wrought iron

Ive just bought about 200 lbs of what im fairly sure is wrought iron for $20.Was this a good deal?

On Tue, 8 Nov 2005 15:07:33 -0600, Sturnus snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net (radial notion) wrote:
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If it forges usefully, that's not even a bad price for plain steel. if it is wrought iron, then that's a real gloat.
Tried spark testing it with a grinder yet ? What does it look like?

Cool!Spark tested it,..sure looks like wrought to me.I tried the "break a hunk off and look for the wood-grain pattern" test,..but is this is my first batch of wrought iron i wasnt sure.It's amazeing how ductile this stuff is,even cold.Also i took a 3/8 rod and polished it to 120 grit ,..then eched it in white vinagar,..which only made the very slightest darkening after 5 hours,..re-polished it and etched it with bleach,which brought out a very fine grain pattern,with most of the material still shiney. Its all parts from an old waggon,..including the axel which must be 1 1/2 in diamater.The amazeing thing is this was all found two doors down the street,..and that they said the parts were "the remnant" of a huge pile they had been selling off to a scrap metal dealer.

If it's truely wrought, then you got a fantastic deal. I bought some salvaged wrought short pieces at an ABANA conference for a $1/lb. The last wrought iron I bought was some long pieces from an old bridge down near Tulsa, Oklahoma for $2/lb. If it turns out to be steel, it's still a good bargain. Happy Hammerin' Rob
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10 cents a pound is good anyway.
Try cutting half way through a 3/8" round, then bend it at the break. If it's single or double refined, it'll surely show grain at the bend.
Pete Stanaitis ----------------
radial notion wrote:
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Its without a doubt wrought iron..i heated it to brightest yellow and quencked in cold water,..just as soft as it ever was.

That is NOT how I would go about defining wrought iron. All that proves is that you have a low carbon iron. When discussing "wrought iron" I believe the rough grain is the defining point. But I'm no expert.
GA
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I concur, The quickest, surest test is the cut & fracture method. The "grain"of genuine wrought will, without question, resemble splintered hickory wood. The thicker the test section of bar, the more apparent this will be.
Glen G.
Greyangel wrote:
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Yes,..you all are right.The grain IS a dead giveaway,..but seeing how id never looked at the grain of wrought iron before,i was only surmiseing that i was seeing it.Now i know what it looks like.Also i was sure before i did that quench test,having polished and etched a piece and having seen the gain from the side there big as day.Mostly i did that quench test for fun and to see how it would do.Its funny,..ive had folks tell me mild steel wouldnt harden,..but ive yet to find any steel that wouldnt harden some.Ive run about every piece of scrap and "found" steel ive got my hands on in the forge,and its all hardened to some extent.The only exception are bolts and screws,..which i havent bothered with.It wouldnt surprise be if they wouldnt harden,..as they seem to be making them from a tin-playdoh alloy these days. I forged out a wall-hook from that wrought iron today.This stuff is neat to work with,not really too much diferent from mild steel,except i think it moves better when worked a bit hotter that one woud steel.