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I Forge Iron

Why I love wrought iron


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So this is 2.25 inch diameter wrought anchor chain. Three heats hand hammer to get to square. A mild steel bar hardly looks like I hit it after three heats. I am using a heavy hammer but one hand no striker. 

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It’s going to be a bigger welded face Viking hammer. The piece weighs about 3.5 pounds now. Going to use 1/2 inch thick face.  I tried to forge an axle once about the same size probably 4140. It laughed at me!  This stuff is sooo soft when it’s white. 

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Anchor chain is high grade WI too; some of the wagon tyre WI is nearly muck bar---prettier when etched but it can be really "jucy" under the hammer---looking for microspheres of slag in the soil is used to identify places that were smithies centuries ago!

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  • 1 month later...

And the fact that it is much easier to forge weld than mild steel. Have to get used to working at higher heat, and there are different grades. Some strings apart like spaghetti and you have to continually weld up loose ends as you forge.

Pictured is a gun barrel for flintlock rifle welded up from double layer of buggy tire. This iron wanted to weld and the two pieces would stick together in the fire while heating 

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