[TheForge] Re: Pure Iron vs. Cast Iron

[Ekaterina Harrison]

Thanks Dave.

This sounds interesting. I will read up on this process.

Ekaterina

On Mar 28, 2008, at 1:52 PM, theforge-request at mailman.qth.net wrote:

>
> Message: 5
> Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:46:25 -0400
> From: "David E. Smucker" <davesmucker at hotmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] Re: Pure Iron vs. Cast Iron
> To: "Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
> Message-ID: <BAY137-DAV5DBD02CEEC40D02BB4E65ADF90 at phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
> 	reply-type=response
>
> Ekaterina,  Industrially today carbon is mostly removed with an  
> oxygen lance
> in the Basic Oxygen Furnace.  Or for special steels it is done under  
> vacuum
> by injecting a mixture of gases.   You might want to read up on the  
> Bessemer
> process -- you might be able to reproduce that on a small scale  
> using air,
> as Bessemer did rather than oxygen.  Bessemer's complete  
> autobiography is
> available on the web for free.   It is a very interesting read and  
> includes
> a lot of technical history.
>
> http://www.history.rochester.edu/ehp-book/shb/start.htm
>
> Historically in the wrought iron process it was done in a puddling  
> furnace
> lined with a bed of iron oxide, at temperatures below the melting  
> point --
> but still mushy.  The process also involved the use of a covering  
> slag --
> which was the source of the SiO2 in the final material.  Lots of  
> operator
> judgment was call for.  After it got to the correct state it was  
> removed as
> a mushy ball of material and hammered.  There was also a process that
> predated this where they worked directly from the iron ore to  
> produce a
> "bloom" that was also hammered.  Some of the knife makers have been  
> making
> material this way.  Dan Fogg, worked a knife he had made from such  
> material
> at the Madison conference in 2007.
>
> Dave
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ekaterina Harrison" <ekaterina at wildblue.net>
> To: <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 12:22 PM
> Subject: [TheForge] Re: Pure Iron vs. Cast Iron
>
>
>> 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
>>
>