[TheForge] Rotted iron?

[Andrew Vida]

On 11/8/2012 4:26 PM, Thomas Hector wrote:
> What does wrought iron mean?

The term "wrought iron" has become quasi-technical jargon describing a 
solid solution of what is essentially pure iron and iron silicates. 
Back in the old days wrought iron was the only iron and it was "wrought" 
by hammering into billets from the pasty sponge that came out of the 
furnace.  Hammering drove out the great bulk of the silicates, the 
"slag", and served to purify (refine) and consolidate the material.

In time, as other forms of iron started becoming available, "wrought 
iron" came to denote the material of the stated composition and in that 
sense became jargon.  Technically speaking, forged steel is also wrought 
iron precisely because the material is mostly iron and is wrought to 
form by hammering, but this is not the way the term is commonly used - 
certainly not in blacksmithing circles.  We tend to chafe at the 
uninitiated use of the term to describe that which is made of mild steel 
and is fabricated and tends to look horrible.