Architectural Ironmongery for oak doors and windows.
Architectural Ironmongery of Ross-on-Wye provide a good range of decent metal stuff, including the best black iron from the black country. Here follows a rather usefully informative advert.
Kirkpatrick Ltd has been producing the highest quality Malleable Iron at its foundry in Walsall since 1855. Their heritage and the traditional skills and methods which have been passed down through the generations, combined with more modern technology, enable them to offer the largest range of Black Architectural Ironmongery available anywhere in the world.
There are many similar products available but Kirkpatrick cast all their products in whiteheart malleable iron, which is particularly durable and well suited to the manufacture of architectural ironmongery.
Their long tradition of manufacturing these products means that they have a style and authenticity that is lacking in the cheap imitations that are available. Their workforce is skilled in the traditional methods of production that have not changed in essence over the last 140 years.
Despite their use of traditional methods we are a forward-looking company and have invested considerable sums in a new electric melting facility that produces a much more consistent quality of iron. This facility has also gone some way toward meeting the environmental standards demanded by current UK legislation.
What is the difference between cast iron and malleable iron? There are many types of cast iron. Black ironmongery is available generally in grey cast iron, Spheroidal Graphite (SG) and malleable iron
Grey iron, although relatively easy and cheap to cast, is extremely brittle, in thin sections especially, and cannot be riveted, hammered or assembled with any ease.
SG iron, although more durable than grey iron, is difficult to cast into thin sections and this precludes its use in many of their products. In addition it does not possess the inherent toughness of malleable iron that is vital in the everyday use of door and window furniture.
Malleable iron is an iron which, after casting, is subjected to a heat treatment process known as annealing. Castings are heated to around 1000°C for up to 100 hours whilst in contact with haematite ore. The ore acts as an oxidising agent that removes carbon from the casting. It is the presence of carbon in cast iron which causes its brittleness and removing some makes the casting stronger or more malleable.
In most cases one cannot easily tell whether a product is malleable iron. There have been many instances of products being passed off as malleable iron when in fact they turn out to be grey iron. One may become suspicious when the product breaks. To make absolutely certain go to a knowledgeable distributor or stockist and ask for Kirkpatrick by name.
Contact: biff@biffvernon.freeserve.co.uk
Lincolnshire
©Biff Vernon 2005