Casting Lines or Welding on Cannons?

[Rhea Cole]

I did scan through it. Very thorough. But was actually replying to the quote below from the same post that said:

"I was taught that welding cast iron was, in practical terms, impossible."

I went on to say that cast iron, in my experience was brazed. That is why I included a link on a topic I am not qualified to comment on. That is a particularly informative article.

I would have said that no wrought iron is made anymore, too. I was pleasantly surprised to find that English source. I used to correspond with a British restoration smith. That is where my knowledge of working wrought iron came from

My granddaughter is a sculptor. She has smelted & cast iron quite a bit. She has the required reflective suit. Makes me wonder how anybody survived casting giant guns back then.

 

[Belfoured]

I went on to say that cast iron, in my experience was brazed. That is why I included a link on a topic I am not qualified to comment on. That is a particularly informative article.

I would have said that no wrought iron is made anymore, too. I was pleasantly surprised to find that English source. I used to correspond with a British restoration smith. That is where my knowledge of working wrought iron came from

View attachment 524481
My granddaughter is a sculptor. She has smelted & cast iron quite a bit. She has the required reflective suit. Makes me wonder how anybody survived casting giant guns back then.

It's funny how many different ways you can get into this. My interest started with my climbing obsession. Two of the great pioneers of climbing the great granite in Yosemite were John Salathe and Yvon Chouinard. Salathe was a Swiss blacksmith who came to the US. In the late 1940's/early 1950's he was active in early Yosemite climbing and improved the primitive soft iron pitons then used by everybody by forging a less "bendable" piton from high carbon chrome and vanadium steel. Some accounts say he did this by using old Ford Truck axles he accessed. He developed the famous "Lost Arrow" pitons. Chouinard came along in the late 1950's. He was a self-taught blacksmith who learned the trade using a coal-fired forge, a 138-pound anvil, and some tongs and hammers. He turned out even better, more durable chome-moly pitons that were used by him and other legends to put up major routes at Yosemite in the 1960's. He eventually went on to forging "passive" pieces that didn't damage the rock the way hammered pitons do and then founded the Patagonia company we know today.

 

[Rhea Cole]

An example of 19th century welding problems was the catastrophic explosion in 1844 of the 12" smoothbore gun "The Peacemaker" on board the USS Princeton. That gun and its twin were both made of wrought iron, but the Peacemaker was manufactured in the US and the other was founded in England. The US gun was made by welding the component iron bars while the gun made in England had the bars shrunk on. The obvious difference is that shrink wrapping, unlike welding, would prevent any cracks from expanding. Another problem was that the US-made gun was heated to near the melting point for a lengthy period of time resulting in larger grains and areas of weakness between the grains. This could have been offset by working the metal with a hammer but the hammer used by the founder was too small for the task.

Suffice to say that some lessons were learned by the time Griffen developed his wrought iron process for what became the 3" Ordnance Rifle.

I had always wondered how they achieved that long graceful swell. Upsetting the billets makes perfect sense. I have done it myself many times, but on that scale it is an entirely different matter.

 

[USS ALASKA]

All kinds of good info on construction techniques and material + / - 's

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/ordnance-papers.206452/page-2#post-2803262

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[Trooper "D"]

The wrought iron used to make the 3" rifles made the forge welding of the gun barrel possible.

In simple terms ( that even I can understand ) wrought iron was made by reintroduction of slag to pure iron. This resulted in an amalgum rather than an alloy. The metal has a texture like wood grain or reinforced concrete.

The ductile iron can be shaped by forging. Because of the pure iron, it becomes "sticky" when heated to a bright honey color. It forge welds very easily. That is what made the 3" rifle manufacturing technique possible,

Wrought iron is no longer mass produced. I have only forged one piece with scrap from a fence. Forge welding modern steel can be finicky even for experienced smiths… very humbling fo learn. The wrought pieces I forged lived up to their reputation. I had to be careful to not let them touch on the fire.

In contrast, the crystalline structure of cast iron means that it can't be forged after it cools. It is not ductile even at high temperatures.

The wrought iron reinforce surrounding the cast iron breech of Parrott rifles is a synergy of the hard & ductile characteristics of iron.

What Is Wrought Iron? - Precise Iron Doors

Wrought iron may not be the most commonly used material, but it can beautify and enhance any home. Here’s what you need to know about this material.

preciseirondoors.com

Wrought Iron works | Wrought Iron Gates | Topp & Co

With the skills, knowledge and experience of our craftsmen, we restore heritage metalwork and create new ironwork to build on the legacy of decorative wrought ironwork in Britain and around the world.

www.toppandco.com

Modern wrought iron is high carbon steel. Traditional wrought iron is no longer commercially available except from this one source.

So no more "wrought iron souls"?
Doors reference. Talk about obscure and useless information. Texas Radio and the Big Beat.

 

[Rhea Cole]

So no more "wrought iron souls"?
Doors reference. Talk about obscure and useless information. Texas Radio and the Big Beat.

Is there any other kind?

 

[Trooper "D"]

Is there any other kind?

Depends who's reading I guess.

 

[Belfoured]

Is there any other kind?

Maybe it's all those "hopeless nights".