[Sca-cooks] Interesting Blacksmithing Articles

[Phlip]

Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...

> I just got this message. Some of you may have seen it, or will see it
> on other mail lists. I'm reposting it here since Phlip and I were
> discussing SCA forges vs. period ones. One of the points I made was
> that folks were mostly likely to be forging steel and not wrought iron,
> which would have been the period material. Well here at last is a
> source for this material. However, I couldn't find a price, which
> probably means it is expensive. So it may not work for the usual SCA
> forgework. Things change though. Even if you are not into blacksmithing
> you might want to look through the site as it has some good articles on
> wrought iron and how it differs from steel. Some of these
> characteristics might even impact how a food cooks in a wrought iron
> utensil vs. a cast iron (actually today, a cast steel) one.
>
> Stefan

Thanks, Stefan- I already had it from the SCA A&S List- a good proprtion of
my references are from Magnus- the ones that aren't from Bear and Johnna ;-)

Actually, Medieval folk were quite well aware of steel- they just didn't
have very much of it, and neither did anyone else, until the Bessemer
process came along. Wrought iron has quite a number of useful
characteristics- it doesn't rust past the first layer, for one thing,
because of all the silica inclusions- but it's not as readily sharpenable
and able to hold an edge , given proper heat treatment, as steel and its
multitudinous alloys are, but the one sword that Johan has been discussing
with me, the one in the Sutton Hoo find, was, as I understand it,
constructed of wrought iron with a steel edge inset into it. A cooking knife
project I'm working on will be, I think, of similar construction- a mild
steel blade with high carbon steel either inset or sandwiched into the blade
for the cutting edge.

And, I was rather surprised at your comments. I thought you were aware that
the chain I use for the SPCA cookpot is wrought iron, and that I've a piece
of pure iron in my smithing stuff (not to mention several sticks I have
stashed here at Rob and Margali's. In fact, the pure iron I have here is
intended for my reproduction of the Mastermyr grill.) But, real wrought iron
is not so much expensive as it is hard to come by, since it hasn't been used
for much since the early 1900s. And before anyone says anything, the
"wrought iron" that everyone has around in yards as fencing is usually
modern steel or cast iron. I keep looking for old bridges or prisons being
demolished, but haven't found any. The biggest stash in private hands that
I'm aware of belongs to a friend of mine in Ohio, who "volunteered" to save
them hauling charges when they demolished the old Ohio Penitentiary. Almost
got my hands on some in Massachusetts, but that's another story.

The reason, however, that most of us use mild steel for most of our public
smithing and teaching is because it's readily available and cheap- I don't
care if some student wonks up a piece- plenty more where that came from- but
I'd be just as peeved if they wonked up some of my good quality steel as I
would if they messed up my wrought iron. Will let someone learn to roast
poultry using my chicken, but I'll be very reluctant to let them learn on my
pheasant ;-)

Saint Phlip,
CoDoLDS

"When in doubt, heat it up and hit it with a hammer."
 Blacksmith's credo.

 If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
cat.

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....