Comments received to date: -

• Mark Constable - "It forges as if it were clay, from a yellow heat right through to black it just keeps moving, it takes on texture, chisels and burnishes as if it were copper, it is fine grained and elastic."
• James Barrett - Very useful material under the power hammer, we got an amazing spread.  Easy to work at low temperatures / works for longer than steel. Will add another dimension to our work.
• Adam Russell - Took a white heat without any burning. Highly plastic, spreads and draws out with ease. Cleaned easily to give a bright silvery finish. If I could afford to I'd stop using mild steel and use nothing but this.
• Merv Allen - (Fire-welding) Stuck like glue. Pleasure to use. Brilliant forging from hot to cold.

INDEPENDENT REPORT ON PURE IRON 
by HECTOR COLE FWCB

(Awarded a Silver Medal by the Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths, Hector Cole is famous for having made the gates for Highgrove House, commissioned by HRH The Prince of Wales.)

A 20 X 20 sample bar of pure iron was sent to me to work.

The following tests were carried out :- Hot splitting, Hot punching, Drawing down, Hot bending, Cold chiselling, Cold punching, Fire welding.

All the processes were executed with ease and no problems were encountered. With continuous hot bending the material showed no sign of cracking that would have occurred with mild steel had it been subjected to the same treatment. With hot splitting there was no continuation of the split while working that can occur with wrought iron. The metal performed very well when worked with cold chisels and punches and would be excellent for repoussē work in sheet form and chiselling in fine detail on decorative work. Fire welding was carried out with ease and no flux was needed for this operation.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

It must be stressed that this material is not wrought iron and does not forge in the same way as good wrought iron.

For smiths who have tried forging wrought iron of poor quality and have encountered all its faults, pure iron will be a good substitute as its forging qualities are far superior to mild steel with none of the disadvantages of poor wrought iron. Pure iron is similar to mild steel in as much that it is a very forgiving material and will take much abuse before it begins to crack, split or break up.

SUMMARY

Pure iron is a material that is far superior to mild steel for decorative forge work. It is quicker and easier to work than mild steel and has a wider forging range. It is not wrought iron but is as near as we will get to it.

Hector Cole 2002

The first and the only specialist supplier of pure iron in the UK