Why does hammering metal make it stronger

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Tube and Pipe Production. Waterjet Cutting. Buyers' Guides. Digital Edition. Our Publications. About the Author. Bob Capudean Contributing Writer. About the Publication. Metallurgy Matters: Carbon content, steel classifications, and alloy steels. The wide world of welding stainless steel. Metallurgy Matters: Influencing weld strength. Blacksmiths put solid hard iron into a forge and heat it at a temperature high enough to soften it.

After the heated iron turns red, It is then pulled out with tongs and hammered to form a shape. The most important thing here is the timing. If you miss the timing and the iron cools down, shaping it becomes hard — no matter how hard you strike it. Putting that into consideration, the message of the saying would be this. The method of blacksmiths in the past is also applied to the steelworks of today. There are many things to take into consideration when understanding the benefits of forged steel.

Traditionally forged steel is manufactured by a smith. An individual would wet the metal with water and pound it with a hammer atop an anvil. Early types of forged steel were developed in Persia and China. Modern methods were developed throughout the s.

In order to make forged steel, the metal can either be kept at room temperature or heated to high temperatures. The higher the temperature, the easier it is for the metal to take shape and less likely to crack. The bonus of forged steel is that the metal becomes stronger than equivalent types that are cast or machined. A blacksmith can keep the atoms or crystals far apart by consistently heating the metal while bashing with a hammer.

Once the metal gets cold during bashing, it has to be heated a little bit to ensure its endless malleability. Beating or bashing a cold metal is equivalent to a waste of time, energy, and resources. Beating metal or iron to shape can only be possible if the metal is kept at an elevated temperature.

Even if you heat the metal before you start bashing, you might still have to heat at intervals because a hot metal will not stay hot until you are done working, especially with projects that need extended time and high crafts and creativity. Blacksmith Code is one of the world's comprehensive websites dedicated to metal working. Learn more about us.

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