Yes indeed Hopper, money talks, always did !

Well spotted, Andrew

Herr Professor Doktor Sigmund Freud is reincarnate !!

MichaelG.

Rather than steel I'd like to see genuine wrought iron from a puddle furnace. I think some were operating in Russio long after we closed them.

Trouble is if the mark up is anything like artisan baked products only millionaire-machinists would buy it.

edit: having now looked at the videos linked initially they seem to be about forging steel not making small batch crucible steel which I think was sometimes demonstrated at the iron bridge museum.
Most of what model engineers use is rolled or drawn cast steel which is rather different from a forging.

Edited By Bazyle on 24/04/2020 13:22:35

That video rought back some vivid memories I thought were lost. I lived in the Black Country as a child in the late 40s/early 50s and we were surrounded by steelworks and foundries large and small as well as drop forges. I remember my Dad and Uncle wearliy trudging home from the foundry after a 10 hour shift where they worked usually wearing old army greatcoats from their time in service in the 2nd WW, Dad washing in a white enamel bowl with a blue rim (no Bathroom).

There was no PPE worth mentioning in those days – I note that some of the guys in the video had what looked like hessian sacking tied around their legs for some sort of protection. I remember also the guys who were injured doing that work, including my Dad, some seriously, some not so bad. but there was little or no social security so work had to go on. I remember how bad it was when my Dad couldn't work for several weeks. My Uncle was a moulder making sand moulds so his only problem was the silicosis he eventually died from..

And I hear that those were the good old days. Perhaps they were for some.

TerryD

Edited By Terryd on 24/04/2020 16:06:36

Many chain makers and nail makers in the Black Country worked from home, their forges being in the back yard, often women making the lighter chain, Around the turn of the 20c conditions and pay was so bad a parliamentary commission investigated the trade with little effect. Chain makers became known as 'The White Slaves of England' Good old days, as you say Terry for some.