Rotten with Wrought

P. McKinley

P. McKinley

Joined
Jan 27, 2008
Messages
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I enjoyed reading Patrice's bb haul thread so I thought I'd share a treasure find story of my own.

I discovered this pile of wrought anchor chain at a wharf just down the road from my house. "Yes bi.... we used dat for a buoy anchor" said the 80 yr old fisherman who took over fishing that wharf from his dad, who took over fishing from his dad, who.... etc, etc. "Why? does ya want it bi? They didn't take it for heavy garbage this year".

"Well, as a matter of fact......" I began.

This is what I was able to get today with just my mini grinder. The word on the center stud is "ABBOT". The mark on the other side of the stud is possibly "11". And, I think those are cast iron studs....???...anyone..???? Maybe other links will show that clearer. I'll be taking this apart over the next few days.

The 2 2/3 links I took today weighs, I'm guessing, about 60 lbs.
Tomorrow morning I head off to a hammer-in where I hope to smack these links into bars.











 
wow, the picture with the angle grinder really puts the massive size of these into perspective.
 
Yep, the spacers are cast iron, which are scrap. I'm guessing that's approx 2" diameter chain right? Excellent stuff to work with, of course you need a power hammer to forge it down.

If you've never worked with wrought you need to forge it at yellow or high yellow heat. Otherwise it will seperate the layers of iron and slag.

If you don't have a hammer, slice it into thin discs and work from there. If you're bringing that whole chain home with you, let me know if you want me to forge some of it down for you in exchange for some of it.
 
yep.. work it hot... don't worry bout it... its real soft n mushy at that heat and should hammer out quick

very jealous over here

G
 
If you get some of that hammered down to 3/8" thickness or less, please let me know. I have a suspicion that would make some really cool-looking guards and buttcaps...
 
Javand - They are exactly 2". My grinder wheel alllllllmost made it through each cut, so I had to knock the piece off with a hammer. I've done a little work with wrought, but certainly not on this scale. There's probably 50 links there hidden in the grass. And, I may indeed take you up on an offer like that.

The place hosting the hammer-in this weekend has a small home made hammer and a hydrolic press. We'll see.

James - I'll be certain to let you know.

Peter
 
If you end up with enough and want to sell or trade some I would be interested, been looking for some 2" diameter wrought, not easy to find in these parts..
 
Great find Peter. I also found some wrought near the sea and I was worried that it would rust more from having been in the sea for such a long time. :(
I'll be sure to look for some more next time I am by the ocean.
Thanks for sharing.:thumbup:
 
Massive size ?? Sam Salvati once posted a video of a British company making chain and anchors for large ships 100 years ago . They were making LARGE chain in wrought iron.
That's a great find for making really nice knives.
 
How much for a single link? I would love to have something like that to set on the bookshelf!!

Down here in the south, we just don't have anything like that. Can't say that I'd have the gumption to cut it up, but I sure wouldn't mind letting it sit around for the next dozen years. I bet a link would make a great bookend!
 
I just returned from this weekend's hammer-in where I was able to remove the studs and cut up the three links. I also pounded out a 12" x 1 1/4" x 1/2" bar from a small link-end cut off....perfect for beefy guards. I gave a bunch away as well. As it happened, neither the power hammer nor the hydrolic press were working, so this was all done by hand from coal forges.

As for getting this stuff distributed:
I'd love to get this into the hands of folks who can use it.
But, I don't have a paid membership - yet. I will in short order though, and that'll make communications like this a whole lot easier .....and I think more within the rules. Also, cutting this stuff will take a little while. So, give me a bit and I'll be sure to give fair notice when I'm able to send some of this out of here.

This is Firehouse Ironworks:




We used this forge to heat the links.


We brought one end to bright yellow, clamped her in, and pried it apart to release the stud. This was done with each of the three links. This pic was taken well after all that happened:


This is the bar I forged with considerable help from a sledge-swinging assistant, and a chunk that broke off at the old forge weld when we smacked it at yellow hot.


Thanks for looking.
All the best

Peter
 
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