Where is a good place to get iron?

[physh]

I see it is commonly used to make fittings, is this because it's softer then steel?

 

[LRB]

Iron in a pure form is difficult to find, and not really necessary. Cold rolled, or even hot rolled steel will serve the purpose, and what is commonly used.

 

[Bufford]

Mild steel is similar to iron. Soft, easy to work, will not respond to HT, but rusts easily.

Mild steel barstock and rod stock is usually available at places like Home Depot, but if you don't mind grinding off some rust, it can be found in scrapyards and dumps.

 

[physh]

Thanks guys, I have plenty of mild steel.

 

[B Finnigan]

Are you talking about the very old iron that has the silica impurities? That is used alot by knifemakers because of the unique patterns that show up after etching.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Yeah, I think he means WROUGHT IRON, too.
Wrought Iron was made up to 1900, and is now found in salvaged items, like old wagon wheel rims and old strap hinges.
Stacy

 

[langchop]

What Buffard and LRP said... mild steel is the modern day budget steel which is cheap and serves most non structural purposes.
Lang

 

[hardheart]

http://www.realwroughtiron.com/products.asp
http://www.wagnercompanies.com/Pure_Iron.aspx

 

[B Finnigan]

I have 500 lbs of wagon wheel wrought iron that should be here within a week. It is around 3/8" to 1/2" thick. It is very clean stuff considering it is over 100 yrs old.

 

[physh]

That Wrought Iron is interesting stuff.

I was looking for Iron to make fittings like Tsuba for japanese blades. They traditonally used iron, and It seems like mild steel would work for that purpose.

But that Wrought Iron is very interesting.

So Mild steel and Iron are very simmilar in their working properties?

 

[B Finnigan]

I have never forged pure iron but the old wrought iron has to be forged at yellow heat to avoid splits. It is also brittle at room temp compared to mild steel.

If you forge hammered wrought iron enough you would work all the silicates out but I don't know how pure it would end up. It would most likely still have other trace metals alloyed in.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

The IRON used in tsuba, fuchi, and koshira is "simple iron", or mild steel. It is the lower yield when making tamahagne. Some of the bloom is high carbon, some mid carbon, and some low carbon. The low carbon is just referred to as IRON. It is probably chemically similar to 1010 or 1020.
Stacy

 

[physh]

Thanks Stacy, that really helps. I guess I should have made my intentions clearer.

 

[langchop]

Mild steel is not generally any specific grade of steel, and is also called 'commercial grade' steel. (aka crap) The C content is generally in a very wide range from about 0.05% to 0.2%, and is roughly equivalent to your 1010, 1015, 1018, 1020 etc. Most suppliers wont be able to accurately tell you the exact composition as its not highly controlled. To answer your question, its probably the one readily available steel that works roughly similarly to 'iron'. Bearing in mind that 'pure' iron does not realistically exist.

Lang