PUDDLED IRON Wrought iron is the old material of the blacksmith. It resists corrosion far better than modern steel as is amply shown by the survival of much of our heritage of wrought ironwork, in many cases, centuries old.
The Real Wrought Iron Company are able to offer genuine wrought iron rolled into all sizes of square, round and flat bars from stock or to your requirements. We specialise in production of iron for the purposes of restoration and can match any existing section. We also make sheet iron for cold repousee work and armour etc. and manufacture special mouldings in wrought iron.
Wrought iron owes its rust proof properties to its fibrous nature. In modern terms, the refining of iron is a crude process, and results in the inclusion of non~corrodible slags in the structure of the metal. These slags, and the softness of the material when hot, led to an ease of working by hand which gave rise to a great art form. Wrought Ironwork
CHARCOAL IRON Before the dawn of the industrial age, the metal of the blacksmith was wrought iron, made and refined in charcoal fires. The iron combined with the elements of the fire to make an individual material whose properties have never been equalled for ornamental ironwork The great wrought ironwork of the eighteenth century was done in such metal, and very many examples exist today. For example the Screens at Hampton Court by Jean Tijou, the work of Thomas Bakewell and the Davies Brothers' gates at Chirk Castle, to name a few.
The close of the eighteenth century brought mass -produced puddled irons. Made in a coal-fired furnace, remote from the fire itself. Puddled iron is the typical engineering material of the nineteenth century, works well hot and resists corrosion. It has, however restrictions for cold working, particularly in sheet form.
Charcoal iron can withstand corrosion for hundreds of years. Traditional ironwork is not easy to maintain. Elements of design are frequently difficult or even impossible to paint. This applies particularly to leafwork and repousee especially where elements are back to back or three-dimensional. The only material to use for replacements during conservation is one that is intrinsically proof against corrosion.
Charcoal iron sheet is soft and malleable, when annealed, so that a good depth of cold working, and sharp detail is possible without cracking It is softer and more pleasant to work than mild steel, and responds well to both lead block and pitch block repousee techniques.
Charcoal iron sheet has a smooth surface, largely free of scale, and responds well-to planishing and abrasive polishing) making it ideal for the accurate replication of armour and weaponry.
The Real Wrought Iron Company have lately begun the recycling of old charcoal iron and have pleasure in making it available once again. Sheet is available in standard rolled thicknesses, forged to your specified gauge, or in billet form for your own reduction.
MILD STEEL Alloy of iron and carbon. Discovered in 1856 in an attempt to mass-produce wrought iron. Made by melting of cast iron and removal of carbon and slag. Small residual carbon content Cast into ingots and rolled into all sections. Cheaper than puddled iron after 1876. Higher strength and better consistency. Poor resistance to corrosion.
WROUGHT IRON
HISTORY Wrought iron has been used in building from the earliest days of civilisation, wrought iron door furniture being commonplace in Roman times. The structural use or iron dates from the Middle Ages, when bars of wrought iron would be used occasionally to tie masonry arches and domes. This use of wrought iron in tension guaranteed its use throughout the ascendancy of cast iron in the canal and railway ages, as cast iron is strong only in compression. The ill fated first Tay Bridge was of cast iron beams tied with wrought iron. The demand for higher dynamic loads in bridges and warehouse buildings, and the ever greater spans of train sheds towards the end of the nineteenth century, led the designers of buildings to acquire the technology developed to build ships of iron, and create beams of riveted wrought iron rolled sections. By the turn of the century this had led to buildings completely framed in wrought iron, and later steel, girder sections, and cast iron was once again relegated to an ornamental role.
Our main concern with wrought iron, however, will be in its application to gates and railings, frequently given an ornamental treatment by the blacksmith. There are wrought iron railings in Westminster Abbey from the thirteenth century, which, in essence display all the characteristics which we have come to know as ~ 'wrought ironwork', although lacking modern refinements such as symmetry and sweetness of line, but the great age of British ironwork, known as the English style began at the end of the seventeenth century. A French fashion for the Baroque style in gates and railings, swept the country houses of Britain, following the import of craftsman by William and Mary, and the greater part of our national stock of good ironwork dates from the early years of the eighteenth century. After the rise of cast iron as an ornamental medium, wrought iron tended often to take a secondary role, owing to its comparative expense, each piece being made by hand, while castings could be repeated ad infinitum, once the patterns were made. Technically, however, the craftsmen of the age of machines, excelled their forebears, as indeed they must while making mechanical components, so that the ornamental blacksmith work of the nineteenth century displays a perfection of manufacture not seen before nor since
After the introduction of mild steel, cheap because of its ability to be mass produced, wrought iron, and the craft skills associated with it, gradually disappeared in accordance with the general decline of craft standards in the twentieth century, until the last ironworks ceased production in 1974. From 1982 Chris Topp & Co. and later The Real Wrought Iron Company, have made available a limited supply of puddled wrought iron, derived from scrap metal. The subsequent years have brought a steadily increasing demand, as the blacksmiths of Britain have slowly taken up again the ancient skills.
IDENTIFICATION Wrought iron is unlike cast, in that it is not brittle, and seldom breaks. For this reason, wrought ironwork is frequently far more delicate, although years of paint can obscure this. Cast iron is most frequently identified by its repetitive nature, and forms, which could be carved in a wooden pattern, but not made by hammer and anvil.
Telling wrought iron from mild steel is often more difficult, as both will bend, and not break Frequently, however, work in mild steel is readily identified by the lower standards of workmanship often used. Look for evidence of electric welding Also mild steel is often given away by more active corrosion, which tends to run out of the joints in a steel gate, and stain the paintwork, where this is seldom the case with wrought iron. Wrought iron may also be dated, approximately by its texture. Until the very end of the eighteenth century, sections of wrought iron were derived by forging of billets by hand or water power, this resulted in a more or less uneven surface texture, and very sharp corners. A foreshortened view of a bar displays well the irregularities of the surface. Rolled bars, on the other hand, produced from the beginning of the nineteenth century, are perfectly smooth, and the corners can display a small radius. Nineteenth century wrought iron is known as 'puddled iron'.
ALTERNATIVES The modern replacement for wrought iron is mild steel. Many metalworkers are perfectly content to use this much cheaper metal both for new work and the refurbishment of old. I would like to suggest the reasons why this is not acceptable, while wrought iron is yet available. 1. The weathering properties of wrought iron are well known. While it does of course rust in time; with reasonable maintenance this can indeed by a very long time. The fact that so much ornamental work survives from three hundred years ago says a lot for the material. On the other hand, steel is well known for its corrodability, and the intricate forms and water traps of 'wrought ironwork', only encourage corrosion. Hence it is normal practice to coat steelwork with zinc, which does indeed delay corrosion, but neither galvanising nor zinc spraying can effectively be applied to complex forms.
2. Modern conservation practice insists on the replacement of materials with like materials. When wrought iron is available for the repair and replication of wrought ironwork, why use mild steel?
3.The craft of the ornamental blacksmith, as previously practised to a high degree of skill was virtually eradicated by the shift to mild steel, with its ready application to 'high tech' techniques such as electric welding. As mentioned above, some of the blacksmiths are learning again the old skills. Only by use of the traditional methods and materials can work of an appropriate standard by produced.
SPECIFICATION There is a wide disparity in cost between the cheapest of work, and the best. Without a sufficiently tight specification, work acquired on a competitive basis will tend towards the lower order. There is a need for a standard form of words which can be use to specify ironwork of the highest order. Definition of the materials is a good start, for example 'puddled wrought iron' rather than just 'wrought iron', which is often misinterpreted. Mention of specific techniques is important, 'all welding to done in the fire" is often used, or less positively, 'no use of electric welding'. Assurance of quality, however, can only be guaranteed by examination of the track record of the workman, or from the submission of samples. (for more detailed specification see A recent specification...)
MAINTENANCE Ironwork is commonly supposed to be nearly free of maintenance. Unlike wood work which is religiously subjected to a stern regime of regular painting, ironwork is frequently left to rust undisturbed for long periods, so much so that the only attention that much even important ironwork receives, is periodic major overhaul, at great expense. This could be avoided by frequent small attention. Insistence on frequent inspection would be of benefit, perhaps once a year, with immediate, and usually trivial remedial work to arrest any developing problems.
FUTURE SUPPLIES At present, supplies of puddled iron are derived from old material of large size, which can be rolled directly into bar form. Although, to date, such raw material has been available, we are installing the plant required to process general wrought iron scrap, which by a forge welding process produces an iron of high quality. As there are nearly limitless supplies of such scrap, the future of wrought iron seems secure.
