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

[Peter Hirst]

The characteristics of that old WI are not surprising.  Lot old wooden 
wrecks around here with big spikes, bars,  and bolts in them, all 
single-refined WI.  Wouldn't   be surprised if your wreck were the same 
stuff.  Beautiful surface textures, but not so good to work unless 
re-refined, which is what I'm sure working at welding heat effectively 
achieves.  See, e.g. http://www.abana.org/ronreil/wrought.shtml

Keziah

Btw, some of the nasty stuff in ship iron could be chlorine gas.  Heat salt 
up hot enough and eventually  it breaks into its constitutents sodium metal 
and chlorine gas.  Thats the secret of salt glazed pottery.  The sodium 
combines with the silicas and whatnot in the earthenware to form the glaze 
and the chlorine goes up the stack to annoy the neighbors.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Fels And Phoebe Palmer" <artgawk at thegrid.net>
To: "Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, March 23, 2008 3:59 AM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Re: File Making, sniffing up wrought iron


> 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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