Well I know cracks can be a pain, but I kind of like the way that opener looks. The cracks give a bit of character to the opener. I have a book that tells what DSW and ThomasPowers said that it has to do with the grain. Where do you go about getting wrought iron anyways? Do you have to salvage it from old fences and gates? Thanks

Well yes, they don't make wrought anymore, so it has to be salvaged. I live in a tin mining area and the old timers would use long wrought iron bolts in the shafts and on mining machinery. It's also common in old farm machinery. There is lots of it lying around here, but I can imagine it's hard to find in some places.

And yes, it could be that the cracks occur in the direction of the 'wood grain'. Will study the 'wrap and weld' technique, but not sure I have the matching skills at this stage.

[Forging Carver]

Ah man it is gonna be tough to find some wrought iron for me then. It must be difficult to tell which steel is wrought iron if on the go becuase it looks like regular steel, no? You can't bring a grinder with you everywhere to spark test it. I live in NJ so I am trying to think what wrought iron might be here. Thanks for the help

[ThomasPowers]

in general you tell the coarser grades by the linear patterns in the rust.  New Jersey is a much richer source of wrought iron that way out here as it was much more heavily settled back in those days than here in New Mexico.

[ausfire]

I have never spark tested it, but just look for the woodgrain effect. Like on this old piece off a buggy::

 

[arkie]

That looks like wrought for sure.  Do you have a spare piece that is say, 1/2" round or square.  Cut across one end about halfway, bend it back over in your vise and, if wrought, you'll see the fiber structure.  If it's modern steel, you'll see a crystalline structure.

[Forging Carver]

ok thanks. Besides old fences and gates, where might I find wrought iron here in NJ that I can go and know that I would have a good chance at getting some? I know that ausfire said he looks in mines for his, but I don't got mines near me. I know what it looks like, but now it is a matter of narrowing down to places where I can search for it. Thanks

[DSW]

In a city or town, old buildings being demo'd. You can often find WI bars being used in old warehouse or factory buildings made up out of old timbers. In some cases they are the bolts used to hold timbers together, in others they may be tension bars for trusses. In some old brick homes you might find them as tension bars helping to hold the faces on. Those usually have those big iron stars or washers showing where the bolts pass thru the face.

 

In the country, old farm equipment or fences, old industrial buildings like feed mills, old bridges or docks being retrofitted.

On occasion I've spotted some that has been grabbed by scrap guys who drive around on trash day and pick up stuff. You just have to recognize what you are looking at.

[Forging Carver]

Alright thanks. Looking for this stuff still seems complex and I am thinking if it really pays off. I am thinking that old farm equipment can be found in antique shops and we usually go to them often, so I think that will be my best chance. I am going to is thing tommorow with my dad where they sell old antiques, so I will have an eye out. Thanks for the help.

[DSW]

Antique shops often charge a premium on things, but not always. I used to have a really good "antique" shop I would visit that had some pretty good deals on occasion. Stuff that looked "old" often went for premium money, but many times you could find hidden bargains if you knew what you were looking at.

A good place to look for old farm equipment is in the weeds and hedge rows along farm fields. Farmers used to simply park old stuff off the field and it would get over grown. A good place to look is farms that are being developed for new homes. I've found old farm gear buried in the weeds around many of them. Most times that stuff just gets buried or hauled off as trash/scrap. In some cases even years after the lots were all sold, I've found stuff they left as they left in a "barrier" of scrub between the development and what ever was next door. I'll bet even 10-15 years later I can still go back and probably find that same stuff rusting away where I saw it back then. Driving around I'm always looking at what might be sticking out of old hedge rows on farms. If you see something large like  tractor, chances are there's other stuff hiding in there as well.

Old farmers used to save everything as back then materials were expensive, and labor was cheap. You never knew when something might be useful to fix something else. I went and helped the family who runs the 4-H archery program help clean up their old farm after her father died. They pulled out trailer loads of all sorts of old "junk". The old equipment they offered mostly to the guys in the tractor club who could make use of it. I was there looking for any WI bars or rods I could lay claim to before it went to the scrap yard. I didn't find much they wanted to get rid of at the time, but I now have an "in" with them. Hopefully I'll manage to talk them out of some of the stuff they saved, or work a deal where I can get some in exchange for forging up some replacement hinges latches etc as they renovate some of the older buildings.

 

[Bud in PA]

North Jersey is full of old iron mines. I lived in Stanhope for a while and there was an old mine across the street from my house, it was listed in my deed. A lot of the mines were just holes in the ground.  On occasion while out hunting I would come across an old hole and find pieces of "iron" near them sticking out of the ground. There were the old abandon farms, which were just some cellar holes with some rock walls . Just be careful of the snakes, Timber Rattlers and Copperheads.

[ausfire]

FC, if your search is not successful, PM me with your address and I will send you a section of wrought iron 5/8" bolt to play with.

[Forging Carver]

Alright hanks for the help everyone. And thank you Ausfire, I will let you know after I look around a bit.

[Alan Evans]

As far as working the bottle opener and preventing the cracks...

You could either work two at a time (head to head) so the strain was less likely to cause any delamination or punch burst out when you punch the holes...maybe even punching the holes at right angles to one another so that the pressure was not trying to cause the fibres to part in the same plane, then cut them apart after punching.

The normal way though when working  wrought iron is to take a welding heat before you start and consolidate the end grain where it has been cut...this was "usual  practise" when the main cutting system was a hot chisel or hot or cold set.

Of course wrought-iron comes in many different qualities so maybe try some other sources. I seem to remember that the best was "triple crown" which had gone through the shingling hammer and rollers three times cutting and stacking the short lengths into a lump which was then fire welded together and which meant that any hot short/sulphur inclusions were only on one of the fibres, and surrounded by sound metal.

You don't want to work it sparkly, but white hot is good.  (hot as you can get without sparkles)

Alan

[ausfire]

Alan, thanks for your comments.

The head to head method, working from the centre of the bar sounds feasible. It would certainly help prevent the breakout on the top side of the hole. Might take some practice!

I'm not sure about the quality of the wrought. The old rail spikes seem to have finer laminations than the big 3/4 bolts.

Anyway, I'll keep trying - white hot but not sparkly. That's a very fine line!

[Alan Evans]

If either of the above methods don't solve the problems....As you know the easiest fire weld to do is a chain link, the scarfs hold themselves in place so all you have to do is get the temperature correct and tap it together. You might consider making this style of ring ended bottle openers, by splitting the end of the bar and forming a ring on the end by fire welding in the same way as you would scarf and weld a chain link. If you are looking for  a lump in the middle to act as a hook on the bottle cap you could split the bar into three. Cut the centre leg short, and form the outer two legs into the ring and weld together.

Alan