Hello everyone

[Daswulf]

Search "spark test" online. There are charts to see how certain metals spark. It is handy to get an idea of what mystery metals are. 

Wrought Iron isn't too common to find.  

[George N. M.]

To expand on Das' good suggestion:  A "spark test" is where you put a piece of steel against a grinding wheel and observe the sparks it makes.  The color of the sparks and how the secondary and tertieary sparks (the little "sky rocket" bursts) are pretty diagnostic to determine the type of metal and the carbon content.  Generally, the more sparks and more bursts the higher the carbon content.  With a little practice you can get pretty good at knowing approximately what kind of steel you have.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[Coltsauer PA]

I’ve ground a fair amount of steel and never noticed. 

[Daswulf]

Thanks for expanding on that George.

[Goods]

I recently ran across an automotive-quality standard for spark testing of steel. I was very surprised that it existed and also how many details were included. Length of spark, color of line, burst shape, burst quantity, branch quantity, arrow shaped termination (can’t remember exact term used), and others I can’t remember right now. They were distinguishing carbon steel grade, tool steels and stainless steels, by carbon, nickel, chrome, molybdenum, tungsten and vanadium content. I would like to get a copy of that standard for myself! (Of course, they recommend having sets of known steels, the same way we do here.)

On the wrought iron note, here are some pics:

surface corrosion showing grain:

break test showing “green stick” break:

Example of wrought iron body hammer with a steel face:

Note, in the two pictures of the wrought iron, the bar is of very coarse wrought iron that was in the ground for at least 60 years on my property. I just wire wheeled the rust off for a better view.

Keep it fun,

David

[Coltsauer PA]

Very cool. Thanks for the pics. I never thought of metal having a grain 

Does the grain affect the way you shape the wrought iron or doe the heat make not a factor? Does steel have a grain to it?

[Goods]

Wrought iron is not like “modern” steel. When we a talking about grain size is in modern steel we are taking about the actual crystalline grain structure. In wrought iron the grain comes from how it is “hammered” out of a “bloom.”  The grain comes from the impurities (mostly silicates?) that get trapped in the iron (very low carbon content, so maybe not actually steel). As the wrought iron is draw out folded, welded and drawn, over and over, some of the impurities are forced out, but what left is draw out in a grain like structure. (There are probably plenty of errors, that others will hopefully correct, with this description, but it should get the idea across.)

Yes, the grain of wrought iron affects how you forge with it. It needs to be worked at very high temperature to help prevent splitting along the grain and cracking across the grain. I have not done a lot of work with wrought iron, so maybe Thomas, Jennifer, or others could jump in and give better information.

David

[George N. M.]

To add:  The grsin in steel is pretty much the same in all directions, like the broken edge of a piece or sandstone or concrete.  The grains can be distorted and reformed by heat and pressure (forging) and even converted from one type of crystal structure to another but steel is pretty much unidirectional unlike wrought iron.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Here is a pretty good discussion on wrought iron.

https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/21734-grades-of-wrought-iron/

[ThomasPowers]

Up until the mid 1850's and the rise of the Bessemer/Kelly process the smith only worked wrought iron and cast steel  after the Huntsman process was discovered.  So depending on WHERE you are at there may be a lot of it left around or almost none.  It definitely has different properties going with and across the rolling direction. So much so that when forming wrought iron sheets they sometimes rolled it in two directions 90 deg to each other to get it more uniform in properties like yield strength.  Bi directionally rolled wrought iron has a platy tear when broken rather than a fibrous one.  (I have some from the water tower tank of the old Prison in Columbus OH, installed in 1929.)

[Coltsauer PA]

I wasn’t able to get pics of my kit this weekend. We ended up canning beans and helping a friend with his mom’s and stepdad’s estate 

[Frosty]

Yeah, life has a way of getting in the way of plans. We'll be looking forward to seeing your setup.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Coltsauer PA]

I took some pictures of my kit. The shop is a mess but there it is. I can’t find a name on the blower or the anvil. The anvil is 125 pounds and cast steel I think. There’s no name or numbers that I can find. Maybe if I run a wire wheel over it. 
The 2 bigger hammers on the left half of the tongs were my great-grandpa’s. The tongs, blower, and forge ( not pictured) I got from an older gentleman for $100. They had come from his family farm but he never did much with them

[George N. M.]

It looks like you have a good set up and suite of tools to start getting iron hot and hitting it.

A couple of comments:  1) the anvil may have a cast steel or cast iron body but has a nice thick tool steel face which has delaminated and broken off on the heel.

2) I don't see and oil port on the top of the blower gear box.  Assuming it turns freely and should windmill a couple turns after releasing it while crnaking you need to figure out how to lubricate the gears and keep them lubricated.  Some brnads are designed to be in an oil bath in the bottom part of the gear case.  Automatic transmission fluid works pretty well.

3)  It's hard to tell but if the bottom of the post of the post vise is floating above the floor it should be placed into something solid like a block of wood.  The whole point of a post vise is to transmit impact forces down the post to the earth rather than into whatever it is mounted on.  If you don't have that you just have a species of bench vise. (Although, tht is a solid looking bench).

4) What does your forge look like and if you don't have one what are you planning?

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[Coltsauer PA]

1. Is the anvil useable/ could I weld a piece of plate to it?

2. The blower does spin nicely and it will windmill. I will look for an oil port. 

3. The vise came with the house mounted like that. I think I’m going to mount it to be free standing so I can walk all the way around it. 

4. The forge is still buried in the corner. It is an old steel farm implement wheel with a cut out drum for a shroud. I need to make a stand for it. Its about 30” in diameter 

[Daswulf]

The anvil will work fine with no modification. Just wire wheel it if you want. Hammering hot metal on the face will shine it up. That section missing isn't a big deal, you can work around it. 

[ThomasPowers]

Welding a plate on that anvil will make it un/less-usable if that is what you are trying to do!  Does it ring. TING, if tapped with a hammer or does it go thwap?

If that is a metal leg behind the post vise leg you could weld a piece of heavy angle iron to make a holder for the foot of your post vise.  Post vises are often mounted low so you can hammer down on them when forging, You would need to be TALL to need to space one up.  I actually have a wooden platform I can put near one of my large vises so I can get a good hammer swing on work in it's jaws.

[Coltsauer PA]

It does ring so I will just make a stand and start using it. 
I think I’m going to mount the post vice to a piece of I-beam that I have. Then I would be able to work all the way around it. The man we bought the house from had it mounted that way and just used it as a vice to do some woodwork. 
Thanks everyone for the advice. More is appreciated