Mechanick Exercises, or the Doctrine of Handy-Works

hands, wrap your work with the brass and a little crushed glass upon the place to be brazed. Seal it tightly in the loam original: "Loam"; a clay-based mixture used here as a protective casing or mold to hold the solder and glass in place during heating., and after laying it for a while upon the hearth of the forge to dry, put the lump into the fire. Blow the bellows until you perceive it has reached a full heat—that is, until the lump looks like a glowing coal of fire. Then take it out of the fire and let it cool. Afterward, break it open and remove your work.

This concludes the discussion of forging in general. It now remains for you to know which types of iron are best suited for the various uses you may have occasion to apply them to.

On the different types of iron and their proper uses.

It is not my purpose here to tell you how iron is made; I shall postpone that until I treat of metals and their refining. For now, let it satisfy those who do not know it that iron is melted out of hard stones called ironstones by a fierce fire. Many countries have a great plenty of these ironstones. However, because it consumes such great quantities of wood to extract the iron from them, it is often not profitable original: "quit cost" to use them. In most parts of England, we have an abundance of these ironstones. But our English iron is generally a coarse original: "course" type of iron, hard and brittle, suitable for fireplace bars and other such basic uses—unless it comes from the Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire was a major center for iron production in the 17th century, known for high-quality ore that produced more malleable iron than other English sources. and a few other places where the iron proves to be very good.

Swedish iron is the best of all the types we use in England. It is a fine, tough sort of iron that best withstands the hammer and is the easiest to file; therefore, it is the most desired by craftsmen for their work.

Spanish iron would be as good as Swedish iron if it were not subject to red-sear original: "Red-sear"; a metallurgical defect where the iron becomes brittle and cracks when it is at a red heat, making it difficult to forge. (as craftsmen call it), which means it tends to crack between hot and cold temperatures. Therefore, when it comes into your hands, you must manage it more carefully at the forge. But although it is a good, tough, soft iron, yet for