[TheForge] buried metal artifacts

[Larry Brown]

Andy, did you have any luck forging the wrought that was in seawater? I've 
tried a few times and had mixed results even after grinding all the obvious 
corrosion off. Lots of weird colors in the flames (no drugs involved)
Larry Brown


>Gold will last indefinitely as it is almost perfectly inert.  Silver
>will degrade, but that can take a long-ish time.  Iron would have been
>wrought so the silicate layers protect it for a long time even in
>moderately hostile environments.  I've fished wrought out of the waters
>of NJ, some of which is almost certainly 200+ years old, much of it
>having come out of a very old ship's graveyard in Perth Amboy.  The iron
>in Carteret from the old US Metals site and others might be a century or
>more old in some cases.  Plenty of etching, but plenty of iron remains.
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