[TheForge] question for Bruce F. the Chemist

[Albin Drzewianowski]

Bruce,

I was demonstrating in the Historic Forge at the local Farm Musuem today.

Towards the end of the day, as my arm starts giving out, I look for any 
excuse to talk instead of hammering.  So when someone asked about the slack 
tub, I gave them the story about how in the "old days" people would come and 
buy water from the slack tub for medicinal purposes.  I thought that was 
just a scam by blacksmiths to make a little money on the side.  But one of 
the guests asked whether the water in the tub would pick up an iron from 
having all the hot steel quenched or cooled in the slack tub.  Also, small 
pieces of hot steel that have been cut off are often just tossed into the 
slack tub.

So the question is:   would quenching  or cooling hot steel  or the presence 
of small pieces of steel in the bottom of the slack tub increase the iron 
content of the water such that it would have some medical benefit as some 
kind of tonic???   Today, we have extra iron as a supplement in lots of 
things that we eat, but back in the "old days" they did not.

Inquiring minds want to know.
Albin
Westminster, MD