Mitis Iron

[Jammer]

This is something I was reading about a few weeks ago. I just thought it was pretty interesting, I don't know if I would try it. I wanted to copy the page from the PDF but my computer is being a pain.
Mitis is basically wrought iron that is melted and able to be cast into a mold like cast iron. The book is from the early 1900's. The way it was described you heat 100 pounds of very low or no carbon wrought iron. In a separate heated crucible place about 3 pounds of aluminum. Put in a few pounds of the hot iron and wait for them to melt together. Then add it to the rest of the 100 pounds. The aluminum acts like a super flux and causes the iron to become molten at a much lower temp. It says it can be cast and picks up very good details.
I don't know if this is anything we can use. I just thought it was interesting because Aluminum wasn't easily smelted from ore and wasn't available in large quantities until mid the 1900's.
This article is a little different than the one I was reading. Mitis starts on page 449. This one says to heat the iron to molten stage, around 3000F. Then drop in some aluminum and it goes to very molten and is ready to cast.

https://books.google.com/books?id=ziJDA ... on&f=false

[Rasper]

Where would you find wrought iron? I used to buy wrought iron rod stock from the Jersey Bolt Company back when I ran a shipyard, but the mill in England that made it stopped making it in about 1978. It was mostly used in building bridges; it is far more corrosion resistant than steel, but with the expanding credit bubble and the ability to borrow unprecedented amounts of money, governments were able to buy more expensive, but longer lasting, alloys for bridge bolts and the wrought iron business disappeared.

Since then, as far as I know, wrought iron has not been available unless you make it yourself.

R

[Jammer]

There is someone selling wrought on e-bay. Also, we have a big pile of wrought iron bolts at the forge. One of the guys has been using it to forge some tomahawks. He acid etches then to make the grain show up. They are bolts from a Steam Locomotive and are probably over 100 years old.