Finery forge
A finery forge is a forge used to produce wrought iron from pig iron by decarburization in a process called "fining" which involved liquifying cast iron in a fining hearth and removing carbon from the molten cast iron through oxidation.[1] Finery forges were used as early as the 3rd century BC in China.[1] The finery forge process was replaced by the puddling process and the roller mill, both developed by Henry Cort in 1783–4, but not becoming widespread until after 1800.[2]
History
A finery forge was used to refine wrought iron at least by the 3rd century BC in ancient China, based on the earliest archaeological specimens of
In Europe, the concept of the finery forge may have been evident as early as the 13th century.), and freed the iron industry from its dependence on wood to make charcoal.
Types
There were several types of finery forges.
German forge
The dominant type in Sweden was the German forge, which had a single hearth that was used for all processes.
Walloon forge
In Swedish Uppland north of Stockholm and certain adjacent provinces, another kind known as the Walloon forge was used, mainly for the production of a particularly pure kind of iron known as oregrounds iron, which was exported to England to make blister steel. Its purity depended on the use of ore from the Dannemora mine. The Walloon forge was virtually the only kind used in Great Britain.
The forge had two kinds of hearths, the finery to finish the product and the chafery to reheat the bloom that was the raw material of the process.
Lancashire forge
Process
In the finery, a workman known as the "finer" remelted pig iron so as to oxidise the carbon (and silicon). This produced a lump of iron (with some slag) known as a bloom. This was consolidated using a water-powered hammer (see trip hammer) and returned to the finery.
The next stages were undertaken by the "hammerman", who in some iron-making areas such as
Slag
The waste product was allowed to cool in the hearth and removed as a "mosser".[6] In the Furness district they were often left as the capstone of a wall, particularly near Spark Bridge and Nibthwaite forges.
References
- ^ ISBN 0-924171-34-0, p. 186-187.
- ^ Ayres, Robert (1989). "Technological Transformations and Long Waves" (PDF): 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-01. Retrieved 2013-03-02.
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(help) - ISBN 87-87062-83-6, pp. 80–83.
- ISBN 9789004124981, pp 883.
- ISBN 9789004124981, pp 883-84.
- ^ "Falling Creek Ironworks Park | Chesterfield County, VA". www.chesterfield.gov.
Sources
- H. Schubert, History of British Iron and Steel Industry c.450 BC to AD 1775 (1957), 272–291.
- A. den Ouden, "The Production of Wrought Iron in Finery Hearths", Historical Metallurgy 15(2) (1981), 63–87 and 16(1) (1982), 29–33.
- K-G. Hildebrand, Swedish Iron in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries: Export Industry Before Industrialization (Stockholm 1992).
- P. King, 'The Cartel in Oregrounds Iron: Trading in the Raw Material for Steel During the 18th century", Journal of Industrial History 6 (2003), 25–48.