[TheForge] Burning Metal

Sun Nov 2 23:29:00 2003

Burning steel is oxidizing. Thus producing iron oxides and the like from 
iron and the available oxy. There is an intermediate state where the 
steel is "burned" in a blacksmithing  sense; where  all sembalence of 
the grain structure is destroyed and   a froth of oxydized iron is a 
large % of the remaining bulk. Or at least that how it looks to 
me...Sorta looks like it boils and becomes toast.
If you heat a piece of steel up to red and put it in a pure oxy 
atmosphere, It'll burn like a piece of wood in southern 
California.....Pete F

[email protected] wrote:

> Both.   High carbon steel at elevated temps will start to give up its 
> carbon, so the outer layer will not be steel, just plain iron.  If you 
> keep it in too long and too hot, the outer layer will become molten 
> and will pick up all sorts of impurities as well.  Exposure to O2 in 
> the forge cause scaling as well.
>
> Charles
>
> DillonCo wrote:
>
>>> People also say that you have
>>> "burned" the steel, when a highcarbon pice of steel has been left in 
>>> the
>>> fire too long or a too high of a heat.  It isn't really burned in the
>>> normal sense, but the heat has driven the useful and desirable 
>>> qualities
>>> from the steel.
>>>   
>>
>>
>> This is also what I was wondering about.  How are the useful properties
>> driven from it?  Is the carbon buring or iron oxide forming?
>>
>>
>>
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