[TheForge] Fwd: bog iron/pig iron to wrought iron

[Bruce Freeman]

Dan,

Did something similar at Peters Valley some months
ago.
By the fact that it was hammerable, it wasn't cast
iron.  So from the carbon-content end of things, it's
either wrought iron or steel.  A spark test will
distinguish the two, but be aware it could be wrought
iron on the inside and steel on the outside (by carbon
absorption).  

I think what you're really asking is about refining. 
Additional hammering will consolidate the bloom and
drive out excess slag.  This has to be done white hot,
and if your bloom is large, the heat may be hard to
get in a blacksmith's forge.  (I tried it with a small
piece of a bloom, and gave up when the firepot started
glowing!)  

So if you've got much mass to deal with, you may want
to build a pit forge (or BAM forge as those of us on
theforge fondly think of it - a hole or trough in the
ground with a good air  source and considerable pile
of fuel, suitable for heating blooms or melting
anvils...)  

You may also want a striker to help with the
hammering.  Even with a treadle hammer, you'd probably
not get too much working time up close to a white-hot
bloom.  A power hammer might not have the stroke to
deal with such a chunk.  A sledge should work fine. 
Use LONG tongs so you don't cook your knuckles!

Hope this helps,

Bruce
NJ




--- Daniel Kretchmar <dan at irontreeworks.com> wrote:

> Greetings,
>          A few months back I participated in an iron
> smelt at the home
> of Stewert Stone in Ripon, WI.  He built the furnace
> out of clay and
> pulled out a sizable bloom.  A bunch of us (SCA
> blacksmiths) heated up
> the bloom in a stone forge and pounded it into
> managable ingots
> 
> .....Now a question.  I took the ingots home and I
> have used my JYH
> Tire hammer to pound it into bar stock but somewhere
> I remember
> reading that I should fold and weld it several times
> to convert it to
> wrought iron............Can anyone help me out here?
>  What's the next
> step?
> 
> Dan
> www.irontreeworks.com
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