In its simplest definition 'Wrought Iron' is a specific type of iron, and the traditional material of the blacksmith, deriving its name from the word 'wrought', which is the medieval past tense of the verb 'to work'. Wrought Iron literally means 'worked iron', which refers to the method of manufacturing the metal by working repeatedly under a hammer. In the past the work of the blacksmith therefore became known as 'Wrought Ironwork', a name that has persisted for the art form even though the metal in use may not be wrought iron. Today the common material of the blacksmith is Mild Steel which is a cheap industrial product lacking many of the virtues of its ancestor.
Wrought iron is best described as a two-component metal consisting of iron and a glass-like slag. The slags are in effect an impurity, the iron and the slag being in physical association, as contrasted to the chemical alloy relationship that generally exists between the constituents of other metals. Wrought iron is the only ferrous metal that contains siliceous slag and it is to this slag that wrought iron owes the properties, which are of interest to the conservator and the blacksmith.
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