[TheForge] Re: Pure Iron vs. Cast Iron

[Ekaterina Harrison]

Hi Dave, Peter and Andy,

Thank you all for your responses. It helped a lot.

Dave, It makes me wonder what it actually takes to remove the carbon  
from the pig iron.
I know that it is not too big a deal to pour it. I do have plans for a  
cupalette.  Just have not had the time to build it, yet!
If it is not too complicated a process I can easily see making simple  
sand molds casting which can then be forged into more complicated  
shapes.

Ekaterina


On Mar 28, 2008, at 8:39 AM, theforge-request at mailman.qth.net wrote:

>
> Message: 10
> Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:32:39 -0400
> From: "Peter Hirst" <saltydog335 at aol.com>
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] Pure Iron vs. Cast Iron
> To: "Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
> Message-ID: <00df01c890e0$9351e130$6500a8c0 at Codfish>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
> 	reply-type=response
>
> It might be well to specifically point up the irony (heh-heh) that  
> iron,
> wrought or pure, has  (little or) no carbon, but steel does, and  
> cast iron
> has even more carbon than steel does.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "David E. Smucker" <davesmucker at hotmail.com>
> To: "Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 7:38 AM
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] Pure Iron vs. Cast Iron
>
>
>> Ekaterina,
>>
>> Pure iron is just that plain iron. No alloy and No carbon.  (Carbon  
>> is
>> really an alloy element but we don't think that way most times.)   
>> As we
>> start to add carbon to iron we get steel.  Low carbon is around 0.2  
>> of 1
>> percent carbon -- mild steel.  This is also sometimes called points  
>> of
>> carbon or 20 points.  Most high carbon steel today is around 1  
>> percent
>> carbon (100 points.)  We often also call this a tool steel.  W1 for
>> example is 1 percent carbon.  Medium carbon steels are around a 1/2
>> percent carbon 0.5 of 1 percent or 50 points.  Steels may also have  
>> lots
>> of different alloying elements added greatly changing their  
>> strength and
>> other characteristics.  Steels can have a maximum of 2 percent  
>> carbon --
>> above 2 percent carbon, we have the cast irons.  Up to I believe  
>> the max
>> the iron can "hold" is 6.67 percent carbon.  Your ductile iron is  
>> one form
>> of the "cast irons".  Gray cast iron another.
>>
>> Historically there was a very common product called "wrought iron"
>> sometimes today called "real wrought iron".  It like "pure iron" had
>> almost zero carbon, maybe a very small amount.  But it did have  
>> Silicon
>> Oxide stringers in it from the manufacturing / refining process.  To
>> confuse things even more -- it was made from cast iron or pig iron by
>> removing the carbon.  Same is true today for the manufacture of raw
>> steel -- it starts out a liquid cast iron from a blast furnace --  
>> also a
>> lot of recycled steel is added.
>>
>> Hope that helps a little.
>>
>> Dave Smucker
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Ekaterina Harrison" <ekaterina at wildblue.net>
>> To: <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
>> Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 12:50 AM
>> Subject: [TheForge] Re: File Making, sniffing up wrought iron
>>
>>
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>> I must admit that some of this is going over my head. <sigh> Perhaps
>>> this was already answered and I missed it.
>>> I have spent a few years working in various foundries and have  
>>> poured
>>> some ductile iron. However, I really did not get a chance to find  
>>> out  as
>>> much as I had wanted to about the various aspects of iron. Perhaps
>>> somebody here can answer this - What is the difference between  
>>> iron  that
>>> is cast and what you are referring to as pure iron?
>>>
>>> Ekaterina
>>