Took a tour of the Colonial Williamsburg forge and came away thinking they rely way too much on mild steel for demonstrations

Every demo I watched there used modern A36 mild steel instead of the high-carbon or wrought iron that would have been period-accurate, and I get that it's cheaper and easier to work, but doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of teaching people about real historical blacksmithing techniques?

3 comments

3 Comments

brookerobinson24d ago

Wrought iron actually wasn't common in colonial America until the late 1700s.

gavinm8924d ago

Man, you just blew my mind a little bit. I always had this picture in my head of colonial blacksmiths hammering away on wrought iron stuff from day one, like it was just always there. Hearing that it didn't really catch on until the late 1700s changes how I think about the whole time period. It makes sense though, getting that kind of material and the skill to work it had to take a while to spread around. Guessing most folks were probably using basic wood or whatever cast iron they could get their hands on for a long time before that.

stellawood19d ago

Kind of had the same reaction when I went there a few years back. I was really looking forward to seeing how they worked wrought iron and maybe a little high carbon steel for tools, but it was just mild steel through the whole demo. Makes you wonder what the point is if they're not even trying to show the real materials. I know they have to balance authenticity with safety and budget, but it felt like they were just showing off the shape, not the actual skill. That old time stuff was a whole different animal to work with.