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Serving all of
New Jersey, Connecticut and the New York Metropolitan area, NJ, NY,
CT, and NYC, from Newark, NJ
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AIRMET
Metalworks
Custom wrought iron works
Call us at:
(973) 481-5550
E-mail us at:
info@airmetmetalworks.com
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The History of
IRON WORKING
Iron is the second most abundant metal and
the easiest to extract. Its greatest concentration is at the
Earth’s core and makes up 34% of its entire mass. The high degree
of iron in our planet’s content may contribute to the Earth’s
magnetic field. The inner core probably consists of iron crystal or
a combination of iron and nickel. Iron rarely exists in its free
elemental state and must therefore be extracted from iron ore.
Elemental iron is obtained by a process of reducing the chemicals
within the ore. When referring to iron and its history, wrought iron
is the form that is most often referenced. It is indispensable due
to its ease of extraction and high strength with steel being its
best-known alloy.
The Sumerians and Egyptians were the first to use iron to make
various items back in 4000 BC. They used iron that was recovered
from meteorites to make ornaments and the tips of spears and
daggers. More and more smelted iron products were made from 3500 BC
to 2000 BC in areas such as Mesopotamia, Anatolia and Egypt. This
smelted iron was different from the meteoric iron because it did not
have the nickel content. Iron was used during this time period to
make ceremonial objects and was more valuable than gold. The Middle
East mainly used bronze for their weapons and iron for trade from
1600 BC to 1200 BC. At this time, the iron may have been a byproduct
of refining copper and bronze remained the primary metal resource.
(Ancient middle east map)
The Iron Age signifies a stage where iron was the predominant
material used in the making of tools and weapons. The transition
from bronze to iron occurred rapidly due to the obstruction of the
tin supply which was possibly caused by mass migration and warfare.
This change effected parts of the world at varying times and its
beginning is generally noted to be around 1200 BC in Greece and the
Ancient Near East. Middle Eastern people used a process known as
carburization to add carbon to the irons. This led to the production
of wrought iron with the characteristically hard steel surface. At
this point in time, iron was harder, less brittle, more abundant and
cheaper than the bronze it was replacing making it the most commonly
used metal.
During the Middle Ages, bloomeries became the source of refining the
iron. Bloomeries originally produced this iron using charcoal-heated
smelters. Charcoal was used to cover the ore while air would be
blown onto the lit charcoal. The additional heat ultimately melted
and reduced the ore. As it melted it also released carbon dioxide.
This method did not melt the ore completely so a spongy mass
remained. These remains were called iron bloom from which the
process gets its name. The bloom, containing iron and silicates from
the ore, was then pounded and twisted by a blacksmith with an anvil
in order to break off the pieces of slag and impurities. This
process of working the iron is what ultimately led to the name of
“wrought” iron since “wrought” is actually the former past
tense of the word “worked”.
Beginning around the 8th century of the Middle Ages, larger furnaces
were being built in Spain. This continued through the Frankish and
the Holy Roman Empires. When manpower could no longer supply the
draft needed by these larger furnaces, waterwheels were utilized to
operate the bellows and hammers. Cast iron, which is produced by
remelting pig iron and pouring it into molds, took place initially
in Sweden from 1150 to 1350 where the oldest known blast furnace was
built. By the 1300 and 1400’s, the market for cast iron products
expanded due to the growing demand for cast iron cannonballs. Henry
VII’s interest in having new ironworks at Newcastle was the reason
for the first English blast furnace in 1496. These foundries spread
rapidly partly because King Henry hired foreign craftsmen to bring
iron casting to England. Years later, the first one–piece cannon
was cast in England. These cannons were revered as superior and less
costly than others made in Europe and have been credited as being a
major factor in England’s 1588 defeat of the Spanish Armada.
From the medieval period, use of ironwork for decorative purposes
became more common. Iron was used to protect doors and windows of
valuable places from attack from raiders. It was also used for
decoration as can be seen at Canterbury Cathedral, Winchester
Cathedral and Notre Dame de Paris. Armour also was decorated, often
simply but occasionally elaborately. From the 16th century onwards,
ironwork became highly ornate, especially in the Baroque and Rococo
periods. In Spain, elaborate screens of iron or rejería were built
in all of the Spanish cathedrals rising up to nine metres high.
In France, highly decorative iron balconies, stair railings and
gateways were highly fashionable from 1650. Jean Tijou brought the
style to England and examples of his work can be seen at Hampton
Court and St Paul’s Cathedral. Wrought ironwork was widely used in
the UK during the 18th in gates and railings in London and towns
such as Oxford and Cambridge. In the US, ironwork features more
prominently in New Orleans than elsewhere due to its French
influence.
During the 18th century in England, diminishing wood supplies led to
the use of the fossil fuel, coke, as an alternative heat source to
wood. Pig iron became the result of smelting iron ore with coke and
limestone in a blast furnace. A process known as “puddling” used
pig iron to produce a malleable and low carbon steel or wrought iron
in a blast furnace. In 1784, Henry Cort’s successful puddling
process was patented. The development of these techniques laid the
groundwork for the tremendous increase in iron production leading us
into the Industrial Revolution that began during the late 18th to
early 19th centuries. It was now possible to process wrought iron in
large batches. Bloomeries became obsolete and Britain no longer had
to rely upon imported iron from Sweden and Russia in order to
supplement its needs.
As iron became more common, it became widely used for cooking
utensils, stoves, grates, locks, hardware and other household uses.
From the beginning of the 19th century, wrought iron was being
replaced by cast iron due to the latter's lower cost. However, the
English Arts and Crafts movement produced some excellent work in the
middle of the 19th century. In modern times, much wrought iron work
is done using the pneumatic hammer and the acetylene torch. A number
of modern sculptors have worked in iron including Pablo Picasso,
Julio González and David Smith.
In the United States, iron production is primarily from oxide ores.
Hematite ores were mined for many years in the Mesabi Range near
Lake Superior. Since these supplies have become increasingly
depleted, iron is now produced from low-grade ores. These ores are
treated with a process called beneficiation in order to improve
their quality. Iron has also been refined further to make steel with
the Bessemer process which was the first commercial–scale steel
production process. The more recently used technique is the basic
oxygen process which is faster, produces less air pollution and its
major byproduct is carbon monoxide which can be used as a fuel in
other applications.
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The
value of a custom made decorative wrought iron fence
goes beyond privacy, security and safety. A custom
wrought iron decorative fence from AIRMET adds
lasting beauty and charm to your home and property.
Please take a moment to click
on the categories below and see how our
clients' property has been enhanced by framing the
views of their property in ornamental wrought iron.
WE
ARE YOUR SOLUTION
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