Research is important before buying any product and wrought iron railings, gates, artwork and restoration work is no exception.
To help you make an informed decision before commissioning any wrought ironwork we have provided answers to some of the questions we are asked and questions you should ask.
Wrought iron can be forged and a much higher temperature allowing the iron to be more malleable and therefore be able to be worked at much higher temperatures, visually there are no differences which leads too much confusion, wrought iron is typically +11x more expensive than Mild steel.
we prevent corrosion on modern mild steel gates by a process called Galvanising, this is usually where the mild steel is dipped into acid then into a bath of molten and zink.
This can quite literally make the steel last for 100’s of years.
One is no better than the other. The two have there own place in blacksmithing as they have very distinct use cases, cast iron can not be forged but as the name suggests it is cast in a foundry, this is brilliant for large batch work but also means the initially costs can be quite overwhelming. As for wrought iron, it is very limited in the modern market as there are very few companies left selling it which in tern drives the cost up heavily.
Some of the key features of wrought iron is the resistance to corrosion, this is seconded by the use of wrought iron dating back thousands of years.
The use of wrought iron in the early 16th Century is some of the most intricate and stunning examples we have to date lasting the test of time when maintained correctly.
The use of mild Steel is extremely common In most working practises now due to rising costs and limited availability of wrought iron, Mild steel is a brilliant counter part as costs can be kept low with brilliant corrosive resistance when galvanised.
