Recent Ruins / Catalogue / Metal
Architectural ironwork
| Period range | 1830-1930 |
|---|---|
| Usual fabric | Wrought iron, later cast iron and mild steel |
| Usual form | Fence panels, gates, window grilles, floor grates, brackets |
| Wear to expect | Laminating rust at joints, bent pickets, missing finials |
Wrought and cast iron fail in opposite ways, so the first job with any salvaged ironwork is deciding which one you are holding.
What it is
Wrought iron is worked hot and joined by forging, collaring or riveting; it is fibrous, and it bends before it breaks. Cast iron is poured into a mould, so it carries repeated identical ornament, crisp undercuts and a parting line, and it is brittle. Fence panels, gates and window grilles turn up in both. Floor grates and stair balusters are more often cast; brackets and simple railings more often wrought.
How to tell age
Look for the join. Forged collars, punched holes and rivet heads point to wrought work. A visible mould seam, identical repeated units and a slightly grainy fracture face point to cast. Later mild-steel reproduction is welded, and the weld bead is usually left proud where a forge weld would have been dressed flush.
What commonly fails
Wrought iron laminates: rust forms between the fibres at a joint, swells, and jacks the joint apart, which is why old railings split at the collar rather than in the middle of a bar. Cast iron cracks, usually through the thinnest section of the ornament, and the crack is often hairline until the piece is lifted.
What to check before fitting
Lift each panel at both ends and look for flex where there should be none. Tap cast sections and listen: a dull note where the rest ring bright usually means a crack. Count the finials and the pickets against the panel next to it, because replacements are easier to source before you build the run than after.