[TheForge] Re: File Making, sniffing up wrought iron

[Peter Fels And Phoebe Palmer]

No odd smells from heating the WI  pulled from a 1905 wreck here 
on the Pacific coast. It does tend to separate into individual 
fibers unless worked at a welding heat though.
The odd thing about it is that if heated with a rosebud and bent 
with a bending fork, it cracks at the bend...but does not crack 
when hammered to the same angle.
They used rude 1" hot rivets on 1' centers to hold that old hull 
together. Now , after more than 100 years of being pounded on an 
exposed, open ocean beach, parts of it are still together...pf


Larry Brown wrote:
> 
> Speaking from the other side or the Arthur Kill, and being 49 I remember 
> all sorts of nasty stuff on the beaches over the years, being cleaner in 
> more recent times. NJ has and had tons of nasty chemical companies along 
> the eastern NJ boarder with Staten Island and NY and we had or have the 
> world's biggest dump in the marsh along the river.
> 
>  I remember working in Whitte ship scrapyard when I was 18 that cutting 
> sometimes gave some foul odors, usually on the older stuff that had been 
> soaking or on the bottom the longest. I think the guy who repaired the 
> holes in the bottom of the barges by welding plates between the ribs had 
> very little left in the way of vocal cords.
> I thought it might be the salt absorbed into the metal. I have some 
> pieces of WI from old docks and a few just foam when heated. I found 
> that steel and WI are both affected and have seen what looks like a 
> crust near the edges after the piece cools when you torch cut it. Might 
> be on the surface or from within
> 
> Larry BRown
> 
> At 09:26 AM 3/20/2008 -0400, you wrote:
>> Speaking of fumes, much of the wrought iron I pulled out of Raritan 
>> Bay in Perth Amboy gives off a fume that is really nasty.  You get the 
>> tiniest whiff and everything inside you says "NO!".  I have learned to 
>> steer clear of this.  Put the iron in the fire awhile and let whatever 
>> noxious things that are there burn off while giving a respectful berth.
>>
>> What I could not quite figure is what those noxious things may have 
>> been.  The fumes are most acrid - very harsh on the nose, and  
>> something of a singular sensation (please, no lapsing into "A Chorus 
>> Line").  I also notice the occasional strange blue flame.  Not like 
>> copper, but not like anything else either, of which I am familiar.  
>> Any ideas?  This iron has lain in the brackish-to-salty waters of the 
>> bay for at least 50 years, closer to 100 in most cases I would imagine 
>> - old ship graveyard.
>>
>>         -Andy
>>
>> Larry Brown wrote:
>>> Thanks for the information in the post, I always try to stay away 
>>> from the fumes as it stinks, but the cyanide information is really 
>>> good to be aware of. Don't use it much, got the can 2nd hand and have 
>>> had it 20+ yrs.
>>> Larry Brown
> 
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