Refining Wrought Iron

Having undertaken to forge a large Type M battle axe from wrought iron and shear steel, I’m now beginning to refine a quantity of wrought iron from large, rusty square bar that I acquired last  year.  In this case refining amounts to forge welding a stack of bars together into a single new bar, drawing it out, and then cutting and stacking it for another welding step.  I intend to repeat this until the final bar has 64 layers of the beginning material.  The refining process will break down the size of the slag lines in the bar and distribute them in a fine pattern in the final bar from which the axe is forged.  This will lessen the chance that a large, internal ribbon of slag (present in the original bar) will cause a tear or de-lamination during the shaping of the axe – which could be a huge disappointment in a large and demanding piece of work.

The four slabs of wrought in the picture have a combined weight of 9 pounds and give a packet which is about 2-1/2″ square and 6 inches tall.  Much of this weight will be lost in the welding.  Wish me luck!