Landon,

Wrought iron was made in several "grades". Some was course and some was finer in consistency. You will probably have to cut into it to know what you have. Work it hotter than steel by a couple hundred degrees. Don't try to work it out on the ends unless it is in the high range of heat or it will split. If it sparkles a little, it is still good. Iron will stand heat better although you can burn it up. If it starts splitting, you might try this: heat it really hot and hammer it into a square and twist it, then hammer it to what you want. This seems to mechanically tie the strands together and it's more likely to hold together. If you go back and etch it, it will show the twist. Just work it hot and it will work.

Hello Lin, Thanks for the tip on forging it square then twisting it, I never would have thought of that. I had a hunch I would need to go hotter with it but just wasnt shure. Does it have any quirks about how thin it will forge out? Or should I leave some extra to grind away, other than just to clean it up. Also how can you tell if it is one of the better grades? Thanks Landon

Better might be a relative term.

I got some incredibly refined solid heavy wrought iron rims from old wood spoked wagon wheels, but it hardly shows any activity when etched like the courser wrought does. As far as knife hardware goes, if you're looking to etch out some fun grain-like textures you might actually prefer courser "cruder" wrought.

On the other hand if you're making something like a hatchet or tomahawk or draw knife where the wrought will provide the bulk of the body with a forged in piece of high carbon steel for the edge you might prefer the more refined wrought.

I've got some pretty gnarly wagon wheel rim I got from a guy in CA. It actually etches with some kind of coppery like residue on the exterior (not from having etched copper in the ferric chloride previously) and I was told it might be from whatever was included in the original process. I've heard previously that in general, wrought anchor chain was the more refined stuff with less "activity" when etched. Other than that, I think your can probably find wagon rim that is pretty rough stuff all the way up to more refined. Good luck and be sure to post what you come up with-I love the looks of some good wrought <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />.

Jeremy

The only way to know is to etch it. I have used some wrought for fittings and did not like the voids that is in it so I started twisting them to squeeze some of that crud out and tighten it up. When I find some finer stuff, I like it better. That is just a matter of taste.

One interesting point about working it hot I learned from a great blacksmith. When it still has a lot of voids, it probably still has flux from when it was made and might spatter. Probably sand or glass. The more refined it is, the less likely it will spatter but the more likely you will need to flux it to get a weld to stick.

Thank you Lin, Phil, and Jeremy. Well its off to the shop to see what I can do with it. Thanks again Landon

Well I cut the piece and etched it, had several voids. But I went ahead and forged it square and twisted it like Lin suggested. After grinding and re etching it still showed several voids. Not the look im wanting, now im going to look for some more refined wrought. Landon

Twisted wrought iron with SOME voids has a lot of character.

A fella just might need to play with it a little to find just how much to close it up.

Well done Karl!

How does one know for sure that what they have is actually wrought iron?

Karl, WOW those are really nice. The piece I was using had some larger voids, could these be closed up by twisting more or or just thru forging it down more?

Yes.

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Karl, WOW those are really nice. The piece I was using had some larger voids, could these be closed up by twisting more or or just thru forging it down more?

Jared,

Wrought iron has a character unlike modern steels. It is actually made up of strands or pieces of iron bundled into the stock. You can sometimes see the individual strands if the bar is rusted, but to be sure you can cut into a piece and break it over and see the strands as they pull apart. Similar to the way wood fibers are revealed when you cut into a green sapling and then break it open. Once you have determines that is in fact iron, you can make the parts, then etch it to get the differing colors and looks.

The character of the iron of being bundled strands also affected the way the blacksmith forged. He had to design things with this character in mind so as not to have it split or tear in critical stress points. This might sound like a weakness of the material but not so. It's similar to turning the grain of lumber in the right direction so it is stronger. Once the blacksmith got that figured out, he could make hardware that would last a hundred years or even longer.

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How does one know for sure that what they have is actually wrought iron?

If you cut part way through a piece of wrought iron and then bend it the rest of the way to break it, it will reveal fiber-like stands that tear apart rather than just the clean bending and or cracking regular steel will do. A Google image search on "wrought iron cut test" will turn up some photos showing it. Or take a look at the one on this page, oldglobewood.com/real-wrought-iron.html.