[TheForge] Tool Steel--This should be OT I think

[Andrew Vida]

schade at acegroup.cc wrote:
> 
> On Jan 2, 2007, at 5:36 PM, Andrew Vida wrote:
> 
>>   I really think that WI could have a future if the right forces got 
>> behind it.
>>
>>     -Andy
>> _______________________________________________
> 
> 
> 
> "Pure Iron" got a pretty lukewarm reception.

	Pure iron wasn't wrought iron.  PI market is far smaller than the one 
for WI.  Short of decorative applications, I see very little use for PI. 
  I really liked PI, but the market to which it was targeted was not 
sufficiently viable, especially for the approach they took. 
Blacksmiths, being often inadequate as business people, tend to look at 
material costs with a myopic eye.  They get all up in the undies about a 
material costing $1.50/#.  They were not going to pay that much for PI 
on a consistent basis and I think that was pretty obvious from early on. 
  Though this outlook leads to ineffective action, it is nevertheless 
the common reality and either it must be changed or a new approach must 
be taken.  I think reeducation is a waste of time, so the only approach 
I can think of that may have worked would have been to sell on narrow- 
or even negative margins at a price the smiths would pay and ramp up as 
the smith/fabricator industry came around to seeing the material's value 
including cost savings through decreased labor.  This would have 
required a large amount of capital to sustain for at least a year and 
probably longer.  That requires serious investors and I doubt anyone 
seeking a return would have gone for this idea.  Too small and too risky.

	Wrought iron, OTOH, has applications far more numerous than just 
decorative blacksmthing. I do not think the two markets could be even 
remotely compared.