In order to get a better idea of what, exactly, went into Pattern Welded iron and steel, I reviewed these and other documents
http://docs.google.com/a/damascusknowled...Q/preview?pli=1It should be noted that the references are almost all English, and I've found nothing specific to c. 1900
Belgian iron and steel sources, recognizing that likely all U.S., and most English makers used Belgian 'rough forged tubes'.
Early 1800sHorse shoes (Spain) and horse-nail stubs, ox irons, scrap stub-iron, worn scythes.
Broken coach-springs
“Soft steel, which is decarbonized in the course of manufacture.”
Mid-1800sAppleton's Dictionary of Machines, Mechanics, Engine-work, and Engineering 1873 -
“It would be difficult to define what scrap iron is, or what it is not, being composed of everything in iron that has previously been manufactured, as well as of the cuttings from the various manufactories...”“…old horse-nail-stubs are now so scarce as to be almost obsolete.”“Swedish iron, known by the mark CCND, and coach-springs, form an excellent combination for Damascus barrels.”
“Among the scraps usually thought to be best are old chains that have been used for many years, the wear and rust of time having left only the best elements of the iron.”
Clippings of saws, steel pens.
c. 1900“The supply of fine old scrap does not now meet the demand, so at the present time the metal for gun barrels is made from a mixture of the best iron ores.”
The Gun and Its Development, 8th Edition, 1907 William Wellington Greener
Pig-iron obtained from a mixture of the best ores is placed in a furnace, melted, and cleansed from all dross by puddling — the dross, being much lighter than the iron, rises to the surface, and is skimmed off. When sufficiently cleansed, the draw-plates of the furnace are lowered, the heat reduced thereby, and the liquid iron whilst cooling gathered and worked into blooms of about 1 cwt. each. The puddler takes the bloom with a pair of tongs, runs with it to the tilt hammer and hands it over to the shingler, who, by dexterously turning the metal under the hammer, forms it into a square block and passes it to the roller; it is then passed through the various rolls until of the required size, and drawn out into a bar of about ten feet in length. The hammering under the heavy tilt condenses the metal, and causes the dross and scale to fly off.
If scrap steel is used, it is treated in the same way. But if new metal is employed, the finest qualities of rolled bars are chosen; the steels suitable are open hearth (Siemens) and ingot steels produced by modern methods, if low in carbon.
On account of its purity and uniformity, best Swedish steel is most usually preferred.
