Wanted: true wrought iron source

i know its a bit off topic but i am looking for a source for true wrought iron bar stock(round and square). Its for my main hobby
( blacksmithing). I know there is only one foundry in the US making it and am looking for a supplier willing to sell smaller amounts.

Sean

There are a couple of suppliers listed on the ABANA site, as well as links to other blacksmithing sites.

http://www.abana.org/resources/links.shtml#supply

Anvilfire is also a possible resource: http://rings.anvilfire.com/

There was a thread here about a year ago that mentioned a company in Baltimore. I visited their website at the time. They might offer what you want.

Try searching the archives.

- Leigh

Leigh, that was probably me.

I designed, produced, and photographed products the web site for G. Krug & Son Iron Works.

http://www.gkrugandson.com/

Nice wrought Iron

I got some from the following:

Wisconson Woodchuck LLC
2 Banks Ave, P.O. Box 97, Superior, WI, 54880-0097
Phone: (715) 392-5110
Fax: (715) 392-5112
[email protected]
www.wisconsonwoodchuck.net

Call Judy Perez at 218-464-3705.
If you are after really nice wrought, it's alittle expensive (when compared to free). Its from an old (1878) grain elevator. This stuff is beautiful and etches nice.
JB

Racer Al said:

Leigh, that was probably me.

Click to expand...

Hi Al,

Yep... 'twas.

Nice site.

Thanks.

- Leigh

I was in Williamsburg a month ago and asked their gunsmith about wrought iron. He said nobody was actually making it. Just a few recycling it. Theirs came from a bridge but he didn't know the dealer.

Someone is making a p[roduct called "pure iron". We had some in the maintenance blacksmith shop in Colonial Williamsburg. It is like wrought iron without the silicon inclusions.

Nobody has made real wrought iron, from scratch, in the USA since at least the 60's.
As far as I know, the last commercially produced wrought iron worldwide was a Swedish mill that was making wrought pipe for chemical plants, and they quit making it by 1974 or so.

There is, I believe, a company in Britain that is rerolling existing wrought iron-
http://www.realwroughtiron.com/

They do not actually "make" wrought iron, just reroll scrap they find into more commercially desirable sizes and quality levels.

In addition, there is a couple of companies in europe that make very low carbon steel, which forges quite nicely. Various european blacksmiths actually buy enough of it to keep them in business.
There was a company called tried importing this "pure iron" to the USA about ten years ago, but they went belly up.
Right now, The Wagner companies are importing some of it, however.
http://www.wagnercompanies.com/Pure_Iron.aspx

It is NOT wrought iron- real wrought is irregular, with silica inclusions of various sizes.
This Pure Iron is really steel, but a very low carbon content, very nice to forge steel. Imported, and only available mail order, it aint cheap, but a lot of smiths really like the way it forges. Angelo Bartolucci, who is an old school Italian blacksmith who has visited the US and demoed at Abana conferences and elsewhere, likes it a lot, and has done some pretty amazing hand forging with it.

Other than that, finding old scrap wrought is the only source. The quality varies a lot- bridges and other structures are the best- and price, and availability, are all over the map.

In Col. Wmsbg.,we get wrought iron from old bridges,etc. Used to get some from New England lighthouse supplier. That might actually be the name. Other places to look are old iron fences,large old anchor chains,old anchors. Used to be used a lot around salt water as the inclusions slow rusting down a lot. You need to look for the sort of wood grain effect you see in badly rusted surfaces. This identifies the layering of inclusions. We also used to use some stuff called Byers Iron. Not really quite wrought iron,but the same chemistry. Made by mixing silicon and iron in a crucible and not really wrought as the real stuff was.