How to Bend Wrought Iron
- Wear all protective equipment, including shaded eye protection, a leather blacksmith's apron or cape, and welding gloves.
- Grip the steel with the wolf-jaw tongs and hold it in the coals of the fire. ...
- Heat the steel until it becomes soft enough to shape with tools. ...
- Remove the hot steel with the tongs.
How do you bend wrought iron to shape?
Grasp the free end of the wrought iron with vise grips and pull it around the forming jig to create a shape. Create twists by sliding a bending tool over the wrought iron and twisting the tool left or right. A twisting tool is a flat piece of metal with a slot cut through the middle that fits over the wrought iron.
What are wrought iron bending tools?
The tools are known as wrought iron forming jigs, wrought iron jig set bending tools and wrought iron benders. Grasp the free end of the wrought iron with vise grips and pull it around the forming jig to create a shape.
How do you heat wrought iron?
Place the wrought iron on an anvil and hit the unheated end with a 4-pound blacksmith hammer to bend angles and turns. Place specialized forms over the anvil to create other shapes and bends when striking hot wrought iron with a blacksmith hammer. Work in a well ventilated, free of combustibles area when heating wrought iron.
What is the bending temperature of wrought iron?
Wrought iron belongs to the ferrous family of metals with low carbon content and high melting temperature of 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit. Two methods of bending wrought iron are using forming tools or using heat.
What tools are needed to bend wrought iron?
Unless you are repeatedly forging the same size bend in a piece of metal--in which case you would want some kind of jig to ensure consistency--the only tools required for bending wrought iron are a metal forge (a very, very hot fire), a hammer and an anvil.
How to make a rounded bend in a horn?
Make a rounded bend by wrapping the hot metal around the anvil's horn, tapping it with the hammer so it conforms to the shape of the horn.
How to refine a bend?
Refine the bend by bracing it against the horn or the face and side of the anvil (depending on which type of bend you have made).
How to lay hot metal on anvil?
Lay the hot metal on the anvil with part of the metal stock extending over the edge.
How to get steel to sit in coals?
Grip the steel with the wolf-jaw tongs and hold it in the coals of the fire. Let it sit in the coals until it has reached the desired temperature.
How is wrought iron dated?
Wrought iron may also be dated approximately by its texture. Until the very end of the eighteenth century, sections of wrought iron were derived by forging of billets by hand or waterpower; this resulted in a more or less uneven surface texture, and very sharp corners.
How to tell if wrought iron is cast or wrought iron?
How To Identify Wrought Iron. Wrought iron is unlike cast, in that it is not brittle, and will bend rather than break. For this reason, wrought ironwork is frequently far more delicate, although years of paint can obscure this.
What is the difference between a puddled iron and a steel puddle?
Typically a puddled Wrought Iron will exhibit a more or less dead reddish spark, whereas steel will have more or less bursting white sparks caused by the inclusion of carbon alloyed with the constituent iron. Charcoal irons, however may be confused with steel in this test as they frequently contain large amounts of carbon. Pure iron, while containing no carbon, can be identified by the absence of grain in the nick bend test.
How to tell if a steel or wrought iron fracture is smooth?
Wrought iron will exhibit a “green stick” fracture, showing the grain, whereas steel will exhibit a smooth fracture plain.
How to tell cast iron from mild steel?
Cast iron is most frequently identified by its repetitive nature and forms, which could be carved into a wooden pattern, but not made by hammer and anvil. Telling wrought iron from mild steel is often more difficult for the layman, as both will bend, and not break Frequently, however, work in mild steel is readily identified by ...
Does mild steel have corrosion?
Look for evidence of electric welding, mild steel is often given away by more active corrosion, which tends to run out of the joints and sta in paintwork and stone work. This is seldom the case with wrought iron. Wrought iron may also be dated approximately by its texture.
How long should a steel bar be for hand bending?
To cut the steel bar, use a pair of bolt cutters, preferably about 24 inches (60 cm) long.
What is the easiest bar to bend?
Choose a well rounded bar. The more sides the bar has, the easier it is to bend it. A hexagonal bar is easier to bend than a square bar, while a round bar is the easiest of all to bend.
How to grip a steel bar?
You can grip the steel bar in one of four ways: double overhand, double underhand, palms down, and reverse. Each method has its own individual techniques. In the double overhand grip, you hold the bar close to your body, preferably just under the chin, with your hands gripping the steel from above. This method transfers ...
How to hold a bar in reverse?
In the reverse grip, you also hold the bar away from your body, but perpendicular to your chest instead of parallel to it as in the palms down grip. The hand further from your body grips the bar in an overhand grip, while the closer hand grips the bar underhanded.
How much torque does it take to bend a 3/8 inch bar?
Thicker bars are harder to bend than thinner bars. Doubling the diameter quadruples the amount of force required to bend the bar; it takes four times the torque to bend a 3/8-inch (9.6 mm) bar as it does a 3/16-inch (4.8 mm) bar.
What material to use to wrap steel?
Leather. Leather is the toughest material you can use to wrap the steel with and is the best material for adding leverage to your grip.
Where do you hold the bar in the double underhand grip?
In the double underhand grip, you also hold the bar close to your body, although at about the center of the breastbone. You will bend the bar upward, using your pinkies as fulcrums, and your driving muscle strength comes from your triceps and upper back.
